Headline shares were trading down although off lows as lunch approached with miners keeping the FTSE negative during this morning. At time of writing, the FTSE 100 was down 21.8 points at 5225.11.
LONDON MARKETS
Shares seeing losses as lunch approached included Wolseley (LON:WOS), down 2.4% at 1524p, Rentokill, down 2.4% at 118p, LSE, down 2.11% at 626.5p and Xstrata Plc (LON:XTA), down 1.8% at 1029p. On the rise were Lloyds, up 3.9% at 61.3p, Fresnillo (LON:FRES), up 2.2% at 1076p and Reed Elsevier (LON:REL), up 1.8% at 502.5p.
British Airways (LON:BAY) could be hit by further cabin crew strikes during the summer after Unite announced that the airline has until next Tuesday to resolve the deadlock or face the consequences of another ballot for industrial action. Shares traded just off at 214.1p
Bus and rail group, Stagecoach Group (LON:SGC) has posted pre-tax profits of £161.3m which are ahead of market expectations. Revenues were 2.9% higher at £2164.4m with revenue from the UK Bus operation ahead 5.4% at £875.4m and Uk rail revenues up 5.0% at £1,026.7m. Stagecoach traded at 194.2p up 1.89%. KESA traded at up 3.3% at 121.3p after announcing £69.9m profits.
A deep water drilling ban in the Gulf of Mexico imposed by President Obama has been overturned by a US federal judge. The six month ban was described by the judge as likely to cause irreparable harm to businesses along the Gulf coast but despite the ruling the legal position remains unclear, particularly as it is thought that the White House will appeal. As such it is unlikely that the rigs in the Gulf will resume drilling given the high cost of moving workers and equipment back to the idle rigs.
Hambledon Mining's production increased significantly in the second quarter. The firm said much investment and management time had been spent on improving operations at Sekisovskoye - and these steps taken have paid off. In April, 68,317 tonnes were treated through the mill, and 2,048 ounces of gold were produced. In May, a total of 75,402 tonnes was milled producing 2,631 ounces of gold and up to 20 June - and despite a planned shutdown of 2.5 days for a mill reline -, 44,406 tonnes have been milled and 1,708 ounces produced.
Emergency repair and document handling…
