Markets: FTSE 100 moves back ahead

Oil major BP (BP-) and publishing house Reed Elsevier (REL) continued to dominate the winners' table, but their boost was offset by losses in the banking sector and mining company Vedanta Resources (VED).

The FTSE 100 (UKX) was up nine points at 5200.

The Consumer Confidence Index, published by The Conference Board, sank to 47.7, its second-lowest reading since May.

Dow Jones climbed 37 points to 9903, while S&P 500 remained flat at 1066. The Nasdaq however, slipped 13 points to 2128.

The government is investigating the company's accounts going back eight years, despite Vedanta receiving no notification or communication from the Fraud Investigation Office.

Vedanta Resources acquired a 51% stake in the Indian iron-ore exporter for $981 million in April 2007.

Vedanta's share price lost 106p to 2,227p.

The demise of the free evening paper could come as early as next month following the stiff competition it now faces in the form of the Evening Standard, which recently became a freesheet.

London Lite, which currently loses close to £10 million a year, would be the second London freesheet to close in the past two months, after thelondonpaper was shut down.

Daily Mail and General Trust's shares were up just shy of 1% to 419.40p.

15:43 - The Russian Government has shelved plans to sell between 20 and 50 tonnes of gold this year, after details of the sale were leaked to the local media.

Precious-metals export agency Almazyuvelirexport has had to postpone plans indefinitely amid fears that the publicity would affect the price of gold.

Russia was hoping the sale of gold would plug its budgetary deficit. Had the sale proceeded, it would have marked Russia's first major bullion sale since the fall of the Soviet Union.

15:12 - London's leading index maintained its steady form on Tuesday, offering solid, if unspectacular gains despite banks and miners struggling.

The FTSE 100 (UKX) was up 25 points to 5216, with BP (BP-) still leading the way after the oil giant beat forecasts for its third-quarter profits.

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Vedanta Resources (VED) were heading the fallers' board, both nursing losses over 4%.

Data from the Conference Board showed confidence fell for a second successive month, with consumers' views of the current conditions sinking to a 26-year low.

The Dow Jones, however, was up 36 points to 9904, while the S&P 500 climbed five points to 1072. The Nasdaq was not showing as much life, up a single point to 2143.

14:10 - Retail sales volumes grew at their fastest pace in almost two years in October with retailers also much more confident about their prospects, according to the Confederation of British Industry (CBI).

Its latest distributive trades survey revealed sales balance rose to +8 in October from +3 in September and -16% in August.

Meanwhile, retailers are fairly optimistic about sales prospects in the near term, with a balance of 19% expecting sales volumes to rise year-on-year in November. This is the highest expectations balance since July 2007.

Howard Archer, chief UK and European economist at IHS Global Insight, says: "Despite October's stronger CBI survey, the suspicion remains that the upside for consumer spending will be constrained for some time to come, thereby limiting growth prospects.

"While very low mortgage interest payments, lower utility bills and reduced inflation are currently boosting the purchasing power of a good many people, the fact is that consumers continue to face significant headwinds."

13:38 - The likes of Harry Potter and Ice Age have boosted British cinema group Cineworld's (CINE) revenues by 6.5% in the 43 weeks to 22 October.

The increase in box office sales flew in the face of concerns that Cineworld would fail to live up to last year's outstanding success following the release of Mamma Mia.

However, advertising revenuedropped 26.9% over this year amid tough economic conditions. Nevertheless, Cineworld described its balance sheet as strong and said its growth for the year remained in line with expectations.

The company's share price lost 2% to stand at 150p.

13:06 - London's top share index maintained its stay in positive territory on Tuesday, with oil and gas firms offsetting losses in the banking sector.

The FTSE 100 (UKX) was 28 points to the good at 5219, as BP (BP-) sat atop the leaderboard with gains over 4% - just ahead of publisher Reed Elsevier (REL) and Home Retail Group (HOME).

Bottom of the pile was still Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), down over 4%. Rivals Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) and Barclays (BARC) were also down over 3%.

12:39 - Cleaning products group Reckitt Benckiser (RB-) has raised its full-year sales and profit targets after cheering investors with a 25% leap in third-quarter profits.

Net profits for the three months to September came in at £357 million with sales up 15% to £1.9 billion after a strong performance from all of its main brands.

It now expects a 6% to 7% rise in underlying sales for 2009, up from between 5% to 6%. Net profits are expected to come in at between 12% and 13%, up 2%, both at constant currency.

Its shares were up 0.5% to 3,102p.

12:04 - Junior exploration company Ormonde Mining's (ORM) share price shot up 28% on news that it was Antofagasta Minerals with whom it signed a joint venture covering Ormonde's La Zarza ground holdings in Southern Spain.

The company first made public its discussions with a 'major mining company' in July but refrained from naming Antofagasta until today.

Work on the project is due to get underway immediately, with Antofagasta extending the previous exploration by Ormonde to span the entire 3km long La Zarza sulphide deposit in the Huelva Province.

11:41 - Gold prices dropped to a two-week low below $1,040 an ounce, as the US dollar fought back against the euro.

The rise in the US currency's value placed downward pressure on the precious metal, which has rallied strongly over the last couple of months whenthe dollar steadily weakened, making bullion cheaper for non-dollar holders and boosting investor interest in gold as a hedge.

11:09 - London's top share index recovered from an early wobble to move ahead on Tuesday, helped by gains from oil and gas firms.

Despite falls in the banking sector, the FTSE 100 (UKX) was 30 points to the good at 5221, with publisher Reed Elsevier (REL) and oil Goliath BP (BP-) topping the leaderboard.

Amongst the fallers, it was carnage for the banks with leading lights Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) and Barclays (BARC) all nursing losses.

10:42 - Crude oil prices retreated today following almost a month of highs.

Oil traded at just below $79 a barrel, after demand failed to justify the recent rally in prices.

Crude oil leapt to a one-year high of $82 a barrel last week on hopes of an economic recovery, but news that oil cartel OPEC may increase production targets to offset the rising prices, halted the momentum.

London Brent declined to $77.26 a barrel.

10:12 - Drug discovery company Sareum (SAR) saw its share value after reducing its loss to £1.1 million after tax for the year ended June, compared to £1.7 million during the previous year.

The cancer-drug business finished the year with cash of £0.27 million, down from £0.48 million and will now look to raise £0.8 million through a placing of shares.

The company said it was positioned to meet its capital requirements for the foreseeable future and remained positive on the progress of its anti-cancer programmes.

Its shares gained 12% to 0.38p.

09:43 - Housebuilder Barratt Developments (BDEV) has advised shareholders planning on taking up new shares in its rights issue to find alternative ways of sending in the necessary documents and payment following postal service strikes.

Shareholders have until 11am on 3 November to take up their entitlement and the FTSE 250 group says it "strongly advises" them to explore ways of returning their requests "by means other than the ordinary post".

It adds that investors may "wish to consult business directories or internet search facilities in order to identify national or locally available courier services which may be appropriate to an individual shareholder's circumstances."

Investors only got their application forms in the middle of last week.

For the full story, read: Barratt voices fundraising fears.

09:13 - Shares in troubled Yellow Pages owner Yell Group (YELL) plunged further on Tuesday after it extended the deadline for a refinancing deal for its £3.8 billion debt mountain for a second time.

It has now given its 300 lenders until 5pm on Wednesday to agree its plans for a financial overhaul or potentially face court action to force them through.

Yell needs 95% of its creditors to back a rescue restructuring which includes a £500 million cash call to cut its debts and an extension of the repayment date on its current loan facilities to 2014 in return for raising the interest rate payable by 1%.

For the full story, read: Yell's shares tumble on debt restructure.

The FTSE 100 (UKX) was up 10 points to 5201, with BP leading the way with gains of almost 5%.

In Asia, oil price falls sent resource shares south and, despite a stable earnings season so far, economic fears dragged the Nikkei down 150 points - its biggest daily loss for three weeks. The Japanese benchmark index closed at 10212.

Returning after yesterday's holiday, Hong Kong shares suffered just as much as their Japanese counterparts falling 420 points to 22169 in its heaviest one-day drop in over three weeks. Heavyweight consitutents HSBC and energy firms Cnooc and PetroChina were left nursing the largest falls.

US markets tumbled in overnight trading on Monday, with financial shares knocked by concerns a Federal tax credit for homebuyers was to expire, while commodity firms dropped back as the dollar strengthened.

The Dow Jones closed 104 points down at 9868, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq both slipping 13 points to end the day at 1067 and 2142 respectively.

Third-quarter profits at oil behmeoth BP (BP-) dived by a third to $5.34 billion, it reported today, but still comfortably surpassed analysts' expectations.

However, the firm's replacement cost net profit - which is used by analysts as it ignores unrealised gains or losses in relation to changes in the value of fuel inventories - had halved in value to $4.98 billion.

BP blamed a decrease in production and higher costs for the disappointing figures, but it had already reached its full-year target for cost savings of £2 billion.

The company also maintained its dividend at 14 cents per share.

Its shares were up nearly 5% to 594.35p.

Computer chip designer ARM Holdings (ARM) expects its full-year dollar revenue to meet its expectations, despite reporting an 8% fall in third-quarter turnover.

In the three-month period to 30 September, ARM saw revenue fall from $134.4 million to $123 million, with pre-tax profit slipping £1.6 million to £24.3 million.

It added that had continuewd to gain market share in the semi-conductor industry and it had achieved success in expanding beyond mobile applications to hard disk drives and networking applications.

The firm's FTSE 250-listed shares were down marginally at 148.3p.