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The FTSE 100 closed up 77.16 points at 4,895.93 today, whilst the FTSE 250 closed up 72.82 points at 7,865.75, and for those that are interested, the FTSE Small Caps down 28.17 points at 2,424.72. Strength in the mining heavyweights helping the FTSE, which was still under pressure by the UK-bias banks. News over the pond and a reaction to the massive fall yesterday wasn’t echoed, but concern is all over the markets.

Over the pond, Wall Street actually did well on opening, compared to the horrendous fall yesterday, of course.  After the worst slide in more than 20 years, investors moved back in feeling that despite the rejection of the $700 bln bail-out there will be some sort of tweak to the plan to get something similar through. By the time London closed, the DJI was up 264 points at 10,629, whilst the S&P500 was up 25 points at 1,141, and the Nasdaq was up 64 points at nearly 2,048.

Back here in London, an initial fall was soon reversed, with the miners helping the FTSE keep steady. News that new mortgage loan approvals in July was at just £143m, down from well over £1bn last year, showed how the UK housing market is almost stagnant.

On to the banks, where the main news was with HBOS, who closed down 14.7p at 127.3p after rumours that Lloyds TSB are wanting to return to the negotiating table with regards to the merger deal. Lloyds TSB closed up 8.25p at 225.5p as investors felt a better deal would be gained.  Peers varied, with RBS closing down 4.7p at 176.3p, and Barclays down 6p at 328.25p, but those not as exposed to the UK economy had much better days, with HSBC closing up nearly 32p at just shy of 897p, and Standard Chartered closing up 123p at 1,368p.

Satellite broadcaster BSkyB lost its appeal to keep its 17.9% stake in ITV, with further news that Ofcom has said that it sees the live premier League football as a major factor and importance to consumers, so it was now consulting on BSkyB’s market power as to its wholesale supply of this content. Sky shares fell half a penny to 407p, although had been up 2p or 3p this morning. 

ITV closed up a penny at 42p after announcing cost saving measures in that it will cut 1,000 jobs, with 430 from its news department. 

Supermarket giant Tesco announced a 10.3% rise in H1 profits to £1.45bn, helping the shares close up 16.4p at 386.3p. Peers also liked the news, with Sainsburys closing up 4p at 346.25p, and Morrisons closing up 8p at 255.25p.  B&Q owner Kingfisher closed up 2.7p at 131p.

On to the black stuff, where oil pushed above $100 bbl again, but this didn’t help the majors.  BP closed down 3p at 464p, whilst Cairn Energy closed down 1p at 2,072p.

With metal prices turning up again, the mining heavyweights had a good day.  BHP closed up 27p at 1,259p, Rio up 161p at 3,471p, Xstarta up 138p at 1,716p, and Anglo American up 39p at 1,855p.

Computer and video games retailer Game Group closed up 10p att 205p after posting a decent rise in H1 profit with a rise in interim divvy too. The company lifted its expectations for the year as well, citing robust current trading.

Dairy Crest Group closed down 6.75p at 4-qiod after announcing a decent H1 performace, but said it would have to cut costs and raise prices, adding that it may have to close one plant due to the current commercial environment, despite a solid half-year performance.

Kitchen maker Galiform closed up 4p at 26p after saying it had adequate funds available just incase any of the MFI liabilitis will be felt in-house. The company broke away from MFI 2 years ago, creating an independent kitchen manufacturer.

Funny morning, so far.  Well, not ‘laughing funny’, just weird.  the massive drop everyone assumed would happen didn’t, yet Japan was down over 4%. London was just aboutr even after a couple of hours, with an up-down-up-even so far, type of thing.  It does look positive, though, as

Last night over the pond, share node-dived with the rejection of the $700 bln bail-out the markets suffered, with the DJI closing down a massive 777.68 points at 10,365.45, whilst the S&P500 closed down 106.85 points at 1,106.42, and the Nasdaq down 199.61 points at 1,983.73.  We expect the positive morning here in London to travel to Wall Street later today, with hopes that a revised plan will finally get through.

Back here in London, news that there was only abou £140m in new mortgages completed in July was a major surprise.  This is compared to some £1 bln last year, showing the housing market really has ground to a halt. 

On to the banks, where the major banks were fairly mixed, although nothing as bad as expected. HBOS was down the worst, though, as concerns that Lloyds TSB are planning to actually renegotiate the takeover deal.    Other banks were mixed, with Standard Chartered doing the best as its UK exposure is limited.

Satellite broadcaster BSkyB lost its appeal to retain its 17.9% stake in ITV, with other news that Ofcom is saying that it sees live premier League football being a priority to consumers, adding that it was consulting on BSkyB’s market power in the wholesale supply of this content. Sky shares didn’t react much, surprisingly, stayig around even this mroning. 

ITV was also about even after announcing plans to cut its satff headcount by around 1,000.  430 of these will come from its news department.

Supermarket giant Tesco revealed a 10.3% rise in H1 profits to £1.45bn, seeing the shareprice jump 10p to 380p. Peers liked the news, with Sainsburys up 5p at 347p, and Morrisons up 6p at 253p.  B&Q owner Kingfisher was also up 3p at 131.3p. 

Oil was on the wain too, still falling.  This saw BP fall back 3p to 464p, and RD Shell down 10p to 1,564p.

Metals were up this morning, with BHP up 12p at 1,244p, Rio up a quid at 3,410p, Anglo up 25p to 1,841p, and Xstrata was up 90p at 1,668p.

The Dow closed down 7% tonight at 10,365.5, down 777.68 points after the rejection of the planned $700 bln bail-out of the financial markets.

The vote resulted in a ‘no’ result, which the President said he was very disappointed at.

Here in London, Prime Minister Gordon Brown was said to be “watching the situation very closely.”  Or translated to “doing naff all.”

London closed down heavily today even though it looked like the plan was going through, so now it didn’t one can expect a similar or worse reaction than that.

What will happen when London opens in the morning is anyone’s guess, with anyone guessing further falling due to the now very worrying uncertainty of the global financial situation.  The repercussions for US tax payers could be worse now the plan is rejected than had the plan gone through, with bigger costs per head now likely, say sources trying to push the plan through.

News over the pond is that the vote has gone against the proposed $700 bln rescue by the US government on the financial markets.  The Dow was down over 5% as a reaction.

The FTSE 100 closed down 269.7 points at 4,818.77, whilst the FTSE 250 closed down 481.51 points at 7,792.93, and for those that are interested, the FTSE Small Caps closed down 96.96 points at 2,452.89.  Blame on today’s falls was put at the Bradford &  Bingley nationalisation, plus the supposed $700 bln bail out by the US government hasn’t been taken as a real saviour. 

Over the pond, by the time London closed the DJI was down over 251 points at 10,891, whilst the S&P500 was down 43 points at 1,170, and the Nasdaq down 94 points at 2,089. Wall Street opened down as the final tweaks were put to the US$700 bln rescue deal were finalised.  The vote is later today, but this seems to be doing little to restore confidence in the health of the whole global financial system. Other news that Wachovia bank was sold to Citigroup adds another casualty to add to the growing list. Citigroup will acquire Wachovia’s banking operations through an open bank deal done with assistance from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). Citigroup will take on the majority of Wachovia’s assets and liabilities, with the FDIC part of a loss-sharing arrangement with Citigroup as part of the deal. Citigroup will take on up to US$42 bln of losses on Wachovia’s US$312 bln loan book, with losses above US$42 bln covered by the FDIC. Citigroup have handed over $12 bln in preferred stock and warrants to the FDIC to compensate it for bearing the risk.

Back here in London, it was as said above, concern on the financial markets that was taking its toll.  With the banks, it was Santander-owned Abbey that surfaced as the new owner of all of Bradford & Bingley’s High Street branch network and savings deposit business, whilst the mortgage book is now part of the Nationalised part of the business.  Other banks fell, with RBS closing down 27p at 181p, Barclays down 32.25p at 334.25p, Lloyds TSB down 33.75p at 217.25p, HBOS down 31.3p at 142p, and Standard Chartered down 155p at 1,245p.

On to the insurers, where Norwich Union owner Aviva closed down 41.25p at 476.75p, The Pru closed down 49.25p at 493.25p, and Admiral down 20.5p at 982.5p.

Staying with financials, the London Stock Exchange (LSE:LSE) closeed down 38p at 791p just as a reaction to the poor sentiment.  ICAP, the world’s largest interdealer broker, closed down 89.25p at 289.25p despite trying to reassure everyone with an update that said it expected full-year profits to be better than last year’s. And hedge fund manager Man Group closed down another 68.25p at 305.5p despite saying today that H1 sales were up 25% on last year.

On to the black stuff, where oil w as still falling, and was getting closer to the US$100 bbl level, which affected the majors, with BP closing down 21.5p at 467p, RD Shell down 80p at 1,574p, and BG Group down 79p at 1,011p.

On to the miners, where metal prices fell back some more, with fears that global requirment may also fall as part of the economic situation. The heavyweights had a pressured day, with ENRC closing down almost 86p at 473.25p, BHP down 137p at 1,232p, Rio down 395p at 3,310p, Anglo down 165p at 1,816p, Xstrata down 334p at 1,578p, and Kazakhmys down 98p to 567p.

On to leisure, where travel group Thomas Cook closed where it opened at 202.75p after saying it had pulled out of talks with TUI Travel and Lufthansa about a merger of its charter airline with TUIfly and Germanwings. TUI closed down 8.5p at 212.5p as a reaction.  Holidaybreak closed down 39p at 315p after a poor update, with Dresdner promptly cutting their price target to 460p from 530p, but did keep their ‘buy’ stance at these levels.

Compass Group, the contract caterer closed down half a penny at 331.25p after an update statment that said that it expects a strong year, with good growth across all regions, adding that currency fluctuation had been in the group’s favour.

One positive today was Morrison Supermarkets, who closed up 1.25p at 247.25p as investors felt there was value there.

Cadburys closed down 14.5p to 567.5p as a reaction to the Chinese milk scare as the Hong Kong government’s Centre for Food Safety recalled 11 chocolate products in Hong Kong, but said it was just a precautionary measure.

Jessops, the camera retailer, closed up 1.08p at 3.64p after news that it had rearanged and extended its bank loan arrangements with the HSBC.

The FTSE 100 was down 150 points at 4,937 with the FTSE250 off 240 points at 8, 0023, and even the FTSE Small Caps were down 35 points at 2,514.

Over the pond, on Friday the DJI closed up 121.07 points at 11,143.13, whilst the S&P500 closed up 4.09 points at 1,213.27, but the Nasdaq closed down alightly, off 3.23 points at 2,183.34. It was two positive days in a row for the Dow, but all 3 indicies were down over the week.  News over the weekend was the Congress had apparently approved the $700 bln bail-out of the financial sector, with the US government fund to buy bad debt.  A final vote later today will confirm the deal is done. Even if it does go through, which is basically a certainty, this still doesn’t give confidence in the whole US financial sector and system.

Back here in London, the banks were still under pressure, despite news from the US over the weekedn.  News that Bradford & Bingley had been nationalised gave some concern, despite this being a cert at the end of last week.  Santander-owned Abbey have taken the High Street savings side of the business, but the mortgage book goes to the government. The banks fell back, with RBS down 30p at 178p, Barclays down 25p at 341p, Lloyds TSB down nearly 30p at 221p, and HBOS down 17p to 156.3p.

On to the insurers, where Norwich Union owners Aviva was down 15p at 503p, and The Pru down 23p lower at 520p.

Staying with financials, the London Stock Exchange (LSE:LSE) was down 25p at 804p, just on general concerns.  ICAP, the world’s largest interdealer broker, was down nearly 60p at 320p after similar concerns, despite saying that it expected a better year than last year.  Hedge fund manager Man Group was down nearly 40p at 334p despite saying that H1 sales were up 25% on last year.

On to the miners, where metal prices fell back some more, with concerns that the golbal economy may be in for a rude awakening and things may tail off, including the recent scramble for raw metals. ENRC was dwon 40p at 519p, Rio down 250p at 3,455p, Anglo down 81p at 19-quid, Xstrata down 180p at 1,732p, and Kazakhmys down 60p at 605p.

On to the black stuff, where oil was now about US$103 bbl, down 4-bucks, with BP down 10p at 479p, and RD Shell down 40p at 1,614p.

On to leisure, namely travel, Thomas Cook was up 6.5p at 210p after saying that it’s pulled out of talks with TUI Travel and Lufthansa regarding the possible merger of its charter airline with TUIfly and Germanwings. TUI was down 5p at 216p as a reaction. 

Compass Group, the catering giant, was up 3.5p at 335.25p after saying that it expects revenue and margin growth this year in all areas, with currency exchange helping the bottom line.

Cadburys was down 10.5p to 571.5p on a Chinese milk-related problem, with news that the Hong Kong government’s Centre for Food Safety had recalled 11 chocolate products in Hong Kong as a precautionary measure.

Camera retailer Jessops was up 1.25p at 3.8p after saying that it has secured extended bank loan arrangements with HSBC.

The FTSE100 was down 108.55 points at 5,088.47 with the FTSE250 off 160.21 points at 8,274.44 and the FTSE Smallcaps 49.63 points lower at 2,549.85. The poor end to the week was blamed on the uncertaincy of the planned US government $700 bln bail out of the financial sector, with the Sentate split over the plan.  A final decision has yet to be made, but noise was loud against the US taxpayer bailing out the US banking sector.  The US dollar was also weakening, which affected commodity stocks.

Over the pond, by the time London closed the DJI was down 65 points at 10,957, the S&P500 down 17 points at 1,192, and the Nasdaq down 35 points at 2,151.  Wall Street opened down, but did recover somewhat.  The government’s proposed rescue plan for the financial sector is not a certainty, and with news that WaMu, Washington Mutual, had been shut down by regulators was another surprise.  JP Morgan to the rescue again. 

Back here in London, it as the financial stocks that were hit by failing sentiment as US plans for a bail-out hit political snags and the US authorities shut down banking giant Washington Mutual.

The banks were under pressure again, with HSBC announcing 1,100 jobs were to go in its global banking and markets operation, which equates to 4% of the unit’s total staff, with the bank citing the current economic crisis as the cause of the planned lay offs. HSBC close ddown 2p at 879p, with peers also down, starting with Lloyds TSB down 22.25p at 251p, HBOS closing down 10.7p to 173.3p, RBS down 12.5p to 208p, and Bradford & Bingley down another 1.25p at 20p, although B&B did recover a couple of pence in the afternoon.

Insurers were also down, with The Pru down 34.5p at 542.5p, Norwich Union owner Aviva down 22p at 518p, Admiral down 7p at 1,003p and Royal Sun Alliance down 8.5p at 150.9p.

Staying with financials, hedge fund manager Man Group closed down 9p at just shy of 374p as investors showed concenrs over the financial sector/banks short-selling ban.

On to the miners, where the weakening dollar saw some fall back with the heavyweighhts. Kazahkmys closed down 52.5p at 665p, ENRC down 36p at 559p, Xstrata down 134p at 1,912p and Vedanta Resources down 80p at 1,296p.

On to the black stuff, where a barrell was down over a dollar toi US$106 bbl, cauisng some pull back with the majors. BP closd down 95p at 488p, RD Shell down 21p at 1,654p and BG Group closed down 38p at 1,090p.

On to the pharmas, where US-based NPS Pharmaceuticals Inc. said that JV partner in an osteoporosis drug deelopment, GlaxoSmithKline, had decided to prematurely terminate the study. This has caused Glaxo to fall back this morning, but staying with Glaxo saw the earlier fallback due to the NPS news reversed on news that Glaxo has increased its stake in Swiss company Addex Pharmaceuticals to 3%. Glaxo shares added 0.5p to 1,220p.

On to the utilities, which were seen as a safe haven right now, with Centrica gaining 5p at 326.75p and International Power, the day’s biggest FTSE riser, up 12.5p to 362p.

On to retail, where Supermarket chain Sainsburys closed up 11.5p at 363.25p, possibly on bid speculation again. Staying with retail, and in to the High Street, where Currys and PC World owner DSG International closed up half a penny at 58p after reacting sternly to rumours that it had asked the FSA to extend the short-selling ban to retail stocks by denying it flatly, adding that it thinks hedge funds shorting its shares would be proved wrong. Staying in the High Street, JJB Sports close down a massive 51.5p at 52.5p after posting a 1st half loss and said it won’t be paying an interimn divvy, either.

A downbeat statment from property developer Eatonfield Group saw the shares close down 31.5p at 36p after saying it expects its full year pre-tax profit to be below market expectations, cisting very difficult conditions in the property sector (!).

And finally, news from HCL Technologies that it had made a 650p-a-share cash offer for Axon Group was taken well.  the offer beats the 6-quid a share bid from fellow Indian software exporter Infosys Technologies. Axon shares closd up 48p at 682p in reaction, with hope of a bidding war.

The FTSE 1000 was down 80 points this morning at 5,117, whilst the FTSE 250 was down 120 points at 8,315.  The FTSE opened lower due to the uncertaincy over this planned bail out of the financial sector by the US government over the pond.  Congress is mixed, some for and some against. News that Washington Mutual, the largest US savings bank had now also closed didn’t help, especially the insurers.  Looks like there is further to go tofday, before any possible late rally that may come with position closing.

On to the banks, where HSBC announcing 1,000 job had to go in the UK didn’t help the esctor, with most going from its global banking and markets operation.  This is some 4% of the total staff in that unit, with the world economic scenario being blamed, of course.  Peers were down too, with RBS down 6p at 214.5p, Lloyds TSB down 16p at 257p, HSBC down 10p at 871p, HBOS down 7p at 177p, and troubled 2nd-liner Bradford & Bingley down another 3p at 18p.

On to the insurers, where The Pru was down 20p, Norwich Union owner Aviva also down 20p at 520p, Admiral down 40p at 970p, and Royal Sun Alliance down 5p at 154p.

Staying in financials, hedge fund manager Man Group was down another 7p at 376p on concerns that more cash will leave due to the short-selling ban on financial stocks.

With the price of oil falling back, so did the oil majors, with BP down 12p at 486p, RD Shell down 40p at 1,635p, and BG Group down 30pp at 1,098p.

The miners were also hit, with the weaker dollar affecting most. ENRC was down 35p at 560p, Xstrata down 90p at 1,956p, Kazahkmys down 40p at 677p, and Vedanta Resources down 60p at 1,316p.

Although Centrica was up 2p at 324p as the utilities were seen as safe, with peer International Power up a penny at 350p.

On to the High Street, where obviously the retailers took some pressure due to the current financial woes around. JJB Sports was down a massive 60p at 44p after posting a 1st half loss for the year, and adding that it won’t be paying a divvy, either.  Currys & PC World owner DSG International was down a penny at 56.5p after rumours that the company had not asked the FSA to extend the ban on short-selling to retail stocks, and that it said that hedge funds shorting its shares would be proved wrong. We’ll see.

On to the pharmas, where Glaxo was down 5p at 1,214.5p after US-based NPS Pharmaceuticals Inc. said that Glaxo, its partner in an osteoporosis drug, had pulled out half-way through the study.

Property developer Eatonfield Group was down 30p at 38p after saying it expects profits to be below expected levels, saying that there very difficult conditions in the property sector, as if that could possibly be a surprise to those reading the news.

The FTSE 100 closed up 101.45 points at 5,197.02 today, after a rollercoaster session, really, whilst the FTSE 250 up 27.29 points at 8,434.65, and for those that are interested, the FTSE Small Caps closed down 13.22 points at 2,599.48. Prsident Bush’s speech, in which he basically told Congress they had to agree the $700 bln bail out or the world would end (errr, sort of) gave some confidence back.  The US opened up this afternoon, with London bouyant as a reaction.

Over the pond, by the time London closed the DJI was up 223 points to 11,047, whilst the S&P500 as up nearly 23 points at 1,208, and the Nasdaq up nearly 36 points at 2,196. US stocks stormed higher in early trade, with hopes for the Bush administration’s proposed purchase of $700bn in toxic debt and Nike’s profit offsettin downbeat economic data.

Back here in London, it was the insurance guys that had the best day, with Norwich Union owner Aviva closing up 48.75p at 540p, Royal Sun Allliance up almost 16p at 159.4p, The Pru up 45p at 577p, Admiral up 53p at 1,010p, and Old Mutual up nearly 10p at 109.8p.

Staying in financials, the banks mostly did ok on the back of the almost certain agreement by US Congress on the Wall Street financial sector bail out. RBS closed up 10.5p at 220.5p, Barclays up 24.5p at 370p, HSBC up 15.5p at 881p, with Bradford & Bingley bucking the trend, closing down 03.75p to 21.25p after announcing 370 job cuts due to its closure of its mortage processing centre, plus the sale of all its remaining impaired mortgage-backed assets, all as part of a cost cutting exercise.

On to the High Street, where there was some pressure with concerns that the average Joe wasn’t spending as much due to the credit crunch.  Marks & Sparks closed down 3.25p at 228p, not helped with a new lower target of 230p from 315p by Morgan Stanley, whilst peer Next closed down 21p at 1,122p, and menswear chain Moss Bros closed down 0.25p at 24.75p after announcing a H1 loss of £1.6m to 26Jul, against a £0.7m loss for the same period last year, adding that it continued to feel the impact of slowing consumer spending and that it expects the remainder of the year to continue to be challenging.

The supermarkets were also under pressure with Tesco closing down 9.3p at 373p, and J Sainsburys down a penny at just shy of 372p.

With the price of oil up at US$106 bbl, those that use the stuff were under some pressure. Airline British Airways closed down 8.8p at 198.7p, whilst Thomas Cook closed down 9p lower at 214.5p.

On to mining, where Philex Mining Corporation, the Philippines’ largest mining firm, said today that it is buying out JV partner Anglo American in a gold and copper venture for $55m. Anglo American closed up 50p at 2,058p in reaction. Highland Gold, partly owned by Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich, closed up 11p at 70p after announcing a 134% leap in H1 earnings. 

United Utilities closed up 4p at 683p after saying it looks on track for H1 figures in-line with expectations, despite unforeseen costs during the first half of the year such as power problems and bad debts.

ITV closed up 1.25p at 43.5p after the UK regulator said that it could cut some of its expensive programming remit, which will also help the prospect of the broadcaster getting bought out.

Daily Mail & General Trust closed down 3p at 331.5p after saying that it expects full year figures to be at the lower end of expectations due to lower advertising revenue. 

Luminar, the nightclubs operator, closed up 16.25p to 208p despite announcing a dip of 2.4% in sales in its first half trading update, but said it was as expected.  The market, on the other hand, felt that this was actually better than expected.

3i closed up 14p at 812p after saying it reduced new investment by nearly 40% in the first five months of this financial year, adding that realisation proceeds were down to £560m, against £1.011bn a year earlier. 

Penna Consulting closed up 32.5p at 155p after the human resources consultancy said that its annual results would be better than expected due to a decent first half.

The FTSE was just about even again this morning, up 5 points at 5,100, whilst the FTSE 250 was up 23 points at 8,430. The FTSE had opened down, originally today, as everyone is still wondering about this US $700 bln bail out of the financial markets over there. The market turned up again, but seems to be wondering what to do.  Oil was above US$106 bbl this morning.

Last night over the pond, the DJI closed down 29 points at 10,825.17, whilst the S&P500 closed down 2.35 points at 1,185.87, and the Nasdaq actually closed up 2.35 points at 2,155.68.  It was a mixed day, although the bias was down, still blamed on this US$700 bln rescue package for the financial sector by the US government. It seems there are more and more negatives coming out surrounding the proposed bail out. There was some positive feeling on Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway that will be buying a decent sized stake in Goldman Sachs, though. 

Back here in London, the weakening dollar helped metal prices, with the m,ining heavyweights doing ok. Vedanta was up 2p at 1,426p and Anglo up 20p at 2,028p.

On to the banks, where Barclays was down a penny at 344.5p, HSBC down 5p at 860.5p, Lloyds TSB down 10p at 257p, and Bradford & Bingley down 2p at 23p after announcing job cuts as a result of its decision to close its mortage processing centre.  B&B is also selling its remaining mortgage-backed assets as part of a cost cutting exercise.

Staying in financials, namely insurance, Norwich Union owner Aviva was up 20p at 511p, Royal Sun Alliance up 13p at 156.5p, the Pru was up 9p at 541p, and Admiral up 40p at 997p.

Oil majors were down this morning despite the price of the black stuff at over US$106 bbl, with this meaning those that use the stuff were down too. Airline British Airways was down 7p at 2-quid, and Thomas Cook down 10p at 213.5p.

United Utilities was down 5p at 674p after saying that it is on tarck for in-line results for H1 this year despite unexpected problmes like power problems and bad debts during the 6 month period.

Daily Mail & General Trust was down nearly 20p at 315p after saying expecxtes that its full year results will be at the lower end of expectations, citing the steep drop in advertising revenue due to current economic conditions. 

Luminar, the nightclubs operator, was up 15p at 207p after reporting an in-line trading update, despite a 2.4% drop in sales, as this was seen as better than expected.

Penna Consulting was up 30p at 153p after the human resources consultancy said that its annual results would be better than originally expected after a good first half performance.

Highland Gold, which is partly owned by Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich, was up nearly 10p at 68.5p after reporting a 134% leap in H1 earnings.