LONDON (ShareCast) - Leading shares are moderately firmer, with travel & leisure stocks and banks going well, and more than counteracting the impact of weaker resource stocks.

In the travel & leisure sector, lower oil prices prompts demand for Thomas Cook, British Airways, InterContinental Hotels and TUI Travel, with good results from German airline Lufthansa also boosting sentiment.

Meanwhile, rail & travel companies Firstgroup, Stagecoach and National Express also celebrate some welcome relief from rising fuel costs while also receiving a lift from solid results from sector peer Go-Ahead.

Go-Ahead anticipates delivering full year performance in line with expectations and “significantly ahead” of the record results last year with buses driving the improvement.

Banks are firmer, with Alliance & Leicester the pick of the sector, as financial stocks continue to bask in the glow created by better than expected figures from US broker Merrill Lynch. London Stock Exchange and Schroders are also benefiting from the “Merrill effect”.

Sticking with the financial arena, inter-dealer broker ICAP is wanted after yesterday’s announcement that it is to form a strategic alliance with Korea’s largest inter-dealer broker, Korea Money Brokerage, to develop electronic spot foreign exchange trading in Korea.

Tobacco companies are busy as the OFT launches a probe into alleged cigarette price-fixing involving tobacco companies and retailers. Imperial Tobacco and several supermarket groups were named by the OFT as under investigation.

Pubs group Mitchells & Butlers says it is not in talks over a possible bid for the whole company, but remains in discussions over a stake sale. "The board is continuing discussions with private equity investors in relation to a possible investment for a stake of up to 29.9% in Mitchells & Butlers at a material premium to the current share price," the owner of O'Neill's and Harvester pubs and restaurants said in a statement.

Ad agency WPP's first quarter revenues rose by 14.1% to £1.558bn. Revenues in constant currency were up 9% and on a like-for-like basis revenue growth was almost 5%, continuing the growth rates seen throughout 2007 and before, it said. January and February were strong across the board, but March was slower, "somewhat surprisingly in Western Continental Europe." Throughout the quarter, North America remained relatively strong.

Life group Aviva's total life and pensions new business climbed to £8.17bn in the first three months of 2008, up from £7.75bn a year ago and in the middle of market forecasts. Growth in the US, Asia and central and eastern Europe offset tougher conditions in the UK.

Carphone Warehouse gets a boost from Morgan Stanley, which has upgraded its viewpoint on the stock to “overweight” from “equal weight”, but ITV slips back after the US bank cut its price target to 55p from 67p.

Shire is looking poorly Friday as the UK’s third-largest drugmaker said sales of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) drug Vyvanse would be at the lower end of the range.

Reckitt Benckiser runs into profit taking after yesterday’s results, but conversely Sports Direct rallies after yesterday’s subdued trading statement.

Resource stocks are heading lower, with Cairn Energy, Antofagasta, Kazakhmys and ENRC leading the retreat.

Car dealer Pendragon says despite a difficult background its performance in the first three months of the year has been encouraging. Metrics of unit sales volumes and operating profits per unit are trending in a positive direction and the group is confident of a satisfactory outcome to the year at the upper end of expectations, it added.

Software group Axon is well ahead on an upbeat trading statement while IBSOpensystems has recived a bid approach.

Stockbroker WH Ireland is sharply lower after deciding that an unsolicited preliminary bid approach announced earlier this week is not in the best interests of shareholders.

Computer games developer SCi tumbles on news it is raising £60.1m from a fully underwritten placing and open offer at a big discount to last night’s closing price.

Independent Resources received a massive boost as Italian energy firm ERG agreed to help the AIM listed group develop its underground gas storage facility in the Po Valley.

The launch today of its new VivStream video platform gave video streaming specialist Vividas a leg up today. The directors expect the new platform to form a key component of Vividas' sales offering.

Oil and gas group PetroLatina spouts higher after bagged a $25m investment from Colombian private equity firm Tribecapital Partners at a premium to the last night’s closing share price.

Investors give the cold shoulder to fund manager Polar Capital after its assets under management fell again in March and have now shed over 13% since the start of the year.

TMN Group slumps on news that quarterly revenues at its email marketing planning and buying agency EDR will be around £1.5m lower than previously expected due to a decline in demand from financial services clients.

Watford Leisure, the company behind Watford Football Club, confirmed that it has received a tentative approach and is in ‘very preliminary’ discussions which may or may not lead to an offer being made.

• News Channel