LONDON (ShareCast) - Leading shares are mixed, with falls outnumbering rises, though the Footsie remains in the blue thanks to a strong performance by mining and energy stocks.

Rio Tinto leads the mining sector higher on talk that Lakshmi Mittal may buy a stake. Anglo American is wanted on reports that it is waiting to snap up any Australian interests that Rio and BHP Billiton might be obliged to sell in order to gain regulatory approval for a merger.

Lonmin retreats, however, after it announced a safety-related shut-down of its Number One furnace.

Oil prices are higher too, giving a lift to the likes of BP but hitting heavy fuel users such as British Airways. Tullow Oil is a noticeable weak spot in the oil sector, however, after a drilling update this morning.

ITV is the worst performing blue-chip, after Trinity Mirror warned that full-year operating profits will be some 10% lower than forecasts as advertising market conditions continue to deteriorate.

Southern Cross is poorly, shedding around two-thirds of its value on the back of a warning over a bank covenant, poor trading and the departure of its finance director

Taylor Wimpey is also lower as it announced write-offs of £660m and confirmed it is talking to shareholders over a placing and open offer. Other builders are down in sympathy led by Barratt.

JP Morgan has slashed its target price on Yell Group to 92p from 510p, citing weak economic conditions in the UK, US and Spain and debt concerns.

Goldman Sachs has lowered its rating on French Connection to ‘neutral’ from ‘buy’, saying the outlook for the European consumer is continuing to deteriorate.

Citigroup has begun coverage on the student accommodation specialist Unite with a ‘hold’ stance and a 245p price target.

On Footsie, Cable & Wireless this morning confirmed it has upped its offer for Thus with a cash offer of 180p per share. Vodafone is also going well on talk of a float in Qatar. Xstrata lead a strong mining sector.

Support services group Serco has repeated the guidance given with its interims on 13 May. "Our performance remains strong, and our markets continue to offer substantial opportunities, underpinning our revenue and margin guidance. Serco remains on track to deliver on expectations for 2008," it said.

Power station Drax now expects full year results will be modestly higher than recent market EBITDA consensus of around £400m, reflecting its current contracted position as well as prevailing conditions in the commodity markets. The board expects to declare an interim ordinary dividend of 5p per share (approximately £17m), and a special dividend in respect of the six months ending 30 June 2008.

Ground engineer Keller reports trading in the first five months of 2008 has been strong, with revenue, operating profit and orders all ahead of the same period last year.

Online fashion group ASOS saw underlying profits surge 176% to £8.25m in the year to March 31 on a 90 percent increase in revenues to £81m. Sales in the 13 weeks to June 27 were up 95%, it added. "While it's too soon to suggest that this performance will continue for the full year, we are confident that 2008/09 will be another strong year for ASOS," it said in a statement.

Contractor Costain says that since 8 May 2008, the group has continued to perform in-line with the board's expectations. Costain says it has secured a number of significant new orders since the beginning of the year and the group's forward order book today stands at in excess of £2bn, which is a record level.

Shares in ClinPhone were lower after Quintiles Transnational said it will not proceed with an offer for the clinical trial technology provider.

FTSE 100 - Risers
Rolls-Royce Group (RR.) 339.75p +2.88%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 145.50p +2.68%
BAE Systems (BA.) 438.75p +2.63%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 5,974.00p +2.24%
Cable & Wireless (CW.) 150.50p +2.10%
John Wood Group (WG.) 479.00p +1.97%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 1,711.00p +1.85%
Anglo American (AAL) 3,457.00p +1.80%
Cadbury (CBRY) 620.50p +1.80%
BP (BP.) 575.25p +1.77%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
ITV (ITV) 44.70p -5.89%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 935.00p -4.10%
Lonmin (LMI) 3,183.00p -3.19%
British Airways (BAY) 206.25p -3.17%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 325.00p -3.06%
Barclays (BARC) 289.50p -2.85%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 783.00p -2.79%
Wolseley (WOS) 377.75p -2.64%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 212.50p -2.41%
TUI Travel (TT.) 201.25p -2.19%

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