LONDON (ShareCast) - Footsie has drifted further into the red with higher commodities prices and strong results from oil stocks Tullow and Petrofac unable to offset gloom elsewhere.

Oil explorer Tullow Oil's underlying net profits more than doubled in the first half of the year to £126m, boosted by the higher crude price. Production is now expected to be between 68,000 and 70,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day for 2008. Phase 1 of the Jubilee development was on track for first oil in the second half of 2010, it added.

Oil infrastructure specialist Petrofac saw interim net income surge by 57% to $121.2m from a year ago, helped by strong demand for new oil and gas facilities. Results for the full year will be at the top of end of expectations, it added. Order intake in the period to June was $1.7bn with a backlog if $4.8bn.

Huge write-downs on its land banks and the value of its George Wimpey brand pushed Taylor Wimpey into a £1.54bn first half loss. On it debt, constructive discussions with the relevant lenders are ongoing and the board is of the view that a satisfactory conclusion will be reached, Taylor added. Rivals Barratt, Persimmon and Bovis are lower in sympathy.

Chile-based copper miner Antofagasta lifted first half earnings by 8.8% to a better than expected 80.4c, as output picked up and the copper price climbed. Copper and molybdenum markets should remain strong into next year, it added.

Royal Bank of Scotland has unveiled unveil Stephen Hester, the chief executive of British Land, Arthur Ryan, the former chairman of Prudential Financial of the US, and John McFarlane, a former banker with Australia and New Zealand Banking Group as non-executives.

German market research group GfK has decided not to pursue a £1.1bn bid for the UK market research company Taylor Nelson Sofres.

BT is considering the sale of its 31% stake in Tech Mahindra, the India-listed software services firm, says the FT.

Lower investment returns more than halved first half pre-tax profit at Brit Insurance, although the slump was pretty much what analysts had been expecting.

Regional newspaper group Johnston Group falls back after it axed its interim dividend as first half ad revenues plunged by 9.5% with little improvement expected over the remainder of the year.

• News Channel