LONDON (ShareCast) - London’s leading index cemented gains above 5,600 during the morning session as buoyant crude and metal prices continued to boost commodity plays

Cairn Energy, BP and BG Group are still going well as oil prices surged back above $117 a barrel. They had topped $120 yesterday on worries about the possible impact of Tropical Storm Gustav on output from the Gulf of Mexico.

Oil services groups Petrofac and John Wood Group lead the pack though. Petrofac has bought Caltec for £15m, with a further £15m payable on future achievements, although investors will still remember Wednesday's big rise in half year profit and bullish outlook.

Better metal prices have miners shining. Ukraine focussed Ferrexpo, which yesterday reported a sharp rise in half year revenue and earnings, is in demand and joined by BHP Billiton, Anglo American and Rio Tinto.

Persistent bid talk gave J Sainsbury another lift. A 500p a share deal is said to be on the cards.

Further gains in the US overnight gave banks including Royal Bank of Scotland and HBOS a boost, although Barclays has given up its early lead.

Bradford & Bingley revealed a first half pre-tax loss of £26.7m compared with a profit of £180.4m the year before after it was hit by write-downs and investment losses. Overall arrears increased to 2.29%, while losses on bad loans stood at £74.6m as the number of mortgages in arrears in the last three months grew.

Pubs group Enterprise Inns is unloved after broker Landsbanki chopped the shares to "reduce" from "hold" and gloomy words from Credit Suisse.

Property search website Rightmove saw interim revenue surge 49% to £37.8m despite the tough conditions in the UK housing market and reiterated that it will meet market expectations for the year. Pre-tax profit rose to £19.7m from £12.1m before.

British office rental firm Regus saw first-half profits rise 39% to £74.5m on revenue that increased 23% to £507.5m and paid a maiden dividend of 0.6p. “Whilst we remain alert to the impact of difficult economic conditions, our outlook for the remainder of 2008 remains unchanged,” it said.

Oil and gas explorer Dana Petroleum posted record interim results as it benefited from its unhedged oil and gas position, which maximized the benefit from the strong commodity prices. Meanwhile, JKX Oil & Gas boosted revenues and profits in the first half of 2008 despite a decline in production.

Landscape products group Marshalls posted a 17.1% drop in half year pre-tax profit amid more challenging market conditions.

Laundry and workwear group Davis Service has slightly downgraded expectations for 2008 and 2009, owing to higher interest changes and underperforming elements of its UK and German operations.

Harry Potter publisher Bloomsbury posted an increase in first half profit buoyed by a strong performance in its UK Adult and Specialist divisions. Pre-tax profit rose to £5.4m for the six months ended 30 June 2008 from £3.9m the same time a year earlier. Sales for the period fell to £42.1m from £51.4m.

Irish drinks group C&C said its first half financial performance is at the lower end of guidance, given in its last statement in July, and warned tough conditions will continue to pressure results.

• News Channel