LONDON (ShareCast) - Three figure losses in the US failed to take the shine off proceedings in London as rising crude prices made oil majors popular and banks attracted buying attention.

Oil was still the place to be at the close. Prices neared $119 a barrel at one stage in New York as Tropical Storm Gustav threatens to gain hurricane status before hitting the Gulf of Mexico, possibly early next week. Cairn Energy, BP, Tullow Oil and BG Group ended higher.

Oil services groups Petrofac and John Wood Group also rallied. Petrofac has bought production technology firm Caltec for up to £30m, while investors also remembered Wednesday's big rise in half year profit and bullish outlook.

Ukraine focused miner Ferrexpo continued to bask in the glory of yesterday’s sharp rise in half year revenue and earnings. But BHP Billiton faded through the day, while Kazakhmys and Rio Tinto slipped into the red.

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

Meanwhile, big gains for US banks Thursday gave a boost to UK peers including Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays and HBOS. The latter is said to be preparing the sale of its Australian operations. Investors shrugged off Bradford & Bingley’s plunge into a first half pre-tax loss of £26.7m. The beleaguered lender made a profit of £180.4m the year before, but has been hit by write-downs and investment losses.

Punters called time on pubs group Enterprise Inns after broker Landsbanki chopped the shares to "reduce" from "hold" and Credit Suisse took a gloomy view.

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.

Soaring diamond prices helped miner Gem Diamonds more than double revenue in the first half of 2008, but pre-tax profit slipped to $23.9m from $28.6m a year earlier, reflecting sharp increases in depreciation and amortisation.


FTSE 100 - Risers
Petrofac Ltd (PFC) 652.50p +5.07%
John Wood Group (WG.) 476.75p +4.72%
Cairn Energy (CNE) 2,978.00p +4.24%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 793.00p +4.07%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 256.75p +3.63%
British Land Co (BLND) 765.50p +3.52%
Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 229.00p +3.50%
HBOS (HBOS) 315.75p +3.36%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 1,628.00p +3.30%
G4S (GFS) 233.50p +2.98%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
Enterprise Inns (ETI) 303.50p -3.57%
Drax Group (DRX) 746.50p -2.16%
RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 150.80p -2.14%
National Grid (NG.) 714.50p -1.99%
Eurasian Natural Resources (ENRC) 1,005.00p -1.57%
Old Mutual (OML) 97.60p -1.41%
Legal & General Group (LGEN) 100.50p -1.28%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 141.05p -1.26%
Prudential (PRU) 548.00p -1.17%
Scottish & Southern Energy (SSE) 1,447.00p -1.09%

FTSE 250 - Risers
Southern Cross Healthcare Group (SCHE) 152.00p +26.67%
Aricom (ORE) 46.50p +11.38%
Dana Petroleum (DNX) 1,506.00p +8.35%
Domino Printing (DNO) 295.00p +7.27%
Candover Investments (CDI) 2,280.00p +7.19%
Genus (GNS) 799.00p +6.96%
JKX Oil & Gas (JKX) 434.00p +6.83%
Henderson Group (HGI) 130.00p +6.34%
Stagecoach Group (SGC) 319.75p +5.88%
Soco International (SIA) 1,507.00p +5.75%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
Davis Service Group (DVSG) 341.00p -15.91%
Gem Diamonds (GEMD) 876.00p -6.96%
Premier Foods (PFD) 86.75p -5.71%
Bellway (BWY) 614.00p -4.06%
Unite Group (UTG) 230.00p -3.46%
Berkeley Group Holdings Units (BKG) 851.00p -3.41%
Pennon Group (PNN) 613.00p -3.16%
Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 2,639.00p -2.69%
Workspace Group (WKP) 131.75p -2.59%
Bradford & Bingley (BB.) 49.00p -2.49%

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