LONDON (ShareCast) - Early weakness on Wall Street and late selling of banks and mining issues had London’s leading index more than 100 points off its best levels of the day.

The Dow Jones was down around 200 points before lunch as broker sell recommendations upset regional banks. Worries that political wranglings may hold up a $700bn resuce of the US financial system also hurt. UK peers had been doing OK, but Barclays, RBS, Lloyds TSB, HBOS and HSBC were all sharply lower by the close.

Bradford & Bingley found friends though on weekend reports that UK authorities are trying to broker a takeover of the buy-to-let mortgage group.

Higher commodity prices lifted miners ENRC, Vedanta, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto, but gains were halved late on. Oil plays BG Group, Royal Dutch Shell, Cairn Energy and BP were in favour again as crude prices topped $107 a barrel at one stage today.

Plumbing supplies firm Wolseley was top of the pile though despite a 77% plunge in full-year pre-tax profits. Shareholders were cheered by news that the company does not intend to issue new equity to raise cash.

Life assurance stocks Old Mutual and Standard Life did well until they succumbed to selling pressure late in the day, but mid-cap miner International Ferro Metals rallied after it returned to a full year profit as it hiked production and said it was considering a share buyback.

Yellow Pages group Yell has suspended dividend payments as it renegotiates its banking covenants and attempts to reduce its overall indebtedness.

The latest house price news from property web site Rightmove has sent housebuilders into a spin, with the likes of Taylor Wimpey and Bovis giving back a chunk of the gains made on Friday.

Russia-focused gold miner Peter Hambro's net profit fell sharply in the six months to June. Sales were up by more than 50% to $146m, up from $93m, but net profits fell to $14.8m from $21.8m after one-off adjustments. Total attributable gold production was c.147,000 oz for the period, up by c.9% compared to c.134,300 oz in the first six months of 2007.

British Gas owner Centrica has bought Caythorpe Gas Storage Limited (CGSL) from Warwick Energy for £70m in cash. CGSL owns the onshore Caythorpe gas producing field near Bridlington in East Yorkshire. Caythorpe has planning permission for conversion to an onshore gas storage.

Gem Diamonds has discovered a 478 carat white diamond at the Let¡eng Mine in Lesotho. The diamond, which is yet to be named, ranks as the 20th largest rough diamond ever to be recovered, the group said.

Electrical cable, plug and connectors specialist Volex has put its Power Products division up for sale after a strategic review of its business. Proceeds from a disposal would develop and strengthen the remaining divisions with surplus cash returned to shareholders.

Venture Production's Chestnut oil field has commenced production. Venture is the operator and holds a 69.875% working interest in the part of block 22/2a containing the Chestnut field.

Restaurant group Clapham House has continued to trade satisfactory in the second quarter of the financial year and said it is highly positive about its mid term market prospects.

The share price of mobile software specialist Artilium bounced after the company said it knows of no reason for its recent share price fall.

Profits more than tripled at Latin America focused petroleum company Global Energy Development as soaring oil prices boosted the coffers.


FTSE 100 - Risers
Wolseley (WOS) 470.00p +13.53%
BG Group (BG.) 1,175.00p +4.44%
Eurasian Natural Resources (ENRC) 686.50p +3.70%
Cairn Energy (CNE) 2,450.00p +3.46%
Xstrata (XTA) 2,422.00p +3.33%
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 1,636.00p +2.57%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,704.00p +2.53%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,479.00p +2.21%
Capita Group (CPI) 735.50p +2.15%
BP (BP.) 500.25p +2.04%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
Friends Provident (FP.) 94.90p -8.75%
Man Group (EMG) 433.50p -7.77%
Prudential (PRU) 557.00p -7.17%
Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 247.00p -7.14%
RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 155.20p -6.39%
HBOS (HBOS) 209.00p -6.07%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 866.50p -5.76%
Invensys (ISYS) 225.00p -5.46%
Aviva (AV.) 535.00p -5.31%
Hammerson (HMSO) 966.00p -5.29%

FTSE 250 - Risers
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 200.25p +10.88%
International Ferro Metals (IFL) 61.50p +10.31%
Bradford & Bingley (BB.) 29.75p +7.21%
St James's Place (STJ) 260.00p +6.78%
Randgold Resources (RRS) 2,364.00p +5.63%
Wellstream Holdings (WSM) 1,102.00p +5.45%
BBA Aviation (BBA) 125.75p +5.01%
Aveva Group (AVV) 1,187.00p +4.58%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 82.50p +4.43%
F&C Asset Management (FCAM) 75.00p +4.17%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 47.75p -13.18%
Enterprise Inns (ETI) 200.50p -11.67%
DSG International (DSGI) 61.50p -10.87%
Johnston Press (JPR) 39.25p -10.29%
Punch Taverns (PUB) 212.75p -10.04%
Aricom (ORE) 31.50p -10.00%
DS Smith (SMDS) 119.75p -9.79%
Heritage Oil (HOIL) 226.75p -9.66%
Tullett Prebon (TLPR) 309.00p -8.58%
SIG (SHI) 430.00p -8.56%

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