LONDON (ShareCast) - London remains deep in the red, although early gains in the US have helped pull leading shares, particularly banks and miners, off their worst levels of the day.

But concerns about the resurgent oil price, fears of an economic slow-down, and speculation about the massive $700bn US-led bailout are still unsettling investors.

Weaker copper and gold prices have knocked miners, with ENRC and Anglo American the big losers.

In the banking sector HBOS has fallen sharply, closely followed by its suitor Lloyds TSB. Royal Bank of Scotland is another casualty.

Among fuel dependent stocks holiday companies Thomas Cook and TUI are weaker along with bus and train groups Stagecoach and First Group.

Hedge fund manager Man Group falls back after securities firm Jefferies has instigated coverage of hedge fund manager Man Group with an “underperform” rating.

Defensive stalwarts are the main risers. Unilever, International Power, BATs and Imperial Tobacco are showing gains.

Pub group Mitchells & Butlers' like for like sales were up 1.3% during the nine weeks to 20 September, with same outlet food sales up 3.6% and drinks up 0.3%. The firm said productivity gains and cost management continue to help offset cost increases.

Tate & Lyle is down after losing the first round of a generic competition battle in the US courts over its key sucralose brand, Splenda. It will appeal the decision.

Water group Severn Trent expects its first half performance to be consistent with prior guidance and its forecasts for the full year.

In contrast, Colt Telecom edges higher after Merrill Lynch upgraded the telecoms company to “neutral” from “underperform”. Merrill Lynch has a 132p price target for Colt.

Profit on ordinary activities before tax and exceptional items jumped nearly 10% to £11.1m at soft drinks group AG Barr during the first half. Turnover grew almost 6% for the six months ended 26 July to £82.4m, with IRN-BRU brand revenue up by 5.8% as sales increased across England, Wales and Scotland.

Sports fashion retailer JD Sports bucked a weak consumer trend to lift profits by over 70% in the half year to August. Pre-tax profits jumped from £5.3m to £9.1m on turnover up 19% at £299m. Underlying profits rose by 54% to £12.4m. Like-for-like sales rose by 6% (5.9% Sports Fascias; 6.7% Fashion Fascias). "We are delighted with the performance of the group during the period,” it said.

Carpet retailer Carpetright remains cautious about its expectations for the full financial year due to low levels of consumer confidence and the deterioration in the housing and financial markets.

Cake-maker Finsbury Foods reported a drop in full-year pre-tax profit, but said it is well equipped to deal with the challenges it faces. Pre-tax profit for the year to end-June fell to £5.1m, down from £5.4m a year earlier, on turnover of £169m, up from £109.8m.

Mapeley has announced that chief financial officer Nick Friedlos will be appointed as chief executive with effect from 1 January 2009 to succeed Jamie Hopkins.

Schools IT specialist RM's trading during the year so far has been consistent with management's expectations for the year as a whole. It is now delivering eight of the eleven BSF (Building Schools for the Future) projects it has so far been selected for.

Local newspaper group Johnston Press tumbles after Deutsche Bank downgraded the stock from “hold” to “sell”, with the price target cut to 35p from 50p. Elsewhere in the newspaper sector Deutsche has also downgraded Daily Mail and Trinity Mirror.

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