London mid-morning: Footsie builds on gains

Footsie has built on last week's gains, rising for the sixth day in row, as the optimism over better than expected global economic figures continues.

There was also some cheer on the UK economic front today. According to the latest Engineering Employers Federation (EEF)/BDO manufacturing outlook, recovery has been has been sustained in the last three months with output and orders balances reaching record levels for the second quarter in succession. The EEF now expects manufacturing output to increase by 3.7% this year and by 3.2% in 2011.

Cable & Wireless Worldwide is the best performer on a weekend report Singapore Telecom is eyeing up the telephony group.

BP is also higher. The leaking Gulf of Mexico well is now secured according to a US report, while it has resurrected plans to sell its stake in Prudhoe Bay in Alaska to help pay for the costs of cleaning up the spill.

GlaxoSmithKline is a little of colour though. It is facing a call to withdraw its diabetes drug Avandia in Britain because of heart risk concerns. UK regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), says the risks of Avandia, known generically as rosiglitazone, outweighed its benefits and that "it no longer has a place on the UK market".

British Airways chief executive Willie Walsh has held talks with executives of merger partner Iberia about BA's role as a consolidator in the airline industry and though no names were mentioned analysts suggest Qantas, Cathay Pacific, American, LAN and South African are all possible targets.

Elsewhere in aviation, no-frills airline easyJet is a high flyer after saying load factor in August 2010 was 92.3%, up from 91.8% in August of last year. The number of passengers carried increased by 8.4% to 5.2m from 4.8m a year earlier.

Fenner, the industrial conveyor belt maker, has motored ahead after saying it expects results for the year to 31 August 2010 to be at the top end of market expectations. The trading environment for its conveyor belting operations in the mining sector remains strong, while the Advanced Engineered Products division has returned to historic margin run rates with improvements across the spectrum of operations, the company said.

Media conglomerate United Business Media (UBM) is stepping up its activities in China with the acquisition of Shanghai-based UM Paper.

FTSE 100 - Risers
Cable & Wireless Worldwide (CW.) 76.15p +4.39%
BT Group (BT.A) 140.40p +2.03%
Home Retail Group (HOME) 225.20p +1.76%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 665.10p +1.64%
Man Group (EMG) 235.60p +1.60%
Capital Shopping Centres Group (CSCG) 357.40p +1.59%
Capita Group (CPI) 745.00p +1.57%
3i Group (III) 273.60p +1.52%
Lonmin (LMI) 1,622.00p +1.50%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 73.80p +1.49%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
Bunzl (BNZL) 744.50p -1.78%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 547.50p -1.53%
Aggreko (AGK) 1,498.00p -1.12%
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,255.50p -1.02%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,418.00p -0.84%
African Barrick Gold (ABG) 597.00p -0.83%
BAE Systems (BA.) 319.20p -0.75%
Barclays (BARC) 323.05p -0.60%
Autonomy Corporation (AU.) 1,767.00p -0.45%
Wolseley (WOS) 1,370.00p -0.44%

FTSE 250 - Risers
Connaught (CNT) 17.40p +5.78%
Imagination Technologies (IMG) 383.30p +4.21%
Salamander Energy (SMDR) 249.00p +4.10%
Senior (SNR) 124.70p +3.92%
Fenner (FENR) 218.30p +3.61%
Regus (RGU) 75.85p +3.06%
Ladbrokes (LAD) 139.40p +2.88%
Unite Group (UTG) 204.40p +2.87%
Spectris (SXS) 969.00p +2.87%
Xchanging (XCH) 138.70p +2.66%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
Premier Foods (PFD) 19.18p -8.01%
Yell Group (YELL) 16.25p -2.99%
Genus (GNS) 706.50p -1.74%
Bodycote (BOY) 240.00p -1.64%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 314.90p -1.59%
Lamprell (LAM) 304.70p -1.49%
Devro (DVO) 234.00p -1.27%
RPS Group (RPS) 174.90p -1.19%
SDL International (SDL) 550.50p -1.17%
BH Global GBP Shares (BHGG) 1,116.00p -1.15%