London open: Footsie drifts lower

It's a quiet start for Footsie with little company news and buyers again largely sitting on the sidelines.

British Telecom and Cable & Wireless are pushing on helping to offset a dull morning for the miners. Xstrata, Vedanta and Kazakhmys are the worst affected.

BSkyB is down after Friday's excitement on market talk that 39% owner Rupert Murdoch might try to take it private.

Investment trust giant Witan's investment performance beat its benchmark index in 2009 after calling the bottom of the market a month early in February. The Trust achieved 25.9% total return in net asset value in 2009, versus a 24.5% return from the company's benchmark measurement. The total dividend for 2009 is 10.5p, up from 10.2p the year before.

Rio Tinto has been cleared by an internal Chinese investigation of wrong doing over the collapse of its proposed tie-up with aluminium group Chinalco. The investigation instead blamed naivety, poor PR and soaring metal prices for the breakdown of the deal.

Distribution and outsourcing group Bunzl has bought Switzerland-based consumable products supplier Weita Holding for an undisclosed sum. In 2009, the Swiss company's revenue was SFr.70.9m while at the end of the year the company had gross assets worth SFr.47m.

Sensor and electronic components firm TT Electronics has been hit hard by the recession, but put in a "creditable" performance in 2009 and has continued a better fourth quarter performance into the new year.

French Connection said it will close the majority of its loss making operations in the US and sell its Nicole Farhi brand. The changes, which include exiting the Japanese market, are part of a restructuring of the business aimed at returning it to profitability, it said in a company statement.

West end retailer Liberty has agreed a £41.5m sale and lease back of its world famous Regent Street store. The freehold of the 125,000 sq ft shop, officially on Great Marlborough Street, London W1, has been sold to Sirosa Liberty Limited.