Stocks have rebounded strongly from their weak start, with a buoyant performance from the banking sector helping to offset continued weakness in mining stocks.Precious metals stocks in particular are in the firing line as prices for gold and silver continue their downward turn, bucking the usual rise seen in times of volatility. Mexican silver miner Fresnillo and gold group African Barrick are prominent fallers. Banking trio RBS, Lloyds and Barclays are bucking the trend though.In company news, business publisher Reed Elsevier is to acquire the entire issued share capital of Accuity Holdings from Investcorp, a global investment firm, for a consideration of £343m payable in cash. Compliance-focused Accuity is a US provider of online subscription-based data solutions for the financial services industry. The start of the second half of the year has been a tough one for Aberdeen Asset Management, which has seen assets under management (AUM), as at the end of August, slide 4.8% to £176.9bn from £185.7bn at the end of June. Most of the fall was accounted for by market movements and foreign exchange fluctuations, which reduced AUM by £8.1bn, but the business also saw net outflows of £0.8bn. "Given the economic backdrop in Europe and the US and heightened market volatility during the last two months, Aberdeen's new business flows have been resilient," said Martin Gilbert, Chief Executive of Aberdeen. Bunzl, the international distribution and outsourcing group, has announced two small bolt-on acquisitions. The first is Ideal Global Sistemas de Higiene, a Brazilian supplier of cleaning and hygiene consumable products. The other is D-Care, based in Utrecht, which is principally engaged in the distribution of medical disposable products throughout the Netherlands.Turning to smaller companies, media and publishing firm Dods is lower after it reduced half year losses but saw revenue drop as it battles against persistent market headwinds. The group, which employs 200 people and operates in the UK, France and Belgium, said adjusted pre-tax losses reduced to £584,000 for the six months ended 30 June 2011 from a loss of £593,000 before. Revenue for the period fell to £6.1m from £7.9m the year before. The group says it remains confident about meeting full year forecasts. Investors have an appetite for cake and bread maker Finsbury Food posted a 12.6% increase in annual revenue as its cake division returned to growth and progress was made across the rest of group. Adjusted pre-tax profit rose to £5.8m in the year ended 2 July 2011 from £5.4m the year before. Revenue swelled to £189.6m from £168.3m previously. FTSE 100 - RisersAviva (AV.) 299.30p +7.93%Barclays (BARC) 156.70p +7.33%Legal & General Group (LGEN) 97.50p +6.44%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 24.21p +6.04%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 36.13p +5.81%Cairn Energy (CNE) 291.90p +4.59%International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (IAG) 148.30p +4.36%Prudential (PRU) 568.50p +4.03%Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 277.00p +4.02%ITV (ITV) 60.00p +3.90%FTSE 100 - FallersFresnillo (FRES) 1,574.00p -3.79%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 6,210.00p -2.20%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 800.50p -1.66%Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 1,541.00p -1.22%Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,236.00p -0.96%BAE Systems (BA.) 271.90p -0.69%Capita Group (CPI) 709.00p -0.63%Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,107.00p -0.54%ARM Holdings (ARM) 571.50p -0.52%Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,971.00p -0.47%FTSE 250 - RisersHeritage Oil (HOIL) 241.80p +8.58%Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 38.41p +6.43%Ashtead Group (AHT) 135.70p +6.02%Debenhams (DEB) 58.95p +5.36%3i Group (III) 196.70p +5.07%Barratt Developments (BDEV) 84.05p +4.93%Britvic (BVIC) 305.80p +4.05%Micro Focus International Plc (MCRO) 328.20p +3.96%Soco International (SIA) 332.50p +3.91%SIG (SHI) 94.55p +3.90%FTSE 250 - FallersAfrican Barrick Gold (ABG) 526.50p -7.55%Premier Foods (PFD) 10.49p -3.41%Rank Group (RNK) 123.40p -3.22%JPMorgan Asian Inv Trust (JAI) 177.30p -2.96%Exillon Energy (EXI) 200.00p -2.91%Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 72.65p -2.35%Elementis (ELM) 121.60p -2.25%EnQuest (ENQ) 91.65p -2.08%Spirent Communications (SPT) 120.80p -1.95%Renishaw (RSW) 1,021.00p -1.83%
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