London has opened better than expected thanks to a rebound by the miners and a smattering of good trading updates.There has also been some easing of tension in Korea, though not in Europe where the EU is heaping pressure on Ireland to agree to its bail-out.UK banks are weak again becasue of the situation in Ireland. Lloyds, Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland are all lower. Miners are ding better today, though, led by Kazakhmys and Xstrata. The pair have been the Duke of Yorks of the sector recently, up one day and down the next. In company news, Capital Shopping Centres, formerly part of Liberty International, has confirmed it is close to agreeing the purchase of Manchester's Trafford Centre in a deal worth £1.6bn. Platinum giant Johnson Matthey saw good growth in most of its markets in the first half, especially catalysts for cars in North America and Asia. Profit before tax rose to £144.1m in the half-year to 30 September from £109.5m the year before. A bullish Compass has upped its dividend by a third as cash and new business flowed through the contract caterer's door over the past year. Revenues rose by 7.6% to £14.5bn in the year to September, with underlying growth of 3.2%. Interim results from water supplier United Utilities were slightly ahead of management expectations. In the six months to 30 September the company made an underlying profit before tax of £196.2m, down from £258.2m the year before.Buy-to-let mortgage lender Paragon reported a sharp increase in full year profit on strong rental demand, a decrease in its provision for losses and as the turmoil of the credit market crisis continues to fade. Sportingbet, the online bookie, continues to see strong growth in the 'in play' side of the business. Amounts wagered in the three month period to 31 October - the group's first quarter - rose 10.9% to £513.9m from £463.2m the year before, with the sums bet on sporting events in play rising 27%.HaiKe Chemical, a China-based manufacturer of petrochemicals, speciality chemicals and biochemicals, has seen a 'material improvement' in trading in all of its businesses since its last half-year. The company posted an interim loss of $21.2m, against a profit of $10.8m, but following the recent improvement HaiKEe expects to recoup most of the first half deficit by the year-end.
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