BP Share News (BP.)

London's leading share index gave up a brief rally to close in the red after a jittery day in which well-received company results were overshadowed by disappointing US unemployment figures.The economy shed 131,000 jobs in July, according to figures from the Labor Department, with 143,000 public sector census workers being laid off.Over here, the results stream continued, albeit at a slower pace than yesterday, and the reception has been mostly positive.Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) moved higher after saying it is 'on track' to achieve goals set out in its five-year recovery plan after posting a pre-tax profit of £1.16bn for the second quarter of 2010. The bank, which lost £21m in the first quarter and made a small profit of £59m this time last year, made £1.14bn for the half-year, up from a paltry £15m in the first six months of 2009. Talking to reporters, chief executive Stephen Hester conceded that there is still a long way to go for the state-owned bank.South African insurer Old Mutual was also in demand. It saw operating profit before tax jump 43% in the first half, thanks to a strong performance particularly in the South African retail markets and in Wealth Management. The group also announced it agreed to sell its US Life operations to affiliates of Harbinger for $350m. Mobile phone satellite group Inmarsat has headed skyward after saying first half profits surged forward as earthquakes in Haiti and Chile boosted the use of its broadband service. BP moved another step closer to ending the Gulf of Mexico oil spill by completing cementing operations at the MC252 well, part of the "static kill" procedure.Shares in platinum miner Lonmin fell after it said the South African government ordered it to halt sales of nickel, copper, chrome and any other minerals than platinum group metals.In the FTSE 250, Connaught heaped more woe on its shareholders on Friday afternoon as the social housing group warned that it will post a loss for the year to August 31.Logica leads the risers in the FTSE 250. The software group is reviewing its UK public sector business as it expects new projects will be slow in the second half, though its guidance for the year is unchanged. Underlying interim profits dipped slightly to £125m from £127m in the half-year to June, on revenues down 1% at £1.87bn. Pre-tax profits, excluding one-offs, rose to £86m from £24m.Underwriter Catlin falls back after it said first half profits were hit by the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, record catastrophe losses and adverse foreign exchange movements. Pre-tax profit fell to $86m in the six months ended 30 June from $240m last time. This includes $49m in foreign exchange losses.Among smaller companies, shares in Vectura jumped after the inhaled therapies developer said drug giant GlaxoSmithKline has signed an agreement to some of its dry powder drug formulation patents.Online gaming firm PartyGaming grew underlying interim profit by 14% and has continued to trade in line with expectations at the start of the second half.Dhir India Investments saw losses narrow to £977,000 in the year to March 31, from £1.035m the previous year, as the non-performing assets investor experienced mixed progress.Staffing company Impellam jumped after moving into profit in the half year to July 2.The company, which operates in the UK and US in markets such as healthcare and technology, posted a pre-tax loss of £10.5m, compared with a profit of £1.4m the previous year. Revenues climbed to £544.4m from £500.9m.Mobile phone messaging technology group Synchronica has announced that a 20m subscriber Latin American mobile operator has launched the MessagePhone, a Blackberry-style 'smartphone' developed by Synchronica.FTSE 100 - RisersInmarsat (ISAT) 741.50p +4.00%African Barrick Gold (ABG) 567.00p +3.66%Whitbread (WTB) 1,443.00p +2.41%Fresnillo (FRES) 1,057.00p +1.34%Vodafone Group (VOD) 152.25p +1.13%Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,818.00p +0.89%RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 134.40p +0.67%Intertek Group (ITRK) 1,685.00p +0.60%BP (BP.) 425.50p +0.50%Next (NXT) 2,010.00p +0.40%FTSE 100 - FallersLonmin (LMI) 1,557.00p -5.06%Aviva (AV.) 380.20p -3.58%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 73.72p -3.04%ICAP (IAP) 388.20p -2.95%Unilever (ULVR) 1,687.00p -2.82%Essar Energy (ESSR) 407.70p -2.63%Hammerson (HMSO) 375.90p -2.46%Legal & General Group (LGEN) 87.10p -2.41%SABMiller (SAB) 1,864.00p -2.41%Diageo (DGE) 1,078.00p -2.27%FTSE 250 - RisersLogica (LOG) 116.70p +6.67%Laird (LRD) 137.30p +4.89%Ashtead Group (AHT) 100.00p +4.77%Supergroup (SGP) 950.00p +3.09%Misys (MSY) 261.80p +3.07%Booker Group (BOK) 44.45p +2.54%Carpetright (CPR) 746.50p +2.54%Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 2,369.00p +2.51%Ferrexpo (FXPO) 307.00p +2.33%Redrow (RDW) 124.80p +2.30%FTSE 250 - FallersConnaught (CNT) 15.50p -46.55%Spirent Communications (SPT) 125.00p -6.37%Hansteen Holdings (HSTN) 62.10p -5.91%Dexion Absolute GBP Shares (DAB) 131.20p -4.93%Catlin Group (CGL) 370.00p -4.64%Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (MLC) 489.30p -4.06%Galiform (GFRM) 70.70p -4.01%Xchanging (XCH) 161.50p -3.81%SIG (SHI) 99.00p -3.60%GKN (GKN) 146.20p -3.24%