BP Share News (BP.)

- Essar, HSBC provide a drag in London. - G20 urges Europe to take action first- Vedanta among the few risers after consolidation plans.London's blue chip index sank to its lowest levels of the day by lunchtime, with banks and miners providing a drag, while Eurozone debt concerns continued to weigh on sentiment. However, it was Essar Energy that was the worst performer, dropping nearly 9%.The G20 told Europe that it must first work on raising more funds itself if it expects to receive more financial assistance from the rest of the world. Yet their discussion on the possibility of increasing the International Monetary Fund's resources was put off as they await "essential input", mainly for the euro area countries to "reassess the strength of their support facilities in March". Currently under discussion in Europe is the possibility of merging the temporary and permanent bailout funds, known as the EFSF (European Financial Stability Facility) and ESM (European Stability Mechanism), respectively. The ESM is supposed to replace the EFSF, but a possible merger would increase this firewall from €500bn to around €750bn. The idea's main opponent is Germany. The Eurozone's motor of growth is worried about footing the bill for the crisis when the root problems have not been snipped out. Also weighing on sentiment was the price of oil. Brent crude futures were down 1.1% at $124.10 by 11:52 on the InterContinental Europe Exchange, but the recent surge has seen the price come near to its highest level since 2008 due to Iran-related supply concerns. Thoughts are now turning to the effect that elevated prices will have on the recovery in Europe.Meanwhile, some worrying comments by World Bank President Robert Zoellick about China may be fuelling a sell-off. He pointed out that "as China's leaders know, the country's current growth model is unsustainable" and outlined the need for sweeping reforms up to 2030 because the economy "has now reached a turning point in its development path."Managing the transition from a middle income to a high-income country will prove challenging; add to this a global environment that will likely remain uncertain and volatile for the foreseeable future and the need for change assumes even greater importance," Zoellick said. ESSAR DROPS AFTER FULL-YEAR RESULTS Leading the downside was India-focused power generation and oil and gas group Essar Energy after reporting a sharp drop in profits in the 12 months ended December 31st. When accounting for the reversal of a sales tax benefit - due to the Indian Supreme Court ruling against a sales tax deferment - the group fell to a pre-tax loss of $881.1m, from a profit of $365.5m the year before. Pearson, publisher of Penguin books and the Financial Times, was a heavy faller after seeing sales climb to £5,862m in 2011 from £5,663m in 2010, below the market consensus forecast of £5,919m. Global banking colossus HSBC fell despite reporting results that seemed to meet, or even beat, some expectations. Nomura said this morning that the figures were "supportive of our investment case" and reiterated its buy rating on the stock. The broker says that full-year figures were broadly in line with its expectations, with pre-tax profit of $21.9bn just short of its $22.4bn forecast. Sector peers RBS and Lloyds were also out of favour with the Financial Times reporting that the two banks are looking to tap the ECB's Long-Term Refinancing Operation on Wednesday for a combined €15bnMeanwhile, miners were firmly out of favour as metals prices edged lower. Kazakhmys, Eurasian Natural Resources Corp, Anglo American and Xstrata were among the top 10 worst performing stocks. Bucking the trend was Vedanta Resources which, following weeks of speculation, confirmed that it will be merging its Indian iron ore and copper divisions, Sesa Goa and Sterlite, respectively, to create a new multi-metal mining giant - Sesa Sterlite. The combination is expected to create India's natural resources "champion" and is anticipated to be the world's seventh-largest global diversified natural resources major on an EBITDA basis.Just six stocks were on the rise with distribution and outsourcing firm Bunzl leading the way after profits were comfortably ahead of expectations in 2011, with the new bits and the old bits of the company all chipping in with strong performances. Oil group BP followed suit after the court hearing regarding the Macondo oil well explosion which was due to start on Monday February 27th was delayed by one week. Shares in UK-based insurance titan Prudential fell after announcing that it could be upping sticks and moving its headquarters outside Europe to avoid strict new capital rules for European insurers. Meanwhile, Associated British Foods, the foods group which also owns the Primark clothes store, fell despite saying that adjusted operating profit will be ahead of last year's interim outcome. High street giant Mark & Spencer was given a lift by UBS which upgraded its rating from neutral to buy. In fact, UBS took a more positive stance on the general retail sector saying that recent economic data and a generally better-than-expected performance over Christmas has improved confidence. FTSE 250 peers Carpetright, Dixons, Home Retail and Kesa Electricals were among the high risers.Also on the second-tier index, house-builder Bovis fell despite posting a 74% increase in annual pre-tax profit after it sold more homes at a wider margin. Profit before tax rose to £32.1m for the financial year ended 31 December 2011 from £18.5m the year before. Revenue for the year increased to £364.8m from £298.6m previously.BCFTSE 100 - RisersBunzl (BNZL) 949.50p +2.04%BP (BP.) 504.10p +1.59%Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,520.00p +1.33%Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 357.50p +1.16%Rexam (REX) 419.40p +0.58%Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,087.00p +0.56%Evraz (EVR) 416.90p +0.46%BT Group (BT.A) 217.50p +0.46%Next (NXT) 2,770.00p +0.36%Tate & Lyle (TATE) 699.50p +0.36%FTSE 100 - FallersEssar Energy (ESSR) 115.00p -8.73%Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 445.50p -3.57%Pearson (PSON) 1,215.00p -2.88%GKN (GKN) 229.20p -2.68%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 34.85p -2.46%HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 561.00p -2.42%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 1,135.00p -2.41%ICAP (IAP) 386.20p -2.23%Xstrata (XTA) 1,190.50p -2.02%Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,393.00p -1.97%FTSE 250 - RisersRank Group (RNK) 145.90p +5.27%Home Retail Group (HOME) 106.90p +3.48%Dixons Retail (DXNS) 14.99p +3.38%Redrow (RDW) 132.60p +2.63%Imagination Technologies Group (IMG) 605.00p +2.63%Cookson Group (CKSN) 688.00p +2.61%Computacenter (CCC) 410.70p +2.52%Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 268.10p +1.75%Kesa Electricals (KESA) 77.45p +1.57%F&C Asset Management (FCAM) 71.60p +1.56%FTSE 250 - FallersBovis Homes Group (BVS) 485.20p -4.02%Laird (LRD) 168.90p -3.43%Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 1,131.00p -3.33%JPMorgan Indian Inv Trust (JII) 380.00p -3.16%PayPoint (PAY) 575.00p -3.04%Senior (SNR) 195.00p -2.99%Go-Ahead Group (GOG) 1,252.00p -2.95%Logica (LOG) 86.25p -2.76%Kenmare Resources (KMR) 58.60p -2.58%Spectris (SXS) 1,711.00p -2.23%