BP Share News (BP.)

Shares remain rooted in negative territory in spite of a big jump from artificial joint specialist Smith & Nephew following reports of an offer from Johnson & Johnson. Miners are holding back the top share index.A decline in copper imports into commodity-hungry China sent prices for the red metal lower. Kazakhmys, which transports copper from its Kazakhstan mines to Chine by rail, is among the heaviest fallers. Fellow miners Rio Tinto, Antofagasta and BHP Billiton are also wanted.Oil prices have climbed however, benefiting the likes of Heritage Oil and Tullow, which had mixed news, with success on one well in Ghana but a disappointing outcome on a prospect in Mauritania. However shares in BP fell after the oil giant that is still reeling from last year's spill in the Gulf of Mexico shut down a major oil pipeline in Alaska due to a leak.Oil explorer Soco has had its application to extend its licence on the Te Giac Den Appraisal Area (TGD), offshore Vietnam, rejected by the Vietnamese government.Smith & Nephew jumped more than 10% following reports it turned down a bid approach from US rival Johnson & Johnson just before Christmas.The Americans are said to have offered about 750p per share, valuing the knee joint maker at almost £6.7bn, and are considering whether to come back with a higher offer.There's also another batch of Christmas trading updates from retailers to digest. Supermarket chain Wm Morrison keeps forecasts for the full-year unchanged after growing like for like sales excluding fuel by 1% in the six weeks to January 2. In his first Christmas as chief executive, Dalton Philips reported total sales excluding fuel rose 3.1%, or 4.7% including fuel, while like for like sales were up 4% when fuel is included.December's bad weather clipped department store Debenhams' sales growth by 2.5%-3%, though underlying sales still picked up slightly thanks to strong online growth and market share gains. Online grocer Ocado said gross sales in the final quarter of 2010 increased 27.4% as it delivered nearly all its orders despite the extreme weather conditions. The group, whose main customer is Waitrose, said fourth quarter sales increased to £178.9m from £140.5m in the same period a year before. International recruitment firm Michael Page saw organic growth in all regions in the fourth quarter of 2010, with fourth quarter gross profit up 32.2% to £119.8m from £90.6m a year earlier. A joint venture in which both Balfour Beatty and Morgan Sindall own a 30% stake has won the £235m Whitechapel and Liverpool Street Station tunnels contract, which forms part of the Crossrail link. Work on the five-year project starts next month.Underlying profits at housebuilder Persimmon will be at the top end of expectations, a good send off for chairman John White who's retiring after 32 years at the company. A "significant" increase in profit before tax, goodwill charges and exceptional items has propelled the figure towards the upper end of analysts' forecast which range from £75m to £96m.FTSE 100 - RisersSmith & Nephew (SN.) 725.50p +11.62%Intertek Group (ITRK) 1,831.00p +3.68%Tullow Oil (TLW) 1,351.00p +1.50%Resolution Ltd. (RSL) 245.30p +1.24%Reed Elsevier (REL) 535.50p +1.04%Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 2,129.50p +0.97%Amec (AMEC) 1,189.00p +0.93%Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 2,138.00p +0.90%Barclays (BARC) 277.55p +0.89%Aggreko (AGK) 1,466.00p +0.83%FTSE 100 - FallersFresnillo (FRES) 1,502.00p -3.47%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 1,538.00p -3.33%Vedanta Resources (VED) 2,367.00p -3.31%Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 1,031.00p -3.01%Xstrata (XTA) 1,465.00p -2.37%Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,101.00p -2.31%British Airways (BAY) 298.00p -2.30%Man Group (EMG) 303.70p -2.10%Capital Shopping Centres Group (CSCG) 399.70p -2.08%BP (BP.) 482.75p -1.98%FTSE 250 - RisersHeritage Oil (HOIL) 478.40p +2.68%JKX Oil & Gas (JKX) 291.80p +1.85%RPS Group (RPS) 219.20p +1.76%Pace (PIC) 186.50p +1.52%Paragon Group Of Companies (PAG) 188.70p +1.18%Stobart Group Ltd. (STOB) 142.00p +1.07%Hansen Transmissions International NV (DI) (HSN) 60.00p +1.01%BH Global Ltd. GBP Shares (BHGG) 1,101.00p +0.92%Persimmon (PSN) 441.20p +0.80%Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 217.70p +0.79%FTSE 250 - FallersF&C Asset Management (FCAM) 87.45p -5.87%SDL (SDL) 608.00p -3.65%Keller Group (KLR) 650.00p -3.56%Kenmare Resources (KMR) 29.60p -3.36%Imagination Technologies Group (IMG) 372.40p -3.02%JPMorgan Indian Inv Trust (JII) 460.10p -2.81%Soco International (SIA) 350.60p -2.61%COLT Group SA (COLT) 130.50p -2.61%Petropavlovsk (POG) 1,050.00p -2.60%Fenner (FENR) 334.10p -2.48%