HDY.L Share News (HDY)

Footsie shrugged off a surprise fall in GDP to post good gains after rising on the back of well-received US results. The economy shrank by 0.4% in the third quarter, confounding analysts' expectations of a return to growth and suggesting that further stimulus measures may be on the cards. It is the sixth consecutive quarter of contraction, the longest peacetime recession in the UK since the 1930s. Analysts had been expecting a rise of 0.2%.Strong results from US online book retailer Amazon and the operating system giant Microsoft cheered investors globally.Back in the UK, high metal prices have left mining stocks in demand. Kazakhmys, Anglo American, Vedanta and Xstrata are the picks of the mining sector, with Anglo receiving an additional leg-up from a positive broker note from Deutsche Bank, while Vedanta benefits from Morgan Stanley upping its price target from 3112p to 3168p. Credit Suisse, meanwhile, has given the whole sector a rating upgrade, to 'benchmark'.Moving from underground to outer space, satellite broadcaster BSkyB had a good third quarter, adding a net 94,000 subscribers in the last three months, with revenues and profits also ahead. However, the strong performance was expected and the share price remains becalmed. Engineering company Invensys said its railway subsidiary has won a contract for the Metro system in São Paulo, Brazil. Invensys Rail will install its Sirius Communication Based Train Control (CBTC) system on line 8, 10 and 11 of the city's metro system.Conditions are set to remain mixed for underwriter Brit Insurance after a three months that saw UK premiums rise strongly but elsewhere remain under pressure.Laundry and workwear firm Davis Service Group said trading has continued broadly in line with the trends seen in the first half of the year, with revenue modestly ahead of the nine months period in 2008 and profits maintained at a similar level. Financial trading software specialist Fidessa has continued to make good progress across all regions and believes that it can deliver strong growth for 2009 as a whole. Speciality plastic and fibre products supplier Filtrona had a slightly better than expected third quarter than management had been expecting, on the back of a strong performance by its Porous Technologies division.Foam maker Zotefoams expects underlying profits to beat market foreasts for this year after sales picked up in the second half.Metals group Delta's trading performance has weakened since the half year though it remains on track to hit market forecasts.Sub-prime lender Provident Financial expects no material improvement in the rate of increase in unemployment until next Spring and will maintain a cautious approach to new lending will remain in place at least until then.Exploration and production energy company Hardy Oil and Gas's shares shed around a third of their value after it plugged and abandoned the first of four wells to be drilled in the D9 exploration licence in India. The proposed merger between South African platinum producer Sylvania Resources and Finnish minerals company Ruukki Group has been called off by mutual consent.Medgenics has moved a step closer to commercialisation of its tissue protein therapy technology by securing the backing of a major international biopharmaceuticals company.