HSBC Holdings Share News (HSBA)

Resources and bank shares are leading Footsie higher. Xstrata has signed a non-binding letter of intent to buy the 75% it does not own of the owner of the CEZ zinc refinery in Canada. The refinery processes zinc concentrate for Xstrata in return for a fee. The purchase will cost C$127.5m and the company also has net debt of C$191m. HSBC has given the whole banking sector a lift. The global banking giant's pre-tax profit more than doubled to $11.1bn on a reported basis, while underlying pre-tax profit rose by 30% to $9.6bn. Loan impairment charges and other credit risk provisions tumbled by $6.4bn to $7.5bn, the lowest level since the start of the financial crisis. Intertek, the provider of quality checking and safety services, reported a 3% rise in half year profits. The group expects to achieve 2010 organic revenue growth of mid single digits with a broadly similar margin to 2009.Only Unilever and Randgold Resources are lower. Randgold says that its Loulo gold mine in Mali will not produce as much gold as hoped after a difficult quarter. FTSE 100 - RisersXstrata (XTA) 1,079.00p +6.25%Intertek Group (ITRK) 1,670.00p +5.90%Essar Energy (ESSR) 437.40p +5.63%Tullow Oil (TLW) 1,298.00p +5.44%HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 680.60p +5.36%Vedanta Resources (VED) 2,568.00p +5.20%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 1,274.00p +4.77%British Airways (BAY) 229.90p +4.69%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 52.30p +4.68%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 72.41p +4.55%FTSE 100 - FallersRandgold Resources (RRS) 5,700.00p -0.52%Unilever (ULVR) 1,807.00p -0.22%