Disappointing US retail sales for December had repercussions this side of the pond, prompting the morning's gains to be pared. US retail sales fell by 0.3% month-on-month in December, against expectations of a slight rise.Miners remain wanted with Xstrata, Rio Tinto, Kazakhmys and Antofagasta among the best performers.Rio Tinto hailed another very strong quarter for iron ore production, driven by continuing high demand from China' as it published its fourth quarter operations review. The company is seeing recovery across most of its key commodities but remains cautious about the global economy going into 2010.Fresnillo saw quarterly silver production increase by 10% year on year and said it expects production to remain steady in 2010. The miner produced 9.36 million ounces of silver in the three month ended 31 December, though that is down 4% on the previous quarter.Primark and British Sugar owner Associated British Foods is in demand. The group had a better than anticipated end to 2009, and said it expects a 'significant increase' in operating profits in 2010. Group revenue in the 16 weeks to 2 January was 17% higher than in the corresponding period of the previous year, or 11% on a constant currency basis.Elsewhere in retail, Home Retail is the main blue chip faller despite saying that it thinks full-year profit will beat consensus estimates by £20m after a better than expected performance from the Argos business during the 18 weeks to 2 January. Argos reported a 3.9% hike in total sales to £1.9bn and 0.1% increase in like for like sales. DIY chain Homebase posted a 4.6% rise in total sales to £501m and 4% jump on a like for like basis, led by big ticket items like kitchens. Fellow DIY stores owner Kingfisher falls in sympathy. In the FTSE 250, electrical goods retailer DSG International, music and book retailer HMV, baby products specialist Mothercare and car parts and bicycle group Halfords are all sharply lower.DSG said it was trading ahead of expectations in all markets as it posted an 8% increase in like-for-like sales for the 12 weeks to January 9.HMV posted a fall in like-for-like sales over the Christmas period as its Waterstone's book store underperformed, but the firm saw a rise in total sales as it benefited from the demise of rivals such as Zavvi.Baby products retailer Mothercare saw a 4.2% rise in like-for-like sales in the 13 weeks to January 8 after a strong Christmas. Total sales were up by 4.6%, with the UK seeing a 2.5% rise, international sales up by 9.3% and home delivery division Mothercare Direct seeing a 19.5% jump.Halfords expects earnings for the full year to be towards the upper end of market forecasts but said it remains cautious about the wider economic outlook in the near term.UK banking giant Barclays is to acquire the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) designated market maker assignments of New York based LaBranche for $25m in cash. Elsewhere in the sector Lloyds Banking gets a lift from Exane BNP, which sees 20% upside in the share price, though the government's 43.4% stake will continue to limit the possibility of a return to a triple-digit share price.Hovis to Branston Pickle maker Premier Foods said it expects to report encouraging branded sales growth of 6.4% and market share gains in its key branded categories for full year 2009. Sales in the fourth quarter were up by 1.5% on last year with branded sales up 7.0%.Premier Oil says average daily production in 2009 met reduced targets, but is not expected to change much in 2010.Rail and bus operator FirstGroup said it remains on course to achieve earnings targets after seeing trading in line with expectations since its last update on November 4, with money the company receives from the government for operating franchises helping offset reduced passenger numbers.M&S food supplier Northern Foods said it is continuing to trade in line with market expectations following a 'solid' Christmas trading performance.Oil and gas facilities service provider Petrofac has completed the bolt-on acquisition of mechanical services business Scotvalve Services.Cash and carry wholesaler Booker said like for like sales in the 16 weeks to 1 January 2010 rose by 6.7% from the same time a year before. The fourth quarter is typically the weakest of the year at storage company Big Yellow but the group was encouraged that performance in December was ahead of expectations.The fall-out from the banking crisis is still hampering performance at financial services and healthcare software provider Misys but the company is encouraged by growth in its order intake. Revenue in the six months to the end of November rose 29% to £361m from £280m a year earlier, but was down 1% on a pro-forma constant currency basis.Filtrona is 'pleased' with its performance in 2009 as the speciality plastic and fibre products supplier said trading since its last update in October has been in line with expectations. Nightclub operator Luminar expects pre-tax profits for the year to 25 February to fall short of expectations after wintery weather kept clubbers away from its nightspots.Recruiter Hays is the top FTSE 250 performer after Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock to 'overweight' from 'equal weight', while shifting sector peer Michael Page the other way.An uplift in revenue performance in the last two months of the year capped a strong second half for European newspaper group Mecom. The group expects earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for the whole of 2009 to be in the region of €123m, while net debt was around €20m lower at the end of 2009 than the market had been expecting.UK and Canadian travel operator Travelzest posted a profit of £719,000 in the year to 31 October, compared with a loss of £4.9m the previous year, even as revenues fell to £38.3m from £44.3m.
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