Equities staged a rally in the afternoon session but it was not enough to push the Footsie back into the black, largely because of weak miners, which took fright at moves by the Chinese central bank to cool down the economy by increasing the reserves ratio for Chinese commercial banks.Fresnillo, Lonmin, Kazakhmys, Vedanta and Xstrata all took the low road, as did Rio Tinto, despite UBS lifting its price target from 3550p to 4020p. Travel related stocks were also out of favour, with airline British Airways and package tour company TUI in the doghouse.Tesco was off the top but clung on to some of the morning's gains. The Cheshunt based company enjoyed its best Christmas in three years as shoppers braved the winter weather to stock up on festive treats. In the six weeks to January 9, the firm posted a 5.1% rise in like-for-like sales excluding petrol and VAT at its UK business, ahead of expectations. Sector peer Morrisons was higher despite Citigroup issuing a sell recommendation.Cadbury stepped up its efforts to repel the advancers of Kraft Foods today, repeating its view that the US processed foods group's offer is 'derisory' and completely undervalues the British chocolate maker. Ahead of full-year results on Thursday, it said its 2009 performance is 'well ahead' of previously upgraded market expectations thanks to strong growth in the fourth quarter.Inter-dealer broker ICAP was on offer after IPGL, a private company controlled by Tory party treasurer Michael Spencer, sold off 7m shares at 440p each yesterday.Bookmaker Ladbrokes has confirmed that chief executive Chris Bell is standing down after nine years at the helm and that it is looking for a replacement.Housebuilders did well after Credit Suisse issued a bullish update on prospects for the UK housebuilding sector with outperform ratings on all of the main companies, bar Berkeley, which is a hold. The Swiss broker sees an average 58% upside from current share price levels based on flat house prices in 2010 and no further impairments across the sector. Bovis is CS's top pick, with 86% upside to its target price.Fellow Swiss bank, UBS, likes the look of laundry and workwear firm Davis Service, which it has raised to 'buy' while upping the price target from 400p to 450p.Aside from Tesco, there was carnage in the retail sector. Department store Debenhams has missed the pre-Christmas rush experienced by many of its rivals, though profits and margins both increased. Like-for-likes sales in the eighteen weeks to 2 January rose by just 0.1%, which Debenhams says was in line with its forecasts.Video games retailer Game Group has lowered its full year profit expectations after seeing a sharp fall in sales over the Christmas period. In the five weeks to January 9, total sales were down by 12.1%, while like-for-like sales slid 13.8%. In the UK and Ireland, sales fell by 18% or 17.5% on a like-for-like basis. Home furnishings retailer Dunelm kept up its impressive performance through the first half, but warned it will become 'much more difficult' to sustain like for like growth over the next six to twelve months. The group, which operates 100 shops including 88 of out-of-town superstores, reported like for like (LFL) sales up 15.4% in the 26 weeks to 2 January after a 15.1% rise in the 17 weeks to end October.Tile and flooring specialist Topps Tiles said its trading performance over the first 14 weeks provides reassurance that consumer confidence is returning. However, the group added it was cautious about the outlook for the economy and believes that 2010 may continue to present a challenging economic environment for consumers. Profits at shop fitter Havelock Europa this year will be significantly below current market expectations as severe weather in the last two weeks of November and the month of December caused significant disruption to trading in the Educational Interiors Division.Moneysupermarket.com, the price comparison website, confirmed that its 2009 results were in line with what was expected when it last updated in November.International infrastructure group Balfour Beatty has been awarded two 'AMP5' capital programme contracts worth £600m by water utility companies.Joinery company Galiform said it expects pre-tax profits for the year to come in at the top end of expectations after it continued to perform resiliently. Sales climbed by 6% to £220m between October 5 and December 26 from the same period the previous year, however over the year Howden Joinery UK Depot sales fell by 3.4% to £756.4m.Emerging markets fund manager Ashmore saw its share price dented by a broker note from UBS. The Swiss outfit has downgraded the stock to 'neutral' from 'buy' and lowered the price target from 330p to 285p.UK and Ireland focused property investment and development group Real Estate Opportunities received a boost from a rent hike for its largest tenant, Vodafone.Shares in power products group Volex were on a charge after the company said it may meet or beat expectations for the trading year to 4 April.Debt advice firm Fairpoint reinstated its dividend payment and said trading in the second half was in line with management expectations.Components group Elektron said it expects to perform 'significantly' better than the current market forecast for the financial year ending 31 January, excluding the exceptional charges arising from its restructuring.Software group Access Intelligence says progress has been good in all areas of the group with operating profits for the year ended 30 November 2009 expected to be in line with market expectations on sales of around £6m (2008: £3.96m), while cash at the year end was £1.7m.FTSE 100 - RisersLand Securities Group (LAND) 693.50p +1.54%Wolseley (WOS) 1,447.00p +1.47%RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 126.50p +1.36%Serco Group (SRP) 526.50p +1.25%BT Group (BT.A) 144.30p +1.19%FTSE 100 - FallersFresnillo (FRES) 808.00p -5.16%Lonmin (LMI) 2,069.00p -4.08%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 1,435.00p -3.82%British Airways (BAY) 191.40p -3.33%FTSE 250 - RisersGaliform (GFRM) 87.55p +11.88%Computacenter (CCC) 309.00p +6.08%FTSE 250 - FallersAshmore Group (ASHM) 250.00p -5.73%Game Group (GMG) 100.00p -5.57%
Last checked at 
