Vodafone Share News (VOD)

Mining stocks were among the worst performers on Friday morning, providing a drag on the FTSE 100 as risk appetite declined following the index's seven-week high reached the day before.London's benchmark index closed at 6,634 on Thursday; the last time the index finished higher was on May 30th when it closed at 6,657."After the recent bounce mining stocks have retreated to the bottom of the FTSE again this morning as bargain hunters who got in at the lows take some profit off the table," said Matt Basi, Head of UK Sales Trading at CMC Markets. "A relatively quiet afternoon calendar will likely see shallow volume in afternoon trade as the week draws to a close."Both the S&P 500 and Dow Jones closed at fresh all-time highs last night after economic data and a raft of corporate earnings came in better than expected. After the closing bell however, tech giants Google and Microsoft both missed Wall Street profit forecasts, dampening sentiment across the technology industry.The G20 meeting in Moscow will also be in focus and is expected to discuss many issues, including high unemployment, market volatility and the global economic recovery. The global consequences of uncertainty regarding the tapering of US quantitative easing will also likely be on the agenda.Meanwhile, UK public-sector borrowing in June was slightly higher than expected and showed little evidence of benefits from increased activity in the wider economy. Public-sector net borrowing excluding the cost of financial interventions, was £8.5bn in June, down from £11.9bn a year earlier but above the £8.0bn forecast.Martin Beck, UK economist at Capital Economics, said: "While other indicators are pointing to signs of life in the UK economy, the public finances have yet to see much of a boost from the nascent upturn. In all then, beneath all the temporary distortions, the public finances remain a long way from health."FTSE 100: IMI up on Citi comments; Vodafone gains despite drop in revenue Engineering firm IMI was the standout performer on the Footsie after Citigroup named it a 'Most Preferred' stock. The broker said: "We see further significant margin upside at IMI, driven by both mix and restructuring. A strong balance sheet and yield are both supportive, too."In contrast, technology business Smiths Group was out of favour after Citi named it its 'Least Preferred' following a profit warning earlier this week. The broker said the stock remains at a valuation premium to the UK sector despite mixed trading and the shares are "likely to drift".A decline in risk appetite was benefitting equities in defensive sectors this morning, such as telecoms and utilities, with BT Group, United Utilities, SSE and National Grid on the up. Even Vodafone was in demand despite reporting a 3.5% year-on-year drop in second-quarter revenue, blaming ongoing economic and regulatory pressures in its key market of Europe. In contrast, relatively 'riskier' stocks in the mining sector were out of favour: Fresnillo, Glencore Xstrata, Anglo American and Rio Tinto were among the worst performers.FTSE 250: DCC jumps after strong start to the yearMarketing, distribution and business support group DCC was a high riser after lifting its full-year guidance as the cold weather in spring drove up demand for its heating oils and liquefied petroleum gas. Both Investec and Jefferies raised their target prices for the stock this morning.Defence technology company Chemring was taken down a peg by UBS after the broker cut its rating from 'buy' to 'neutral' on the back of reductions to short-term profit forecasts.FTSE 100 - RisersIMI (IMI) 1,406.00p +2.48%BT Group (BT.A) 336.70p +1.39%Capita (CPI) 1,056.00p +1.05%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 4,503.00p +1.03%Tate & Lyle (TATE) 860.00p +1.00%Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 216.60p +0.84%United Utilities Group (UU.) 725.50p +0.76%Barclays (BARC) 319.40p +0.74%SSE (SSE) 1,632.00p +0.68%National Grid (NG.) 769.50p +0.65%FTSE 100 - FallersFresnillo (FRES) 1,001.00p -2.91%ARM Holdings (ARM) 897.50p -2.55%Standard Life (SL.) 382.20p -2.10%Persimmon (PSN) 1,248.00p -1.58%WPP (WPP) 1,191.00p -1.57%Unilever (ULVR) 2,724.00p -1.52%Glencore Xstrata (GLEN) 269.25p -1.48%AstraZeneca (AZN) 3,257.50p -1.44%Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,906.50p -1.42%Croda International (CRDA) 2,565.00p -1.35%FTSE 250 - RisersFenner (FENR) 348.20p +3.91%DCC (DCC) 2,686.00p +3.27%Ladbrokes (LAD) 206.30p +2.18%Ocado Group (OCDO) 325.90p +2.16%Supergroup (SGP) 1,019.00p +2.00%Playtech (PTEC) 672.00p +1.82%United Drug (UDG) 346.00p +1.76%Sports Direct International (SPD) 649.00p +1.72%BBA Aviation (BBA) 289.30p +1.51%Spirent Communications (SPT) 124.70p +1.38%FTSE 250 - FallersChemring Group (CHG) 306.40p -4.58%Domino Printing Sciences (DNO) 636.00p -2.38%Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 87.65p -2.34%Rank Group (RNK) 159.00p -2.09%Lonmin (LMI) 297.60p -2.01%Henderson Group (HGG) 169.10p -1.86%JPMorgan Emerging Markets Inv Trust (JMG) 574.00p -1.63%Go-Ahead Group (GOG) 1,573.00p -1.38%Genesis Emerging Markets Fund Ltd. (GSS) 520.00p -1.33%Micro Focus International (MCRO) 757.00p -1.30%BC