London afternoon: Equities off the top

Shares have eased back in the first half of the afternoon session, though Footsie remains in positive territory. Miners and banks remain the best performers.Miner ENRC surges ahead after it said sales and production volumes during the first quarter were better than prior expectations though pricing pressures remain. Vedanta, Xstrata, Kazakhmys, Rio Tinto and Antofagasta are also going well.Mining giant BHP Billiton has agreed to cut the price of metallurgical coal, which is used by steelmakers, by 58% for the current shipping year with key global customers. Broker comment boosts the banking sector. JP Morgan said it continues to recommend an overweight position on the sector. Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking are the stand-out stocks in the sector.As crude oil rises above $70 a barrel oil titans BP and Royal Dutch Shell are in demand, but Tullow Oil sees profit taking after its recent good run.Defence stocks BAE Systems and Cobham continue to slide lower after adverse broker comment on Monday which suggested the two companies would be hit by cutbacks in US and UK military spending as both countries seek to curtail their commitments to Iraq and Afghanistan.With the tube strike taking place in London today, bike and car parts retailer Halfords chose a good day to release its full-year results. The company has upped its dividend after delivering a slightly better than expected 2.4% rise in full-year profits. Profit before tax and exceptional items for the 52 weeks to 27 March was £92.4m compared with the previous year's £90.2m. Engineer Charter slumped on a warning. if the difficult conditions seen in May persist, it anticipates the outcome for 2009 will be materially lower than its previous expectations.Imperial Leather soap maker PZ Cussons will post in-line numbers for the year to May 2009 with good growth in both the UK and Nigeria despite the tough economic backdrop. Nigeria has been less impacted by the global recession and is benefiting from oil prices rising again, Cussons added. Electronics group Filtronic said trading in the second half of the year has been as expected with a better than breakeven result and operating cash neutrality. The group also announced that chief financial officer Stephen Mole will step down at the end of September. Phorm, the controversial internet ad monitor specialist, is to raise £15m through a placing of new shares at 450p. The firm intends to use the cash to continue the implementation of its service in the UK and Korean markets, and for general working capital purposes.Funds under management slumped at Liontrust Asset Management last year in what it described as "arguably the most difficult" it has ever faced. Assets dropped by 60% £4.7bn to £1.9bn in the year to March with net outflows of £1.37bn. The turmoil in the equity markets knocked off a further £1.44bn. At 9 June, assets had fallen again to £1.2bn.