London afternoon: Footsie in red despite miners

Mining stocks are buoyant after China's economy grew 9.8% in the final quarter of 2010, but demand for miners has not prevented the blue-chip index from sliding into the red. Takeover talk is pushing the price of engineering stalwarts Weir Group and Invensys higher, with German engineering colossus Siemens said to have cash burning a hole in its pocket.The German company's chief financial officer, Joe Kaeser, said Siemens has "up to several billion euros" to spend on the right acquisition target.Shares in John Wood have roared ahead after the oilfield services group said it is returning money to shareholders, and is to pay out $1.7bn after it agreed to sell its Well Support division to US giant GE for $2.8bn cash. Sector peer Petrofac rises in sympathy.Exillon Energy, the oil producer with assets in northern Russia and West Siberia, is in demand after it announced an upgrade to its estimated reserves. The estimate of the group's proved (1P) reserves has increased by 40% to 112m barrels, while proved plus probable (2P) reserves are estimated to be 74% higher.Engine maker Rolls-Royce has won a $2.2bn (£1.4bn) contract with Emirates to look after its Trent engines on 70 of the airline's new Airbus A350XWB aircraft. Elsewhere in the aircraft sector British Airways owner International Consolidated Airlines Group (IAG) is losing altitude after UBS cut its price target from 360p to 290p on concerns about fuel price rises and over-capacity issues on some routes.UBS has also been passing judgement on Cable & Wireless Communications, and has downgraded the telecoms firm to "sell" from "neutral."Trading systems developer Fidessa is to pay a special dividend again this year, this time topping last year's 40p payment with a 45p per share pay out, after revenue and adjusted profit before tax both grew 10% in 2010. National Express has denied weekend reports that hedge fund Elliott wants the bus and train group to put itself up for sale or to merge with Stagecoach or SNCF of France.Recruiter Harvey Nash's trading in the second half has been strong and results this year will be ahead of market expectations. Total revenue for the year to January will be £425m, gross profit of £68m and profit before tax of circa £6m, up 46% on the previous comparable year.Utility services group Telecom Plus expects full year profits to be ahead of market expectations, despite December's severe weather conditions resulting in slightly slower customer growth in the third quarter.LED lighting developer Dialight doubled profits in 2010 - "a very satisfactory performance" - following progress in ultra efficient lighting and signalling. The group, which said last month that full-year results would beat expectations, posted a profit before tax of £11.3m, up from £5.3m in 2009. Revenue jumped 28% to £99.2m.Plant hire specialist Speedy Hire has moved ahead after it said sales were up by 8.8% in the three months to 31 December despite the bad weather towards the end of the period. The company pointed out that the strong growth came in spite of the 3.3% contraction in the construction sector during the quarter. Patent translation specialist RWS Holdings said trading since the end of September has been encouraging and in line with expectations. Broker Peel Hunt said it is too early in the financial year to contemplate changing its forecasts but it would not rule out the possibility of upgrades "if current market conditions persist".The share price of potash development group Sirius Minerals took a dive as talks with Sino-Agri Mining about jointly exploiting Sirius's wholly owned Adavale project drag on. Discussions between the two parties are continuing but they will have to crack on if a deal is to be signed before the expiration of the exclusivity period runs out on 15 February.