London afternoon: Miners a drag

Footsie moved sideways over the lunch time trading session. Mining stocks continue to weigh the blue-chip index down, but oil stocks provide some cheer.A decline in copper imports into commodity-hungry China sent prices for the red metal lower. Kazakhmys, which transports copper from its Kazakhstan mines to China by rail, is among the heaviest fallers. Fellow miners ENRC, Vedanta and Xstrata are also friendless, while silver miner Fresnillo, which has not had a good 2011 so far, is sharply lower again today.Oil prices are on the rise, benefiting the likes of Heritage Oil and Tullow. The latter had mixed news this morning, with success on one well in Ghana but a disappointing outcome on a prospect in Mauritania. However, shares in BP fell after the oil giant shut down a major oil pipeline in Alaska due to a leak.Oil explorer Soco has had its application to extend its licence on the Te Giac Den Appraisal Area (TGD), offshore Vietnam, rejected by the Vietnamese government.Smith & Nephew jumped more than 10% following reports it turned down a bid approach from US rival Johnson & Johnson just before Christmas.The Americans are said to have offered about 750p per share, valuing the knee joint maker at almost £6.7bn, and are considering whether to come back with a higher offer.There's also another batch of Christmas trading updates from retailers to digest. Supermarket chain Wm Morrison keeps forecasts for the full-year unchanged after growing like for like sales excluding fuel by 1% in the six weeks to January 2. In his first Christmas as chief executive, Dalton Philips reported total sales excluding fuel rose 3.1%, or 4.7% including fuel, while like for like sales were up 4% when fuel is included.December's bad weather clipped department store Debenhams' sales growth by 2.5%-3%, though underlying sales still picked up slightly thanks to strong online growth and market share gains. Online grocer Ocado said gross sales in the final quarter of 2010 increased 27.4% as it delivered nearly all its orders despite the extreme weather conditions. The group, whose main customer is Waitrose, said fourth quarter sales increased to £178.9m from £140.5m in the same period a year before. International recruitment firm Michael Page saw organic growth in all regions in the fourth quarter of 2010, with fourth quarter gross profit up 32.2% to £119.8m from £90.6m a year earlier. A joint venture in which both Balfour Beatty and Morgan Sindall own a 30% stake has won the £235m Whitechapel and Liverpool Street Station tunnels contract, which forms part of the Crossrail link. Work on the five-year project starts next month.Underlying profits at housebuilder Persimmon will be at the top end of expectations, a good send off for chairman John White who's retiring after 32 years at the company. A "significant" increase in profit before tax, goodwill charges and exceptional items has propelled the figure towards the upper end of analysts' forecast which range from £75m to £96m.Pharmaceuticals firm and bid target ProStrakan nudged 12-month highs after gaining approval from the American authorities for cancer pain drug Abstral.Shares of LED lighting developer Dialight shot ahead after it confirmed 2010 results are expected to exceed market expectations as demand for its products increases.Engine consultant Ricardo sees positive signs of recovery in the passenger car market with first half order intake up 25% from the same period a year earlier.Omega Insurance Holdings has confirmed press speculation that it has received an unsolicited bid approach from Canopius Group. Canopius is proposing a cash plus shares offer for Omega.Shares in Anglo Asian Mining jumped after the Azerbaijan-focused gold producer reported record quarterly gold production at its Gedabek mine. The company produced 19,555 ounces of gold during the month. In contrast, sector peer Vatukoula Gold Mines saw its share price lose some of its lustre morning after it reported first quarter results. Gold recovered in the three months to 30 November fell to 16,565 ounces from 21,107 ounces in the preceding three months.Security, defence and fire protection provider Westminster Group has secured a new contract for the supply of a sophisticated countermeasures system to a national government in the Asia-pacific region. The contract is valued around $645,000.