London close: Subdued finish for Footsie, but Vedanta jumps

- Vedanta jumps on further speculation of restructuring in India.- Lloyds falls on tough outlook for 2012.- BoE's Fisher thinks outlook is 'incredibly uncertain'. The Footsie finished flat on Friday after the blue chip index swung between gains and losses in a tight range of just 20 points or so for the majority of the day. Despite some better-than-expected economic data Stateside, which has fuelled a strong start on Wall Street, London's market remained subdued as some strong performances from Vedanta, Hammerson and oil groups were offset by a decline in heavyweight banking stocks Lloyds and RBS.In domestic news, UK gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 0.2% quarter-on-quarter in the fourth quarter of 2011 (0.7% year-on-year), according to the latest data out from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) this morning. That confirmed the preliminary estimate from government statisticians. The Bank of England's Markets Director, Paul Fisher, has said he remains open minded to a further round of quantitative easing (QE), or whether they should stop. "We may get surprises, positive or negative, before then which causes us to change our mind, but at the moment I would have a completely open mind going into the next round whether or not we need to (do more)," he said in an interview with City AM. He described the economic outlook as being "incredibly uncertain", adding that he feels, "slightly more comfortable about the inflation outlook than the outlook for growth." Meanwhile, in Eurozone news, European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi said that a turning point has been reached in the sovereign debt crisis and that Eurozone countries must now follow up with the implementation of austerity measures in order to assure an end to the saga. Investors are now looking ahead to next week's Long-Term Refinancing Operation (LTRO) by the ECB to provide low-cost funds to the region's banks.VEDANTA RISES ON RESTRUCTURING SPECULATION, LLOYDS TAKES A HITMining giant Vedanta Resources jumped late on after its Indian iron ore subsidiary Sesa Goa revealed that its board is meeting tomorrow to "consider restructuring proposals of the company". Rumours of a merger of Vedanta's two businesses - Sesa Goa and Sterlite (copper) - have been doing the rounds after the group announced that is reviewing its strategy to "simplify and consolidate its corporate structure". Today's announcement has raised the possibility of a potential combination. Lloyds Banking Group was a heavy faller after saying it expects the external environment to remain challenging this year and has had to delay its return on equity and income-related targets beyond 2014. The lender reported a statutory pre-tax loss of £3,542m for 2011, compared with a profit of £281m the year before, which includes a £3.2bn non-recurring provision for Payment Protect Insurance contact and redress costs. Sector peer RBS also fell after disappointing with its full-year results yesterday, while Barclays was making decent gains. Real estate investment trust Hammerson was the high riser after saying that it is to sell its offices investments to focus on its retail operations in the UK and France. The change in strategy was announced with the company's 2011 results in which it unveiled a 7.1% increase in adjusted net asset value per share (NAV) on a European Public Real Estate Association (EPRA)-sanctioned basis. Unilever was among the worst performing blue-chips after US rival Procter and Gamble unveiled plans to cut costs extensively and expand its presence in emerging markets. Sector peer Reckitt Benckiser was also on the fall after Goldman Sachs downgraded the consumer products group from buy to neutral. Oil giants Essar Energy, BG and BP were making gains as crude prices continued to rise. Brent crude futures were gaining 0.22% at the end of the session at the $123.89 level on the InterContinental Europe exchange. BP was higher despite apparently experiencing unplanned flaring and a breakdown at its Carson refinery in California. Shares in terrestrial broadcaster ITV were making gains ahead of the group's full-year results next Wednesday. Credit Suisse today reiterated its outperform rating on ITV saying that the stock is still "modestly valued" - trading at 10 times 2012 earnings - despite the 32% rally in the share price over the last three months. "Given ITV's structural advantage of being a vertically integrated producer/broadcaster, we think the stock deserves a higher rating," the broker said.FTSE 250: BERENDSEN JUMPS WHILE AQUARIUS TANKS Textile services firm Berendsen has reported a rise in both revenue and pre-tax profit for the full year ended December 31st. Profit before tax rose to £79.3m from £34.6m the previous year, while revenue gained 1% from £986.1m to £992m. Shares were up 10%. Heading the other way was miner Aquarius Platinum which said the Indigenisation Implementation Plan that its indirect 50% subsidiary submitted to the government of Zimbabwe in November 2011 has been rejected. Mimosa Holdings had submitted a plan outlining how it would meet the country's law requiring foreign miners to sell 51% of their assets to entities designated by the government. Insurance underwriter Lancashire Holdings was in the red after UBS downgraded the stock from buy to neutral on valuation grounds. BCFTSE 100 - RisersVedanta Resources (VED) 1,500.00p +4.53%Evraz (EVR) 415.00p +4.38%Man Group (EMG) 134.40p +4.19%Capita (CPI) 747.50p +4.11%Hammerson (HMSO) 400.10p +3.73%Essar Energy (ESSR) 126.00p +3.62%Amec (AMEC) 1,123.00p +3.22%GKN (GKN) 235.50p +3.15%ITV (ITV) 80.10p +2.96%Barclays (BARC) 247.65p +2.76%FTSE 100 - FallersLloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 35.73p -2.31%Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 3,421.00p -2.26%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 7,335.00p -2.20%Unilever (ULVR) 2,050.00p -1.91%Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,421.00p -1.46%Ashmore Group (ASHM) 395.50p -1.42%International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (IAG) 160.40p -1.35%Carnival (CCL) 1,872.00p -1.32%Fresnillo (FRES) 1,864.00p -1.11%Vodafone Group (VOD) 171.75p -1.01%FTSE 250 - RisersOphir Energy (OPHR) 426.00p +13.60%Berendsen (BRSN) 500.00p +8.23%Logica (LOG) 88.70p +7.52%Genus (GNS) 1,321.00p +5.26%Afren (AFR) 146.00p +4.51%JPMorgan Russian Securities (JRS) 596.00p +3.47%EnQuest (ENQ) 129.10p +3.28%Galliford Try (GFRD) 578.00p +3.21%Diploma (DPLM) 403.90p +3.17%Brewin Dolphin Holdings (BRW) 156.80p +3.16%FTSE 250 - FallersAquarius Platinum Ltd. (AQP) 136.00p -6.91%Hays (HAS) 84.10p -3.67%Computacenter (CCC) 400.60p -2.88%Kier Group (KIE) 1,298.00p -2.70%Centamin (DI) (CEY) 91.75p -2.50%JD Wetherspoon (JDW) 397.30p -2.38%Petropavlovsk (POG) 731.50p -2.34%Lancashire Holdings (LRE) 772.00p -2.28%Fenner (FENR) 470.90p -2.26%Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 247.30p -2.21%br