London midday: Blue chips power ahead

Footsie is powering forward on the back of strong performances from financials and miners.Lonmin and Kazakhmys are the best performing miners, while among financials the stand-out stocks are spread around the insurance (Legal & General, Prudential), banking (Barclays), fund management (Schroders ) and property (Hammerson) sectors.International Power is charged up on widespread reports it will reveal a merger with French utility GDF Suez. That should trigger a £1.3bn windfall for International Power shareholders. The deal is expected to be announced tomorrow.BP's "static kill" and cementing procedures at the broken MC252 well have been "successful", stopping oil from leaking into the Gulf of Mexico, the oil giant confirmed Monday. The first of two relief wells should also make contact with the original well on 15 August. The disaster has cost the company $6.1bn so far, including $319m to settle almost 104,000 claims. Another 41,000 claims are currently being processed.Drug giant AstraZeneca has agreed to pay a total of $198m in compensation to about 17,500 claimants in the US in relation to its bipolar disorder treatment Seroquel. The terms of the agreements, which came after court mediation, are confidential, Astra said. The payments will not be reflected in 2010 earnings and guidance for profits in the year remains unchanged at $6.35 to $6.65.Pub and restaurant group Mitchells & Butlers is to sell the operations and leaseholds of its Hollywood Bowl business for £27m cash to AMF Bowling. M&B will also sell the remaining freehold property interests in four of the sites for at least £12m "in due course". Oil and gas services group Petrofac has won a $430m contract with Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) to develop a water pumping system that will help increase oil recovery. 'The project involves the installation of a new central injection pumping facility and modifications to three of the existing gathering centres and seawater treatment plant,' Petrofac said.Turkmenistan-focused Dragon Oil confirmed production rose less than expected in the first half of 2010, although profits are up and it remains confident in the outlook for the rest of the year.Shares in social housing maintenance group Connaught are sharply lower again as it holds emergency talks with banks over a possible debt-for-equity swap that would wipe out shareholders. First half sales and profits fell at contractor and support service group Morgan Sindall as activity declined with the economy, though the order book is up.Specialist brick, land development and landfill firm Michelmersh Brick said trading during the first half of the year has been in line with management's expectations and is well placed for good progress through the rest of 2010 and beyond. Hill & Smith posted an increase in half year profit and remains confident over the longer term. The supplier of infrastructure products, galvanizing services and building and construction products spooked the market, however, by admitting that a reduction in UK spending on new road products "seems inevitable".Max Petroleum shares rallied after the Kazakhstan-focused oil firm said it has made a potential new oil discovery in the Zhana Makat Field. Stoke-on-Trent based ceramics maker Portmeirion almost doubled profit during the first half of the year and said it remains confident despite an expected tough climate in the second half. Profit before tax increased to £1m for the six months to 30 June 2010 from £532,000 the same time a year earlier. Revenue for the period rose to £21.1m from £17m before helped by its recent acquisitions.