London midday: Footsie stuck in the red as miners weigh

Footsie remains firmly in the red amid losses in the mining sector.Outsourcing giant Capita, which yesterday said revenue growth in the second half of 2010 had been subdued due to government cuts in public spending, is suffering more falls today.Miners Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton, Kazakhmys and Anglo American are weaker, as are banks Standard Chartered, Barclays and HSBC as the market awaits news on the possible bailout of Ireland, perhaps worth over €80bn.Elsewhere in mining, Vedanta Resources has arranged a $6bn financing agreement with a consortium of banks to cover part of the $8.5bn-9.6bn needed to acquire 51-60% of Cairn India. The company is buying 31%-40% and subsidiary Sesa Goa Ltd the remaining 20%. "The financing announced today provides the group with funding flexibility," explained chairman Anil Agarwal. "A testament to the strength of the Vedanta story," he said.Rival UK drugs group BTG has emerged as the potential bidder for stent specialist Biocompatibles, with the two groups agreeing a takeover that values the firm at £177m or 430p per share. Biocompatibles shareholders will receive 1.6733 New BTG Shares and 10p in cash for each Biocompatibles share. The offer is worth about 40% more than the price on the day Biocompatibles announced it had been approached. BTG is down 10% and Biocompatibles up 12%.Regus, the serviced office specialist, increased revenue slightly during the four months to the end of October, as expected at the time of the interim results in August. Revenues at actual exchange rates rose to £336.5m from £332m a year earlier. The company still thinks now is the best time to invest in growth, with 48 of the 92 centres added so far this year completed since the start of July at a cost of almost £30m. Emerging markets accounted for 58% of them.Record orders over the past three months have kept valve and actuators group Rotork on course this year. "Order intake in the period remained strong, with the third quarter 28% higher than the prior year, a new record," the firm said. "Revenue and margins have been consistent with management expectations and the full year profit outlook remains in line with previous guidance and market consensus," it added.FTSE 100 - RisersMan Group (EMG) 290.40p +2.18%ARM Holdings (ARM) 378.60p +2.16%Autonomy Corporation (AU.) 1,428.00p +2.07%International Power (IPR) 432.90p +1.07%Investec (INVP) 511.00p +0.79%Serco Group (SRP) 560.00p +0.63%Weir Group (WEIR) 1,733.00p +0.46%Essar Energy (ESSR) 508.50p +0.39%Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 1,997.00p +0.35%British Airways (BAY) 273.80p +0.33%FTSE 100 - FallersCapita Group (CPI) 666.50p -3.41%Sage Group (SGE) 261.10p -3.01%Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,800.00p -2.81%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 66.22p -2.32%BHP Billiton (BLT) 2,314.50p -2.14%Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 382.10p -2.08%Rio Tinto (RIO) 4,193.50p -2.06%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 1,440.00p -2.04%SABMiller (SAB) 2,115.00p -1.95%Hammerson (HMSO) 403.10p -1.95%FTSE 250 - RisersYell Group (YELL) 11.64p +3.93%Lamprell (LAM) 306.00p +3.73%Meggitt (MGGT) 335.70p +3.64%Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 698.00p +3.41%Imagination Technologies Group (IMG) 327.40p +3.18%Fenner (FENR) 299.50p +2.57%Lancashire Holdings (LRE) 649.00p +2.45%Stobart Group Ltd. (STOB) 141.00p +2.17%Enterprise Inns (ETI) 101.90p +2.05%Heritage Oil (HOIL) 374.20p +1.96%FTSE 250 - FallersBTG (BGC) 226.20p -9.88%Regus (RGU) 76.20p -4.99%Aquarius Platinum Ltd. (AQP) 337.10p -4.07%Melrose (MRO) 291.90p -4.04%Melrose Resources (MRS) 240.20p -3.92%Computacenter (CCC) 358.60p -3.83%easyJet (EZJ) 435.60p -3.20%Pace (PIC) 190.30p -3.06%Kesa Electricals (KESA) 156.00p -2.44%Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 2,535.00p -2.42%