London midday: Gold stocks shine in dull market

The market has been absorbed in interpreting smoke signals from the US and UK central banks today. In the US, the Federal Reserve left interest rates at just above 0% and said yesterday it expects the recovery to continue, but added "the pace of economic recovery is likely to be modest in the near-term."There was a similar theme here with minutes released this morning from the Bank of England's latest meeting showing that some members of the rate setting committee think that the probability that more action will be needed to stimulate the economy had increased.Last night's Fed comments sent the dollar lower and gold to record highs, boosting the share price of gold miners African Barrick and Randgold. Silver miner Fresnillo, which also has some gold interests, is the top performing blue-chip while industrial metal miners such as Antofagasta and Rio Tinto are also in demand on hopes that further measures to stimulate the global economy could be on the way.Anglo-Swiss mining giant Xstrata is also on the up after announcing it has successfully negotiated a $4bn multi-currency revolving credit facility to replace its existing $5.5bn facility, which matures in October 2011.BHP Billiton shareholders will demand success from chief executive Marius Kloppers this year after it emerged that the company, currently facing the prospect of a bid battle for Potash Corp, paid him $11.3m (£7.2m) in 2009. Kloppers, who's coming up to three years in the job now, received a base salary and bonus of $4.4m, with chunky pension, dividend and share-based payments making up the rest.Elsewhere, shares in Imperial Tobacco are proving a draw as the Lambert & Butler cigarettes maker assured the market it is still on track to meet forecasts for the year, though growth in tobacco revenues has slowed slightly over the last six months. IMPs expects net revenues to be up around 3% in the year to 30 September compared with a 4% gain to £3.4bn for the six months to 31 March. Stockbroker Killik & Co was singing IMPs' praises as "one of the most attractively rated defensive companies in the market" with a little bit of added spice of murmurings of bid interest, though given the level of debt IMPs has and the regulatory hurdles any bidder would have to clear, the broker considers the prospect of a bid to be low.Broker comment is less helpful to pumps maker Weir , just a couple of days after it made it into the FTSE 100. RBS has changed its stance on the company's shares from "buy" to "hold", even though it has raised its target price from 1412p to 1567p.Moir Lockhead, the veteran chief executive of FirstGroup, is to retire next March after twenty one years in charge of the bus and train group. His replacement will be his current deputy Tim O'Toole, previously the managing director of London Underground.Bid target Dana Petroleum has received the go-ahead from the Dutch authorities for its 50% owned Medway integrated oil and gas development. First production from Medway is expected in the fourth quarter of 2011.Waste management firm Shanks has been a bid target in the past, having been approached by private equity group Carlyle, and it could be a target again in the near future if market gossip is to be believed. The shares are the best performers among FTSE 250 companies. The utility solutions arm of energy supplier Scottish and Southern Energy is to develop an embedded electricity network for Nissan Motor manufacturing UK.Redhall has agreed to buy Mount Engineering for 70p per share, valuing the oil and gas valve maker at £16m. Redhall said the purchase will boost in its international presence in the oil and gas market and strengthen its specialist manufacturing capability, especially in high hazard markets.FTSE 100 - RisersFresnillo (FRES) 1,224.00p +2.34%African Barrick Gold (ABG) 599.50p +2.22%Randgold Resources (RRS) 6,450.00p +2.22%Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,201.00p +2.04%Xstrata (XTA) 1,190.50p +1.97%Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,635.50p +1.83%BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,993.50p +1.76%Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 1,923.00p +1.58%Lonmin (LMI) 1,698.00p +1.56%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 1,420.00p +1.43%FTSE 100 - FallersAviva (AV.) 402.50p -3.48%Autonomy Corporation (AU.) 1,770.00p -3.23%Weir Group (WEIR) 1,396.00p -3.06%Resolution (RSL) 230.90p -3.02%Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,374.00p -2.41%Invensys (ISYS) 285.40p -2.03%InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 1,119.00p -2.01%Tullow Oil (TLW) 1,268.00p -1.93%Prudential (PRU) 608.00p -1.78%WPP Group (WPP) 717.00p -1.71%FTSE 250 - RisersShanks Group (SKS) 115.00p +11.11%Centamin Egypt (CEY) 191.40p +3.63%ITE Group (ITE) 170.00p +2.53%Robert Wiseman (RWD) 349.20p +2.52%Shaftesbury (SHB) 439.00p +2.26%Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 594.00p +1.63%Cranswick (CWK) 835.00p +1.58%Victrex (VCT) 1,217.00p +1.42%Great Portland Estates (GPOR) 338.70p +1.35%Hiscox (HSX) 365.10p +1.30%FTSE 250 - FallersPZ Cussons (PZC) 365.00p -4.50%Pace (PIC) 189.60p -4.48%JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 815.00p -4.06%