London midday: Oil stocks boost markets as sentiment recovers, Rolls-Royce drops

UK stocks staged a partial recovery on Friday following a turnaround in sentiment on Wall Street, with oil producers leading the upside after a bounce in oil prices from their recent lows.The FTSE 100 was up 0.8% at 6,245 by midday.On the face of it, a 0.8% gain on the FTSE 100 would otherwise be seen as an impressive performance, but it follows a 3.1% slump in the index over the past two sessions on the back of global growth concerns, soaring bond yields in the Eurozone and a crash in US Treasury yields.Alastair McCaig, market analyst at IG, said that "equity markets are behaving in a considerably calm and more calculating manner" during the morning session.He added: "Having closed below the 6,200 level, not seen since June 2013, the FTSE has quickly rectified that situation."Comments from Federal Reserve official James Bullard helped US markets erase most of their losses on Thursday after he suggested that policymakers could delay the end of their bond-buying programme following a recent drop in inflation expectations.The focus also was on monetary policy here in Britain after the Bank of England's chief economist Andy Haldane said he was "gloomier" on the UK's economic outlook and that interest rates will likely remain at their record-low level of 0.5% for a little while longer. The comments came after UK inflation dropped to a five-year low of 1.2% in September, according to data out earlier this week.Housing data and the University of Michigan consumer confidence index will be in focus for US markets on Friday afternoon.Oil stocks rise, Rolls-Royce dropsOil and gas stocks were making decent gains as Brent crude prices bounced off a four-year low, with Tullow Oil, Shell, BP, Afren, Enquest and Premier Oil among the best performers in London.Oilfield services group Petrofac was also firmly higher after saying it is on track to hit profit targets this year, as its backlog improved over the third quarter and net debt reduced.Power systems giant Rolls-Royce saw shares sink after saying it now expects underlying sales to fall 3.5-4% this year on the back of worsening trading conditions, compared with its previous forecast for no change. It also warned that growth might not return in 2015, as previously expected, with underlying revenue guidance for next year now at +/-3%.UK building merchant Travis Perkins was also trading lower after reporting that like-for-like sales continued to slow in the third quarter as it saw a "very challenging" plumbing and heating market.Friday was the first day of trading for shoe maker Jimmy Choo, which priced its initial public offering at just 140p, compared with the originally expected 140-180p range. The stock was trading more or less flat by midday. Market MoverstechMARK 2,609.25 +0.94%FTSE 100 6,245.04 +0.79%FTSE 250 14,650.02 +1.17%FTSE 100 - RisersTullow Oil (TLW) 512.00p +5.81%Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,040.00p +5.32%Sports Direct International (SPD) 602.50p +4.78%Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 903.00p +3.67%Smith & Nephew (SN.) 934.00p +3.09%Aviva (AV.) 489.30p +2.77%CRH (CRH) 1,299.00p +2.61%IMI (IMI) 1,195.00p +2.40%GKN (GKN) 306.10p +2.17%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 73.83p +2.16%FTSE 100 - FallersRolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 808.00p -14.09%Travis Perkins (TPK) 1,608.00p -1.77%Meggitt (MGGT) 431.70p -1.10%Carnival (CCL) 2,176.00p -0.82%Experian (EXPN) 931.50p -0.75%AstraZeneca (AZN) 4,195.50p -0.70%Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,062.50p -0.66%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 4,354.00p -0.59%Direct Line Insurance Group (DLG) 263.10p -0.49%Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,415.00p -0.49%FTSE 250 - RisersEnQuest (ENQ) 77.25p +6.26%Just Eat (JE.) 269.60p +5.68%Ophir Energy (OPHR) 191.20p +5.00%Aveva Group (AVV) 1,470.00p +4.85%Synthomer (SYNT) 199.00p +4.68%Cairn Energy (CNE) 161.70p +4.32%IP Group (IPO) 193.50p +4.26%Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 1,021.00p +4.02%Ferrexpo (FXPO) 88.10p +3.65%Man Group (EMG) 115.70p +3.58%FTSE 250 - FallersRightmove (RMV) 2,034.00p -1.55%Brown (N.) Group (BWNG) 303.50p -1.46%Redefine International (RDI) 49.10p -1.43%Synergy Health (SYR) 1,750.00p -1.41%JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 417.80p -1.37%UDG Healthcare Public Limited Company (UDG) 319.50p -1.08%Evraz (EVR) 121.80p -0.98%Moneysupermarket.com Group (MONY) 183.50p -0.97%Michael Page International (MPI) 369.00p -0.78%Micro Focus International (MCRO) 992.50p -0.70%