London midday: Shares little changed

Banks are setting the pace today, while other stocks are moving in both directions after updates. The FTSE 100 is flat overall.Nomura says Lloyds Banking Group is the preferred name of the UK lenders, and has the best exposure to recovery of traditional banking, without the overhang of a capital markets franchise. The Japanese broker estimates a group loss before non-operating items for 2010 of £959m, much improved on a loss of £12.4bn in 2009. Nomura also forecasts a much lower impairment charge of £14.25bn, compared with £24bn previously.Meanwhile, Evolution Securities has made some upbeat comments on Lloyds and RBS. RBS, which moves to Evolution's 'core buy portfolio' is benefitting from better trading conditions for retail and investment banking in Britain. Lloyds is Evolution's 'top conviction buy' in European banking. UBS remains positive on mining giant BHP Billiton, applauding the group's solid spending commitment over the next half-decade.Elsewhere in the FTSE 100, defence firm BAE Systems is lower after warning it expects sales in 2011 to dip as cutbacks in government spending start to bite. The company saw sales edge up by 1.8% in 2010 to £22.4bn, while underlying earnings per share (climbed to 40.8p, versus market expectations of 41.85p.Reed Elsevier has not exactly set pulses rating with its update. Things improved at the business and academic publisher during 2010 and a "gradual" recovery this year should deliver "modest" growth in 2011.B&Q owner Kingfisher expects full-year profit to be at the top end of expectations after strength in the international business helped the DIY retailer shrug off weather and economy-related difficulties in Britain and Ireland in the fourth quarter. Analysts had been predicting a consensus adjusted pre-tax profit of £666m for the full year, in a range between £661m and £672m.Sports Direct led the FTSE 250 higher earlier, but is now up less than 1%, after its chief executive Dave Forsey provided some reassurance to those worried that the VAT rise and economic austerity will keep shoppers away from the high street, saying that trading at the sports shop chain has been strong since January. The sports shop chain will hit its targets for the full year, he said.Things are ticking along as expected at sensor technology firm Halma, another FTSE 250 riser today, in the second half of its financial year. Revenue in the first six months of the year was 12% ahead of 2009/10 and this trend has continued into the first four months of the second-half of the financial year. A brief statement issued on Thursday morning was enough to spark buying interest for telecoms titan Cable & Wireless Worldwide. It said that it continues to trade in line with expectations. The largely UK focused part of the old Cable & Wireless, said it continued to make progress through the second half.Total funds under management (FUM) exceeded £15bn for the first time ever at wealth management firm Rathbone Brothers last year. Underlying profit before tax in 2010 rose 18.8% to £38.5m from £32.4m in 2009, topping the consensus market forecast of £35.55m. Total FUM at the end of the year stood at £15.63bn, up 19.3% from £13.10bn at the end of 2009.FTSE 100 - RisersRoyal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 48.94p +3.69%African Barrick Gold (ABG) 548.50p +3.10%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 69.18p +2.96%InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 1,439.00p +2.79%HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 737.80p +2.26%Autonomy Corporation (AU.) 1,671.00p +2.26%Resolution Ltd. (RSL) 286.10p +1.96%Essar Energy (ESSR) 535.50p +1.90%Aviva (AV.) 469.30p +1.73%Barclays (BARC) 337.40p +1.63%FTSE 100 - FallersBAE Systems (BA.) 339.40p -4.58%Reed Elsevier (REL) 559.00p -2.61%Xstrata (XTA) 1,439.50p -2.54%Tullow Oil (TLW) 1,377.00p -2.27%Rolls-Royce Group (RR.) 633.00p -1.94%Rio Tinto (RIO) 4,444.00p -1.68%Intertek Group (ITRK) 1,772.00p -1.56%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 1,514.00p -1.56%Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 1,916.00p -1.54%Vedanta Resources (VED) 2,408.00p -1.51%FTSE 250 - RisersElementis (ELM) 137.00p +6.12%International Personal Finance (IPF) 339.10p +4.11%Ferrexpo (FXPO) 433.90p +3.38%Logica (LOG) 147.50p +3.22%Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 38.10p +2.89%Cable & Wireless Worldwide (CW.) 75.65p +2.86%Pace (PIC) 233.30p +2.68%Tate & Lyle (TATE) 597.50p +2.31%Afren (AFR) 160.80p +2.23%Barratt Developments (BDEV) 100.30p +1.98%FTSE 250 - FallersMorgan Crucible Co (MGCR) 285.10p -4.65%Supergroup (SGP) 1,639.00p -4.60%Dunelm Group (DNLM) 439.10p -4.31%Talvivaara Mining Company (TALV) 582.50p -3.80%Lamprell (LAM) 289.00p -3.25%Sportingbet (SBT) 47.00p -3.09%Redrow (RDW) 128.90p -3.08%SIG (SHI) 129.50p -3.07%BBA Aviation (BBA) 232.30p -2.80%Ladbrokes (LAD) 138.10p -2.75%