London midday: Stocks advance as Cyprus re-opens banks

After a shaky start, the FTSE 100 was making decent gains by Thursday lunchtime ahead of a raft of economic data from the States later on, as sentiment was lifted by the reopening of banks in Cyprus.Nevertheless, gains are expected to moderate as traders refrain from building big positions ahead of a long four-day weekend for the Easter holidays.Supporting stocks this morning were comments yesterday from a number of doves at the US Federal Reserve who reiterated their support for the central bank's current easy money policy. Chicago Fed President Charles Evens in particular called for patience to "let our policies work" before the Fed considers scaling back stimulus measures.There will be a barrage of economic data out in the States to keep investors busy, including: economic growth estimates for fourth quarter; personal consumption; jobless claims; and the Chicago purchasing managers' index.Cyprus reopens banksBanks in Cyprus were dominating the headlines this morning as their doors opened for the first time in nearly two weeks following a €10bn bailout deal with the Troika that included controversial levies on large uninsured deposits in return for bank shares.While deposits under €100,000 will be safe, the government has imposed strict capital control measures - capping daily cash withdrawals per person per bank at €300 - to ensure the country retains enough cash to meet the bailout requirements. Temporary capital controls are expected to apply for at least seven days."Morning images of armed Cypriot police stationed outside banks to prevent civilians from withdrawing their own money stands as a vivid metaphor for how far the Eurozone has fallen, and will no doubt focus the minds of equity investors," said Matt Basi, the Head of UK Sales Trading at CMC Markets.FTSE 100: IHG jumps after Park Lane disposalIHG rose after selling its Park Lane hotel to Constellation Hotel UK for £302m, 62% above the net book value at the end of December. Investec upgraded its rating for the stock from 'hold' to 'buy' this morning, saying that the earlier-than-expected disposal increases the potential for near-term additional cash returns for shareholders.Chemicals firm Johnson Matthey was a high riser after completing the £107m acquisition of Swedish formaldehyde producer Formox, expanding its position "as a leading supplier of technology for a range of syngas and other chemical processes," the company said.Also on the up was Tate & Lyle after the food ingredients and sweetener producer said it had performed strongly in the fourth quarter.National Grid also gained after saying that earnings for the full year will be modestly ahead of previous guidance. The company also unveiled a new dividend policy that aims to grow payout at least in line with the rate of RPI inflation each year.Heading the other way was copper miner Antofagasta after announcing late last night that it is re-starting its Antucoya project in Chile at a higher capex than before. Credit Suisse kept its 'underperform' recommendation on the stock today, saying that the move rules out a large dividend this year.Mining peers ENRC, Vedanta and Fresnillo were also under pressure.FTSE 250: RPC drops on gloomy guidancePlastic packaging firm RPC Group tanked early on after saying that FX changes and challenging economic conditions will lead to lower sales and profits this year, while limited growth is expected in the future.Mining firm Petropavlovsk surged after group revenues rose 9.0% in 2012 as gold production jumped 13%. FTSE 100 - RisersJohnson Matthey (JMAT) 2,333.00p +3.69%InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 2,019.00p +3.43%BAE Systems (BA.) 393.30p +2.48%easyJet (EZJ) 1,081.00p +2.37%National Grid (NG.) 768.50p +2.33%Tate & Lyle (TATE) 844.00p +2.30%Pearson (PSON) 1,199.00p +1.96%Experian (EXPN) 1,152.00p +1.95%Sage Group (SGE) 343.30p +1.93%Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 2,296.00p +1.91%FTSE 100 - FallersAntofagasta (ANTO) 988.50p -3.56%Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 249.60p -3.14%Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 4,730.00p -0.94%Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,022.00p -0.87%G4S (GFS) 288.10p -0.86%Rexam (REX) 523.50p -0.76%London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 1,315.00p -0.75%Fresnillo (FRES) 1,368.00p -0.58%Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 2,140.00p -0.42%BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,937.50p -0.21%FTSE 250 - RisersPetropavlovsk (POG) 231.00p +5.00%Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (MLC) 570.50p +2.98%Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 90.75p +2.83%New World Resources A Shares (NWR) 230.40p +2.77%Bellway (BWY) 1,271.00p +2.50%Barratt Developments (BDEV) 274.10p +2.43%Persimmon (PSN) 1,064.00p +2.41%Bovis Homes Group (BVS) 748.50p +2.39%Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 424.30p +2.34%Debenhams (DEB) 83.40p +2.21%FTSE 250 - FallersRPC Group (RPC) 398.00p -11.75%African Barrick Gold (ABG) 198.50p -3.92%Centamin (DI) (CEY) 51.65p -3.73%AZ Electronic Materials SA (DI) (AZEM) 378.30p -2.85%ICAP (IAP) 294.50p -2.58%St. Modwen Properties (SMP) 254.10p -2.57%Hochschild Mining (HOC) 278.10p -2.52%Soco International (SIA) 368.20p -2.31%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 392.80p -2.09%Diploma (DPLM) 553.50p -1.86%BC