London midday: Stocks advance despite economic worries

London's leading share index remains in positive territory, but worries over the European debt situation have weighed on sentiment slightly.The concerns centre on Ireland again, after figures showed manufacturing activity in the country contracted in September, with the purchasing managers' index falling to 48.4 from 51.1 in August. A reading above 50 indicates expansion.Manufacturing figures here were much better, but nothing to shout about. The Markit/Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply manufacturing PMI index fell to 53.4 in September from 53.7 the previous month, suggesting growth figures for the third quarter will be subdued.Despite the gloom, there was some positive company news for traders to ponder. BP is higher amid speculation that dividends will soon be resumed. Bob Dudley, who becomes chief executive of the oil company today, said that the board would meet soon to discuss restoring payouts next year, according to newspaper reports. But it is BP's rival BG that is causing most excitement. BG's Spanish peer Repsol has announced a deal with the Chinese refiner Sinopec, which will result in Sinopec holding a 40% stake in Repsol's Brazilian unit. BG Group and Repsol have been exploring for oil in waters of Brazil in partnership and the deal is also seen as supportive to BG.In the FTSE 250, drugs group Hikma Pharmaceuticals has moved to calm fears about the impact of a plan by US regulators to ban unapproved oral colchicine products to treat gout. The company said it will comply with any FDA regulatory requirements related to the sale of colchicine "if such a notice is served", but still predicts 20% revenue growth for its US generics business for the full year 2010 "irrespective of the timing of such notification".Having thought about it all week Cooper Controls has launched a rival bid for Mount Engineering at 82p a share, topping Redhall's 70p a share offer. Spectris, the mid-cap instrumentation and controls company, has bought American maker of rugged industrial networking components N-TRON for $51m (£32m).FTSE 100 - RisersBG Group (BG.) 1,166.00p +4.25%ARM Holdings (ARM) 404.50p +3.14%BP (BP.) 440.60p +2.99%Land Securities Group (LAND) 656.50p +2.50%Weir Group (WEIR) 1,458.00p +2.46%Capital Shopping Centres Group (CSCG) 375.90p +2.23%Vedanta Resources (VED) 2,206.00p +1.89%Tullow Oil (TLW) 1,298.00p +1.88%African Barrick Gold (ABG) 600.00p +1.69%Lonmin (LMI) 1,697.00p +1.68%FTSE 100 - FallersExperian Group (EXPN) 682.50p -1.52%Cobham (COB) 227.90p -1.34%Compass Group (CPG) 524.00p -1.23%Aggreko (AGK) 1,551.00p -1.21%Rolls-Royce Group (RR.) 597.00p -1.08%Resolution (RSL) 243.00p -0.82%Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 293.30p -0.81%Aviva (AV.) 395.80p -0.78%Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,032.00p -0.77%Severn Trent (SVT) 1,301.00p -0.76%FTSE 250 - RisersPace (PIC) 181.20p +4.14%Victrex (VCT) 1,328.00p +4.08%TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 152.50p +3.95%Helical Bar (HLCL) 308.10p +3.53%Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 454.90p +3.39%Mondi (MNDI) 530.00p +3.01%Great Portland Estates (GPOR) 351.40p +2.96%Shaftesbury (SHB) 445.20p +2.84%Electrocomponents (ECM) 249.70p +2.84%Derwent London (DLN) 1,546.00p +2.79%FTSE 250 - FallersYell Group (YELL) 14.40p -2.51%CPP Group (CPP) 260.00p -2.44%Moneysupermarket.com (MONY) 80.45p -1.83%Hochschild Mining (HOC) 437.00p -1.80%CSR (CSR) 352.70p -1.75%Howden Joinery Group (HWDN) 75.25p -1.51%United Business Media (UBM) 620.00p -1.51%Hansen Transmissions International (HSN) 46.90p -1.47%Supergroup (SGP) 1,198.00p -1.40%Stobart Group Ltd. (STOB) 152.20p -1.36%