London midday: Stocks stuck lower after jobs disappointment

Stocks are still under the cosh, with some weak employment data adding to the general malaise.Dole claims rose the most since May 2009 last month as pressures on the British economy intensified. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said that the number of people claiming unemployment rose to 37,000 in July, almost double expectations.In company news brewing giant SABMiller goes hostile with its £6bn bid for Fosters, after the Australian brewer's directors showed no interest in discussing a takeover. SABMiller is offering A$4.90 per Foster's share, though the offer price will be reduced by an amount equivalent to any dividend or distribution paid by Foster's subsequent to the bid announcement.Shares in Talvivaara Mining fell sharply after the Finnish miner said sales in the second quarter were held back by a maintenance stoppage and a decrease in the nickel price. Sales totalled €37.6m, up from €35.2m in the same quarter the previous year. The company posted an operating loss of €1.2m, against a gain of €2.5m the previous year. Infrastructure group Balfour Beatty is lower after saying it expects markets to remain tough in the short term as it posted a meagre rise in underlying pre-tax profits and revenues for the half year to 1 July. Underlying pre-tax profits rose to £138m from £133m, while revenues edged up to £5.222bn from £5.16bn. Kazakh mining giant ENRC pointed to continued growth in neighbouring China and the recovery elsewhere as it posted a sharp rise in profits and revenues in the first half year. Revenues were up by 32% from the same period the previous year at $4.011m while EBITDA (earnings before interest, depreciation and amortisation) climbed by 33% to $1.927bn.Educational publisher Pearson, is lower despite saying it is to receive a belated $115m cash windfall from the sale of its Government Solutions business back in 2006. The business has subsequently been sold on again to General Dynamics.Turning to smaller companies, car dealer Lookers motors forward. It posted flat profits in the half year to 30 June as tough economic conditions and the removal of the government's subsidy scheme battered the new car market. Pre-tax profits slipped to £21.3m from £21.4m on revenues that edged up to £1bn from £988m. Advertising firm MediaZest falls sharply even after it said group revenues have improved since the start of the new financial year in April 2011 with momentum expected to carry on into the quarter ending 30 September 2011. Oil and gas group Matra Petroleum falls after reporting "frustrating" problems at its Well in the Sokolovskoe Field in Russia. It has suffered from a build-up of wax.FTSE 100 - RisersEurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 646.00p +2.30%GKN (GKN) 202.50p +2.07%Fresnillo (FRES) 1,895.00p +1.83%Unilever (ULVR) 2,069.00p +1.67%Associated British Foods (ABF) 1,039.00p +1.66%Weir Group (WEIR) 1,936.00p +1.47%Shire Plc (SHP) 1,990.00p +1.38%Resolution Ltd. (RSL) 271.10p +1.19%Glencore International (GLEN) 399.75p +0.95%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 1,038.00p +0.87%FTSE 100 - FallersHargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 437.50p -4.48%ICAP (IAP) 425.70p -4.23%Standard Life (SL.) 204.10p -3.91%IMI (IMI) 836.50p -3.35%Barclays (BARC) 175.55p -3.33%Schroders (SDR) 1,470.00p -3.29%Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,182.00p -2.80%Hammerson (HMSO) 414.80p -2.77%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 25.03p -2.72%Schroders (Non-Voting) (SDRC) 1,194.00p -2.61%FTSE 250 - RisersSpirit Pub Company (SPRT) 46.75p +6.25%Redrow (RDW) 124.10p +4.81%Ocado Group (OCDO) 123.50p +4.04%Aquarius Platinum Ltd. (AQP) 252.70p +3.74%Perform Group (PER) 175.10p +2.94%Premier Foods (PFD) 15.24p +2.90%Croda International (CRDA) 1,788.00p +2.52%Berendsen (BRSN) 473.00p +2.20%African Barrick Gold (ABG) 542.00p +2.07%Supergroup (SGP) 1,000.00p +2.04%FTSE 250 - FallersTalvivaara Mining Company (TALV) 326.30p -9.44%London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 827.00p -5.00%IG Group Holdings (IGG) 405.90p -4.87%Balfour Beatty (BBY) 250.80p -4.60%Tullett Prebon (TLPR) 353.40p -4.43%Regus (RGU) 79.50p -3.46%JKX Oil & Gas (JKX) 202.00p -3.35%Hays (HAS) 73.90p -3.34%Henderson Group (HGG) 137.60p -3.10%National Express Group (NEX) 234.00p -2.82%