London midday: Stocks stuck lower amid US worries

Shares are deep in the red as the ongoing political wrangling over how to deal with the US deficit overshadows a raft of trading updates, several of which get the thumbs up.Banking trio Lloyds, RBS and Barclays are in negative territory. RBS has laid into its peer Lloyds, downgrading the UK lending giant from buy to hold, saying that there appears to be a lack of catalysts for the shares in the near-term. "Given what looks to us like an overambitious top-line strategy, a tough economic backdrop, regulatory uncertainty and limited repatriation of capital until 2015, we see little potential for the shares to achieve a sustainable re-rating in the next 12 months," said analyst Asheefa Sarangi and Ian Smillie. But company news has impressed the market. Financial Times and Penguin books publisher Pearson moves ahead after it upgraded its outlook for the full year following interim results that saw adjusted operating profit rise by 17% year-to-year to £208m on the back of a 3% increase in the headline sales figure to £2.4bn. The interim dividend has been hiked by 8% to 14.0p from 13.0p.BSkyB is wanted after demonstrating why Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation was so keen to get his hands on the broadcaster with a sharp rise in revenues and profits. Revenue in the year to 30 June soared to £6.6bn from £5.7bn the previous year, while EBITDA (earnings before interest, depreciation and amortisation) came in at £1.4bn, up from £1.2bn.Mobile phone network colossus Vodafone, another riser today, is to pay a special dividend of 4p per share next year after its 45% owned US associate, Verizon Wireless, resumed dividend payments.British Airways operator International Consolidated Airlines (IAG) also takes off. It moved into profit in the second quarter, but economic weakness in some markets and high oil prices remain a concern. Pest control and cleaning services group Rentokil, is shining after it revealed a 6.8% decline in half yearly pre-tax profit as trading deteriorated at its struggling parcels division City Link. Losses at its City Link division widened to £17.8m from £4.7m the year before. Marketing firm Hasgrove's shares fell after it said it had seen a difficult start to the year at its two design businesses. Gross income in the first half of the year is expected to come in at about £13.7m, down from £14.1m a year ago, with pre-exceptional operating profit declining to £1.6m from £1.7m. FTSE 100 - RisersVodafone Group (VOD) 172.20p +4.11%Fresnillo (FRES) 1,760.00p +2.21%International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (IAG) 237.50p +2.11%Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,795.00p +1.53%BT Group (BT.A) 200.10p +1.11%Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 2,039.00p +0.74%Pearson (PSON) 1,147.00p +0.70%Intertek Group (ITRK) 1,923.00p +0.58%Prudential (PRU) 687.50p +0.36%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 5,575.00p +0.36%FTSE 100 - FallersLloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 43.59p -3.13%Resolution Ltd. (RSL) 273.30p -2.74%Barclays (BARC) 221.70p -2.72%Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,556.00p -2.63%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 35.39p -2.45%Investec (INVP) 476.80p -2.30%IMI (IMI) 1,050.00p -2.23%Amec (AMEC) 1,052.00p -2.23%Centrica (CNA) 306.10p -2.20%Anglo American (AAL) 2,936.00p -2.07%FTSE 250 - RisersTalvivaara Mining Company (TALV) 423.20p +5.67%Rentokil Initial (RTO) 94.95p +5.15%Renishaw (RSW) 1,692.00p +4.83%United Business Media Ltd. (UBM) 538.00p +4.67%ITE Group (ITE) 221.40p +2.88%COLT Group SA (COLT) 122.40p +2.77%Inchcape (INCH) 400.60p +2.72%Pace (PIC) 114.00p +2.43%Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 677.50p +1.88%Provident Financial (PFG) 1,121.00p +1.82%FTSE 250 - FallersKofax (KFX) 372.00p -5.34%Perform Group (PER) 176.70p -5.10%Travis Perkins (TPK) 884.00p -4.69%Supergroup (SGP) 1,060.00p -4.59%Enterprise Inns (ETI) 56.85p -4.45%JKX Oil & Gas (JKX) 236.80p -3.70%AZ Electronic Materials SA (WI) (AZEM) 266.90p -2.70%Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 697.00p -2.52%Premier Foods (PFD) 18.72p -2.25%SThree (STHR) 362.60p -2.00%