London midday: Supergroup leads the climb

Stocks are heading in both directions following a raft of updates, but the overall direction is higher, with trendy fashion retailer SuperGroup the standout stock.SuperGroup, famous for the Superdry brand, said full-year underlying pre-tax profit soared by 89% to £50.2m, from £26.5m previously, surpassing consensus estimates of £49.6m. Group revenue jumped by 71% from £139.4m to £237.9m, bang in line with expectations. Retail sales jumped from £86.4m to £147.4m, while wholesale sales increased from £53m to £90.5m. Sticking with clothes, iconic British luxury brand Burberry jumped higher early on after underlying sales soared by 34% in the first quarter, driven largely by strong retail growth in China. "We are pleased with Burberry's start to the year, with double-digit growth balanced across retail and wholesale and all regions and product categories," said chief executive officer Angela Ahrendts. However, Marks & Spencer was the worst performer despite seeing sales (excluding VAT) rise by 3.2% in the 13 weeks to 2 July, compared with the year before. Like-for-like (lfl) sales in the UK were flat on the general merchandise sales side, in line with the prediction made by broker Matrix Group, while food sales grew 3.3% on a lfl basis yoy, ahead of Matrix's forecast of 3.0% growth.Mining titan Xstrata was in demand after taking full control of the Pallas Green zinc project in Ireland, buying out the 23.6% interest held by its joint venture partner, Minco, for $19.4m. Sector peers Fresnillo, Antofagasta Randgold, Lonmin, ENRC, Kazakhmys, BHP Billiton and Anglo American were also firmer, tracking metals prices higher.Back in the retail sector, Tile and wood flooring specialist Topps Tiles is slightly trampled on after it said it continued to experience subdued trading in the 13 weeks to 2 July. Revenues were down by 1.9% on a like-for-like basis (excluding the impact of new openings and closures) from the same period the previous year. Total revenues were down by 1.6%. Engineering firm Morgan Crucible motors ahead after it said positive sales momentum has continued since its last trading update in May as it experiences a broad recovery across its markets. "The strong trading performance has been driven by broad-based recovery and growth across our range of end-markets, geographies and new product areas," it said in a company update.Shares in fluid technology group, Pursuit Dynamics, leapt 15% on Wednesday after it announced it was trialling its technology with Thames Water. The firm said its PDX waste to energy system, which is designed to remove biogas from sewage, will be installated at Thames Water's Reading plant and is scheduled to begin trials in August 2011. DDD, the AIM-listed 3D solutions firm, is bursting out of screens after saying it has signed a contract with what it claims is a leading mobile phone manufacturer. The deal will see DDD's software, which automatically converts video from 2D to 3D, bundled into the manufacturer's forthcoming 3D phone, using the Android operating system. South America focused oil and gas firm, Amerisur Resources is lower after it reported planning delays as it seeks to begin drilling of new locations in Columbia in the final quarter of 2011. FTSE 100 - RisersFresnillo (FRES) 1,520.00p +5.56%Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,474.00p +2.57%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 5,345.00p +2.49%Essar Energy (ESSR) 386.80p +2.19%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 1,341.00p +2.13%John Wood Group (WG.) 679.00p +1.88%Land Securities Group (LAND) 857.00p +1.72%Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,423.00p +1.64%Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 780.00p +1.63%IMI (IMI) 1,078.00p +1.32%FTSE 100 - FallersMarks & Spencer Group (MKS) 362.20p -2.90%Next (NXT) 2,363.00p -1.95%British Sky Broadcasting Group (BSY) 680.00p -1.73%ARM Holdings (ARM) 586.50p -1.68%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 35.40p -1.64%Kingfisher (KGF) 254.10p -1.63%Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 3,445.00p -1.57%Admiral Group (ADM) 1,551.00p -1.40%ICAP (IAP) 474.20p -1.35%British American Tobacco (BATS) 2,781.00p -1.26%FTSE 250 - RisersSupergroup (SGP) 1,068.00p +21.71%Morgan Crucible Co (MGCR) 347.30p +8.57%Betfair Group (BET) 713.00p +5.32%Cable & Wireless Worldwide (CW.) 46.60p +4.11%Centamin Egypt Ltd. (CEY) 126.70p +3.85%Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 2,850.00p +3.26%Talvivaara Mining Company (TALV) 419.00p +3.20%African Barrick Gold (ABG) 439.10p +3.12%Lamprell (LAM) 376.60p +2.53%Premier Farnell (PFL) 188.10p +2.51%FTSE 250 - FallersIntermediate Capital Group (ICP) 302.00p -3.39%FirstGroup (FGP) 341.20p -3.34%Mothercare (MTC) 406.30p -2.92%Halfords Group (HFD) 361.30p -2.88%AZ Electronic Materials SA (WI) (AZEM) 294.30p -2.55%COLT Group SA (COLT) 137.00p -2.14%Anglo Pacific Group (APF) 315.70p -2.11%Debenhams (DEB) 66.70p -2.06%Micro Focus International Plc (MCRO) 329.80p -1.99%Home Retail Group (HOME) 150.10p -1.70%