London open: Flat start as markets catch breath

Footsie has made a slow start after Wall St paused for breath overnight on concerns the recent equity market surge may have got ahead of itself.Part-nationalised bank Lloyds Banking Group is making the headlines. It has confirmed talks with the government about changes to the terms of it joining asset protection scheme. Reports overnight suggested the FSA refused to allow it to pull out of the scheme altogether after a tough stress test. Royal Bank of Scotland is lower in sympathy.Kingfisher is in demand on bullish comments this morning after its figures yesterday. A strong performance from B&Q helped DIY retailer Kingfisher post a sharp rise in pre-tax profits in the half year to 1 August. Miners and metals stocks are lower after their recent good run and the mild pull-back in the US yesterday. Johnson Matthey and Antofagasta are the worst affected. Real estate investment trust British Land is to put its Broadgate property assets in the City into a joint venture with private equity group Blackstone Group. The real estate funds Blackstone Real Estate Partners Europe III and Blackstone Real Estate Partners VI will take a 50% stake in Broadgate valued at £1.07bn.Weapons group Chemring said its outlook for 2009 remains in line with expectations as demand for its products from the US and UK armies staying strong. In the period from May 1 to date, revenues have totalled £143m compared with £102m over the same period the previous year.Fund manager BlueBay is down on news of a placing that will see a couple of directors cash in on a recent tripling in its share price. A secondary placing of 6.6m shares, or 3.4%, will take place today with Nick Williams, Chief Financial Officer, selling 1m shares and Alex Khein, Chief Operating Officer, disposing of up to 2m shares. The company is not raising any money. The fixed income group also revealed a big fall in annual profits though funds under management rose.Electricals retailer Kesa's finance director Simon Herrick has resigned in order to pursue other business interests, the group announced this morning. He will leave Kesa in the coming months, and a further announcement concerning his successor will be made in due course, the brief statement said.Another departure is Robert Noel at Great Portland Estates who will join the board of rival property group Land Securities as managing director of LandSecs' London portfolio. Noel steps into the shoes of Mike Hussey, who quit Land Securities in June after the company abandoned plans to demerge parts of the business.Domino Printing is the best of the small caps so far this morning after it reported its order intake in the May to September period has picked up close to pre-credit crunch levels.