UK WINNERS & LOSERS: Miners Lead FTSE 350 On Gold Price, Upgrade

LONDON (Alliance News) - The following stocks are amongst the biggest risers and fallers within the main London indices late-morning Thursday.
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FTSE 100 WINNERS
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Randgold Resources, up 6.7%; Fresnillo, up 6.5%; Rio Tinto, up 2.7%; BHP Billiton, up 3.0%; Anglo American, up 2.3%. The mining sector is leading the gains Thursday following a significant period of weakness. The gains come after the minutes of the latest Federal reserve meeting Wednesday struck a more dovish tone than expected, heavily knocking the dollar, effectively boosting the price of gold, and lifting equities. Randgold received an additional boost from Numis Securities, which upgraded the stock to Buy from Add. Numis has a cautious stance on the overall mining sector given recent commodity price weakness and recommends a defensive stance. It's top picks are therefore the large-cap names Randgold and Fresnillo.

Burberry Group, up 2.3%. The luxury clothing retailer received a positive note from Societe Generale Thursday. The bank has a Hold rating on the stock, but ahead of a first-half update on October 14 has boosted its price target to 1,540p from 1,520p. SocGen expects Burberry to "again show its superior organic sales growth pattern" in the first half.

Dixons Carphone, up 1.8%. The electronics and mobile phone retailer received a boost from Merrill Lynch, which increased its price target to 420p from 400p. Dixons Carphone closed Wednesday at 336.10 pence. The price target upgrade follows a positive update for analysts and investors on Wednesday, when Dixons Carphone said the business is in "good shape".

Royal Mail, up 1.5%. Shares have moved higher following the news that Royal Mail has reached a settlement with the French competition authority over an alleged breach of anti-trust laws in France. Royal Mail has set aside GBP18 million for the fine. The investigation is ongoing but a lighter fine that previously feared is expected as Royal Mail agreed to settle and provide compliance commitments now.

Rolls-Royce Holdings, up 0.8%. The British engineer said it has won a deal to fit Trent 1000 engines to nine Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft that airline Norwegian is leasing, a contract that comes with an order for USD440 million of after-care servicing.
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FTSE 100 LOSERS
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Vodafone, down 1.1%. The mobile telecommunications giant was downgraded to Reduce from Neutral by analysts at Nomura Wednesday, along with a price target cut to 180p from 190p. Vodafone closed Wednesday at 204.3p. Nomura is concerned over the increasing competition it sees in many of the markets that Vodafone is currently dominant.
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FTSE 250 WINNERS
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Kazakhmys, up 6.2%; Centamin, up 5.0%; Vedanta Resources, up 4.8%; African Barrick Gold, up 2.8%. In a similar picture to the large cap stocks, the miners are leading the index higher Thursday.

John Wood Group, up 4.0%. Shares of the oil services company have risen after it retained its guidance for an improved financial performance in 2014, driven by growth in its PSN production services unit and an expected significant improvement in its turbine business in the second half of the year. In a statement, the company said the PSN Production Services unit continues to deliver strong growth, driven by its performance in the Americas thanks to high-margin US shale work and the benefit of the Elkhorn business it acquired in 2013.

Hays, up 3.9%. The recruitment company said net fees grew across its regions and segments in the first quarter of its financial year, with its major markets of the UK, Australia and Germany growing simultaneously for the first time in nearly four years, although it continued to be hit by the strength of sterling.

Victrex, up 1.6%. The high-performance polymer company said growth momentum has remained positive in the first weeks of its current financial year, although it is still facing a significant hit from unfavourable currency exchange rates. It said sales volumes grew 22% to 3,551 tonnes in the year to September 30, from 2,920 tonnes a year earlier, with growth coming across its automotive, aerospace, energy, electronics and medical markets. The growth had accelerated in the second half of the year, with sales volumes up 29% to 1,967 tonnes, from 1,528 tonnes.
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FTSE 250 LOSERS
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N Brown, down 13%. Shares in the catalogue retailer have plunged after it issued a profit warning, reducing its full-year pretax profit guidance to the range of GBP88 million to GBP92 million, compared to the market's previous expectation of about GBP103 million. The market reaction has been particularly negative given that the warning comes just three weeks after the company had guided "confidence in achieving the full year outturn". The owner of brands including JD Williams, Figleaves online lingerie store and the plus-size Simply Be brand, has been investing in revitalising and expanding its businesses. However, it said that a lower first-half profit due to its planned later phasing of products and marketing activities, will not flow through into a better second half as previously expected.

Bodycote, down 2.3%. Shares in the industrial machinery company have slipped after Merrill Lynch cut its price target on the stock to 630p from 670p, reiterating an Underperform rating. Bodycote closed Wednesday at 624.5 pence.
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AIM ALL-SHARE WINNERS
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Zoltav Resources, up 9.4%. The oil and gas explorer has seen its shares rise after it said work had progressed ahead of schedule on bringing its Zhdanovskoye field into production through the Western Gas Plant, largely because it got a temporary permit from the Russian safety regulator.

Enegi Oil, up 9.1%. The exploration company said its license partner, Azinor Petroleum Ltd, has isolated oil bearing sands at its Phoenix Discovery project in the UK central North Sea, increasing the potential resource at the site. The volume of oil in the reservoir, prior to production, for Phoenix is likely to be in excess of 16 million barrels of oil following the information from Azinor, it said. The company said that the Phoenix project is now ready to move ahead to the next stage, and that there is limited necessity for further appraisal activity.

Greka Drilling, up 8.4%. The oil and gas driller has seen its shares jump after announcing that its first well of the drilling campaign on the Raniganj East Block in West Bengal, India, has been spud. The company agreed a USD65 million contract to drill 100 wells for Essar Oil Ltd, part of Essar Energy PLC, earlier in the year.
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By Jon Darby; jondarby@alliancenews.com; @jondarby100

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