After a period of successive gains, European bourses opened lower on Monday, following the lead provided by Asian markets. Investor sentiment in the Orient turned negative on release of data that showed a sharp contraction in Japan's economic growth. London's benchmark index was under pressure from resource stocks, with BP, Shell and BHP Billiton all under the cosh
IC TIP UPDATES:
BP's (BP.) fire-sale gained momentum after its America Production arm announced that it had agreed to sell the Sunray and Hemphill gas processing plants in Texas, together with their associated gas gathering system, to Eagle Rock Energy Partners for $228m (£145.2m).
KEY STORIES:
It obviously helps to have a commercial partner with clout. Shares in Aim-traded microbial hygiene specialist Byotrol (BYOT) were up by 17 per cent on news that if had entered into a seven-year licensing agreement the huge US-based Kimberly-Clark Corp.
Mediterranean Oil & Gas (MOG) has released another update covering changes to the law governing an offshore drilling ban in Italy. The re-vamped law includes an increased royalty rate that will change the economics of the Guendalina field, and Ombrina Mare following future developments, but it is broadly favourable to the company. Shares were up by three per cent on early trading.
Outsourcing services provider Mitie (MTO) has delivered an upbeat interim management statement, including details of a new contract to provide front of house services at RBS for a term of five-years, with a total value of around £30m. Mitie also confirmed that its five-year, £775m partnership to deliver facilities management services for Lloyds Banking is progressing well.
Kazakhstan-focussed Frontier Mining (FML) announced that first production of cathode copper has been achieved at its 7,000 tonne per annum Solvent Extraction - Electro Winning plant at its flagship Benkala Copper Project.
Executive recruiter Harvey Nash (HVN) delivered a business update ahead of the release of its interim results next month. The group reported that rising demand for temporary and contract work is offsetting expected lower levels of permanent recruitment. The average number of freelance and offshore contractors increased by 19 per cent; Harvey Nash now expects to report further increases in revenue, up 15 per cent to circa £293m, and gross profits up 6 per cent to £41m.
Shares in Edge Resources (EDG) shot up by 15 per cent after it announced that the first phase of its summer drilling programme resulted in two successfully drilled (and cased) wells in Primate, Saskatchewan, one of which has resulted in the discovery of a new pool.
OTHER NEWS…
You'll either love this story, or you'll hate it. Zetar (ZTR), the AIM-traded and snack foods group, announced that its Natural Snacks division, trading as Humdinger, has entered into a licensing agreement with Unilever to manufacture and sell Marmite nuts.
Second quarter/Half-year results have been released for Insetco, Antrim Energy, Aureus Mining, Minera IRL, Turbo Power Systems, Serica Energy, Petrofac and Michael Page.
