Leading shares picked up after better than expected retail sales figures but, otherwise, there is not a lot of corporate news flow for traders to get excited about, so much of the focus has been on broker commentary on some big players.

Inmarsat is the worst performing blue-chip after UBS downgraded the satellite firm to "neutral" from "buy".

JPMorgan, meanwhile, has stuck the boot into United Utilities (UU), downgrading the stock and raising concerns about its ability to hit earnings targets because of issues such as higher property rates. Other utility companies, most notably Severn Trent and Pennon Group are dragged down with UU.

Essar Energy, the Indian energy company that floated in May, ramped up revenue by 66% in the half year to June 30, though profits fell due to higher crude costs and lower retail margins. The FTSE 100 firm said a 20% hike in refinery sales volumes and 51% increase in average refinery sales prices pushed revenue up to $4.76bn from $2.87bn a year ago. Oil and gas revenues leapt 68% to $4.59bn.

Aviation and newspaper distribution group John Menzies expects full year results to be slightly ahead of current market expectations after a good first half performance at both its divisions. For the six months ended 30 June 2010 pre-tax profit increased to £20.6m from £7.4m the same time a year earlier. Revenue for the period rose to £924.0m from £821.3m.

Profit plunged by 59% at oil services firm Wellstream during the first six months of 2010, as expected, but the order backlog is rising and the second half results should better. The UK mid-cap reported profits of £10.6m compared with £25.7m a year ago, hit by the lower level of market activity outside of Brazil. Revenue was down 34% to £128.6m. But acting CEO Alasdair MacDonald said new contract wins had boosted the order backlog to £246m by 30 June. It now stands at over £280m, driven by awards in Brazil and winning smaller projects elsewhere.

IT firm Dimension Data, which recently agreed to a takeover by Japan's NTT, said quarterly trading remained strong and is confident of reaching single digit constant currency revenue growth for the full year. For the three month period to 30 June 2010 turnover in constant currency increased year on year by 22% compared to in the same quarter in 2009.

A strong blockbuster and 3D film line-up, following a solid first half performance, underpins Cineworld's confidence in delivering full year results in line with market expectations. For the 26 weeks ended 1 July, the cinema chain said EBITDA edged up to £24.4m from £23.2m the year before. Pre-tax profit rose to £11.8m from £11.6m, while group revenue stood at £162m, up 3.8% against 2009. Blockbuster Toy Story 3 raked in an impressive £21m in its opening weekend last month.

AMEC, the international engineering and project management company, has won a contract to extend a gas facility in Cheshire. The contract, worth more than £60m, has been awarded by EDF Energy and requires AMEC to design, install and commission the filtration and compression facilities, after-cooling, de-hydration, metering and utility equipment at the Hill Top Farm facility at Warmngham.

Infrastructure specialist Balfour Beatty said its Gammon Construction joint venture has been awarded a rail infrastructure contract in Hong Kong. The contract, worth HK$2.88bn (£238m), is for work on the West Kowloon part of the Guangzhon-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express rail link.

Scottish drugs firm ProStrakan has delivered half-year sales growth in line with forecasts, slashed pre-tax losses and made the first EBITDA profit in its history. The pre-tax deficit narrowed to £2.7m in the six months ended 30 June from £9.4m in 2009, while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of £1.2m compared with a £4.3m loss a year ago. That was better than the £1m predicted by KBC Peel Hunt, but the market was still not impressed and marked the shares lower.

Oil and gas exploration and production company SOCO International has started drilling the first well in its Te Giac Trang (TGT) appraisal programme offshore Vietnam.

Shares in internet payment services group DataCash soared after it was snapped up by the US credit card giant MasterCard for £333m. MasterCard, which is looking to expand its internet-based activities, will pay 360p a share for DataCash. Shares in DataCash rose by more than 50%.

Electricity generating glass maker Romag saw is share price shattered after it issued a profit warning.

FTSE 100 - Risers
ARM Holdings (ARM) 327.40p +4.20%
Serco Group (SRP) 566.50p +3.38%
Aggreko (AGK) 1,577.00p +2.67%
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 287.90p +2.24%
British Airways (BAY) 230.50p +2.22%
Carnival (CCL) 2,218.00p +1.93%
Whitbread (WTB) 1,423.00p +1.86%
Rolls-Royce Group (RR.) 578.00p +1.85%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 71.92p +1.83%
Kazakhmys (KAZ) 1,224.00p +1.75%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
Inmarsat (ISAT) 707.50p -2.41%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 579.00p -1.78%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 1,717.00p -1.60%
Eurasian Natural Resources (ENRC) 916.00p -1.13%
Severn Trent (SVT) 1,307.00p -1.13%
Standard Life (SL.) 206.60p -0.86%
Centrica (CNA) 325.20p -0.79%
Prudential (PRU) 583.00p -0.77%
Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 1,777.00p -0.67%
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,209.00p -0.62%

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