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Market movers: fastjet, Landore, Metminco, Mosman Oil & Gas, Noricum Gold, Sirius Minerals

Published: 18:22 07 Jul 2014 AEST

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Lacking a steer from US markets, which were closed on Friday, London has opened in indecisive mood.

The FTSE 100 is off 7 points (0.1%) at 6,859.

It’s a quiet morning for the blue-chips with disposals to the fore. Mining group Anglo American (LON:AAL) is to sell its 50% stake in Lafarge Tarmac to Lafarge for at least £885mln, while brewer SABMiller (LON:SAB) is to sell its 39.6 stake in hotel and entertainment group Tsogo Sun Holdings.

Among the mid-caps, property group Segro (LON:SGRO), forever to be known as “the company formerly known as Slough Estates" is getting in on the disposals game, selling Pegasus Park in Brussels for £66.2mln.

House builder Taylor Wimpey (LON:TW.) kicks off a week of updates from the sector with its half-year trading statement. Once the numbers have been totted up it expects to report improvements in all of its key financial objectives.

The company says it is operating in a “balanced housing market”, though its definition of “balanced” is one in which the average selling price of houses it sold shot up to £206,000 from £188,000 in the first half of 2013; that’s increase is about six times the rate of inflation.

In a balanced view of the trading update, market makers have shaved 1.2% off the company’s share price.

In the small cap space, mining company Metminco (LON:MNC) is the best performer, up 28.6%, after it revealed it had no idea why the share price and trading volumes rose sharply on Friday.

On the subject of trading volumes, investment company Octagonal (LON:OCT) enjoys a rare spell in the limelight, rising 12.4% after it reported a record month in June, with over £1.1bn of transactions completed on behalf of Global Investment Strategy’s professional and institutional clients, through over 8,000 individual transactions. Octagonal has a 10% stake in Global Investment Strategy.

The good news continues to gush forth from Mosman Oil & Gas (LON:MSMN). The shares, which have almost quadrupled in 2014, advance 4.7% after the company reported there are oil shows from its second well on the Petroleum Creek Project in New Zealand.

Low-cost airline fastjet’s (LON:FJET) share price very definitely has not quadrupled in 2014, as the company has tapped the market for funds and ended its unhappy investment in Fly540 Kenya, but recent news flow has been very promising.

The company carried almost a quarter more passengers on its routes in Tanzania in June compared to the previous month, despite only 12% more seats being available. Shares responded by climbing 8.2% to 1.76p, and are up 14% over the last week.

On the downside, Landore (LON:LND) sheds 0.53p to 2.6p, close to the 2.5p level at which is placed shares in a £2.6mln fund-raising.

Sirius Minerals (LON:SXX) declined 1.25p to 11.5p, after it said company’s planning application for its Potash mine will now be formally submitted at the end of September alongside its mineral transport system application.

It is understood majority of the mine planning application will be handed in on time in July, albeit in draft form.

Sirius said this mainly procedural change shouldn’t delay the start to construction, planned for the first quarter of next year, subject to gaining the relevant sign-offs.

In similar vein, Noricum Gold (LON:NMG) said approval has been granted by the Austrian Mining Authority for the company’s drilling plans for its Altenberg asset, but the market was disappointed that work on the asset is unlikely to start until 2015. This is because of the logistical considerations, weather conditions and the requirement for a helicopter supported drill programme.

The shares fall 0.05p to 0.51p.

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