bhp up or down in london ???

Talk about confusing.
The charts show that Bhp Billiton is up 10%.

Yet it gets a "downgrade" from Smith Barney.

Wish those "Brits" would make up their mind.

-----------------------------------------------------

Monday September 5, 12:35 PM
London midday: Footsie listless despite bid chat
LONDON (ShareCast) - There was little movement to speak of in London today with the blue chips trading in a tight range, despite some stubborn bid chatter refusing to die down.

Old bid chestnuts dominated the top of the FTSE (news) Advertisement

100 leaderboard with renewed gossip that Scottish Power (LSE: SPW.L - news - msgs) is in the sights of German power group E.On.

UK bank Lloyds TSB (LSE: LLOY.L - news - msgs) was also up again as bid rumours resurfaced with US lender Wells Fargo fingered as a likely suitor.

Miners and oil majors were the worst performers after a Citigroup Smith Barney downgrade to BHP Billiton (LSE: BLT.L - news - msgs) and Rio Tinto (LSE: RIO.L - news - msgs) gave traders an excuse to bank profits after a strong run last week.

The broker chopped both stocks to 'hold' from 'buy' as it questioned whether the current boom in copper, nickel and oil prices can be maintained.

Meanwhile aerospace and defence firm Smiths Group (LSE: SMIN.L - news - msgs) was driven higher after Panmure Gordon started coverage with a "buy" note and a 1,150p price target, saying the current share price doesn't reflect the opportunity for growth.

Morgan Stanley started coverage on DIY retailer Kingfisher (LSE: KGF.L - news - msgs) with 'equal-weight' advice and a 265p price target, though reports of a possible profit warning next week alongside results hammered the group.

Bookmaker William Hill lost early gains as it announced plans for a cash return of between £200-300m over the next 18 months. The news accompanied a drop in first half profits to £123.9m from £ 132.5m, blamed on a string of poor results. Citigroup (NYSE: C - news) still says 'buy'.

Industrial gases big hitter BOC lost some of its recent gains as vague rumours about a £13 a share bid from German rival BASF (Xetra: 515100.DE - news) died down. BOC also announced its supply chain subsidiary Gist is expanding its European business with the acquisition of G Van Dongen.

Oil giants continued to give back some of their recent gains following the news last Friday that the International Energy Agency is to release oil from reserves by member countries. BP , BG Group (LSE: BG.L - news - msgs) and Royal Dutch Shell were all in the red by lunchtime.

Elsewhere, builders merchant Travis Perkins (LSE: TPK.L - news) lifted interim profits by 9.3% to £110m, but it said retail like-for-like sales fell by 7.4% adding that the tough conditions would likely persist for the remainder of the year.

Sportingbet (LSE: SBT.L - news) has confirmed it is the company in bid discussions with online gaming marketing group Empire Online .

Another set of record results had car dealer Lookers (LSE: LOOK.L - news) at a new all-time best, with trading at the start of the second half in line with expectations.

Lloyd's insurer Amlin (LSE: AML.L - news) posted a 56% hike in half year profits and said the outlook for the full-year remains good despite costs of about $110m from Hurricane Katrina.

Shares in pubs group Greene King (LSE: GNK.L - news) are trading at around half Friday's price today following a 2 for 1 share split that became effective this morning.

Among the smaller companies, pre-pay specialist PayPoint (LSE: PAY.L - news) says profits before tax are running ahead of expectations due to strong growth in transaction volumes for prepaid energy, bill payment and mobile top-ups.

Newport Networks (LSE: NNG.L - news) warned that delays in orders due to the advent of internet-based telephony has meant some of the revenues expected in 2005 falling into 2006 and sales this year will fall short of current market expectations.

Paper maker David S Smith came under pressure after a downbeat AGM statement while the end of bid talks knocked Tepnel Life Sciences (LSE: TED.L - news) .


For more breaking company and market news, visit the Digital Look News Channel
-----------------------------------------------------

Cheers

markco2