Market Movers
techMARK 2,043.03 +0.39%
FTSE 100 5,655.00 +0.25%
FTSE 250 11,130.59 +0.33%

Bob Diamond resigns as Barclays CEO

Making headlines this morning was the news that Bob Diamond has called its quits at Barclays, bowing in to political pressure following last week's news that the bank was involved in Libor manipulation. Marcus Agius, who said yesterday that he would resign as Chairman, is to become a full-time Chairman while the board searches for a new CEO. Shares advanced after this morning's announcement.

Mining stocks were tracking metals prices higher early on. Vedanta, Rio Tinto, Kazakhmys, Fresnillo, ENRC and BHP Billiton were all making gains in spite of Deutsche Bank cutting target prices across the sector.

FTSE 250 resource group Talvivaara Mining was bucking the trend after saying that it is unlikely to hit its nickel production targets this year as a result of flooding, scheduled maintenance and a fatality-related stoppage during its second quarter. Shares dropped 15%.

House builder Persimmon edged higher after saying it had a good first half of the year with sales rates and prices running ahead of the corresponding period of 2011.

Oil explorer Salamander Energy fell after saying that test results at its dig in the Gulf of Thailand are “conclusive”, with analysis showing that water is present in the tested section; in other words the Far East-1 well cannot be used for production.

Elsewhere, AIM-listed TV group Motive Television surged 16% after taking full control of its intellectual property rights by buying out the minority shareholder in its Spanish subsidiary.