London shares are off the boil in early trade on Tuesday, matching dips overnight on Hong Kong's Hang Seng index and bucking positive trading sessions on Wall Street and in Japan. The FTSE 100 index ebbs around 40 points, or 0.6%, lower, to 6,262 with investors apparently taking the opportunity to trim profits after a largely positive recent run.
Gold and copper are at $1,138/oz and $233/lb, while crude is down less than 0.5%, but the relative calm on commodity prices fails to stop resources stocks dragging on sentiment, with the Footsie loser board littered with miners, led by cash-strapped Glencore (GLEN). Its shares are off a little more than 4% at 110.2p, closely followed by Anglo American (AAL) 2.6% down at 564.15p, and Antofagasta (ANTO), 2% lower to 526.5p.
In corporate news, brewer SABMiller (SAB) slips 1.7% to £37.0075, despite flagging accelerating second quarter growth thanks to emerging markets success. SAB remains locked in takeover talks with US giant Anheuser-Busch Inbev (BUD:NYSE).
Among the bigger movers, Aquarius Platinum (AQP) rockets 46% to 11.75p as the company accepts a $0.195 per share cash takeover offer by Sibanye Gold.
Collector Stanley Gibbons (SGI:AIM) was stamped down 26% to 106p as it warns of a miss to full year revenue and profit expectations. Analysts had been looking for £17.3 million of pre-tax profit this year to 31 March.
Select oil explorers rally, with Nostra Terra (NTOG:AIM) jumping 26% to 0.12p, and Independent Resources (IRG:AIM) 17 higher at 0.88p. The pair have agreed a deal to buyout their jointly-owned East Ghazalat concession in Egypt, from Transglobe Energy for $3.5 million.
But Paragon Entertainment (PEL:AIM) plunges 20% to 2p as trading fails to live up to investor hopes. The company says further commercial progress is coming and that it has seen good levels of existing capacity utilisation on various new projects, as well as winning a £5 million design and build project for a major theme park in UAE. But investors appear concerned about the implications on costs and cash, and have been spooked by a forecast miss.
Elsewhere, bakery food-on-the-go retailer Greggs (GRG) rises 6.7% to £11.51 as a strong third quarter trading statement triggers another round of earnings upgrades. Greggs reports 4.9% growth in like-for-like sales for the 13 weeks to 3 October and expects growth for the year will be 'slightly ahead of our previous expectations' with a boost from new shop openings.
Drug delivery specialist BTG (BTG) slumps 13% to 578.5p as steers the market towards the lower end of the forecast revenues range. That implies sales of no more than £440 million.
Shares in Al Noor Hospitals (ANH) climb 5.2% to 967.5p following confirmation on Monday afternoon that the UAE-focused private hospital group is discussing a potential merger with rival operator Mediclinic International, which also has interests in Africa and Switzerland.
Oil services provider Wood Group (WG.) is up 2.6% to 673p as the market gives the thumbs up to the appointment of internal candidate Robin Watson to take over as CEO after the retirement of Bob Keiller at the end of 2015.
