London midmorning: Footsie slide continues (ShareCast)

LONDON (ShareCast) - London's slide has continued, leaving only the telecoms groups BT (LSE: ) and the household products giant Reckitt Benckiser (LSE: RB.L - news) in the blue. Oil stocks are only slightly lower, with the high crude price helping them hold out against the more serious declines seen elsewhere in Footsie and the oil services groups Petrofac (LSE: PFC.L - news) and John Wood Group (LSE: WG.L - news) are slightly lower but still among the top 10 performers. The latter was helped by JP Morgan upgrading its rating on the stock to 'neutral' from 'underweight' and lifted its price target to 510p from 390p British Airways (LSE: Moving to mid-caps, struggling housebuilder Barratt Developments (LSE: BDEV.L - news) is the early focus as the Telegraph reported it is close to securing a rescue refinancing with lenders... [read full story]