Monday morning business bulletin

Jun 30 2008 By Karen Dent

Commodity stocks put the London market on the front foot today as trading was buoyed by takeover talk among mining firms.

The FTSE 100 Index was 30.6 points ahead at 5560.5 as reports of manoeuvring in the sector added early interest.

Speculation that steel giant Lakshmi Mittal could challenge BHP Billiton to takeover Rio Tinto pushed Rio 103p higher to 5946p, while Anglo American - said to be eyeing both BHP and Rio’s assets - gained 57p to 3453p.

Other miners linked with consolidation activity, Xstrata and Eurasian Natural Resources, also featured, cheering 77p to 4011p and 28p to 1368p respectively.

Beleaguered housebuilder Taylor Wimpey today said it was in fundraising talks with investors to cope with a "significant downturn" in the housing market.

The group - looking to raise £500m to shore up its finances, according to weekend reports - said it was likely to gain the funds though a placing and open offer of new shares.

But the firm added that it was set to write off £660m on the value of its land bank and work in progress due to the tough market conditions.

It said: "Taylor Wimpey came into the year with a cautious outlook on the market and this has been borne out by recent experience. While the US market is showing signs of improving stability, in the UK market it has become apparent that we have entered a significant downturn."

The appetite for online shopping showed little sign of wavering today as internet fashion retailer ASOS doubled profits and posted healthy sales.

ASOS, which stands for As Seen On Screen, beat City forecasts with pre-tax profits of £7.3m in the year to March 31 - more than double the previous year’s £3.4m.

The company also defied the slowdown felt elsewhere on the high street with a 95% increase in sales in the 13 weeks to June 27. This compares with 85% growth last year.

ASOS targets 16 to 34-year olds with clothing and accessories based on those worn by celebrities, such as TV presenter Alexa Chung and model Agyness Deyn.

The group said it had 3.4m visitors to its website in May, a 60% increase on the previous year.

The pound at 9am was US$1.9946 compared to US$1.9946 at the previous close, while the euro at 9am was £0.7923 compared to £0.7897 at the previous close.