Footsie back in positive territory

The Footsie index of 100 leading shares is up 13.1 points at lunchtime to stand at 5810 after falling by 63 points in the first 30 minutes of trading this morning.

A mixture of old and new economy stocks are leading the recovery, with Rentokil Initial leading the way after giving an upbeat trading statement at its annual general meeting. Its share price is up 13% or 24p at 214½p.

Engineering group is up 7p at 141p after saying it's sticking with plans to spin off its power systems business, announcing a strong rise in full-year profits and cutting a further 1,700 jobs worldwide.

Others benefiting after posting results is Boots, which is up 21p to 598p despite flat sales growth. Investors have been cheered by cost cutting moves and restructuring plans.

Technology and telecoms stocks on the up include computer services groups CMG and Logica, up 16p to 429½p and 20p to 895p respectively; Colt Telecom is up 19p to 720p; while Telewest Communications has gained 2½p to 123½p.

But telecoms equipment maker Marconi is down 6p at 350p on renewed fears about its trading performance.

International Power leads the Footsie 100 fallers' board with a fall of 10p to 316¾p as investors cash in on its recent run. It has also been hit by stockbroker Deutsche deciding to remove the firm from its European focus list, arguing the stock has outperformed.

Other fallers include Bass, down 18½p to 772½p; and Tesco, off 6p at 249p.

Outside the Footsie 100, computer games firm Eidos - the company behind Lara Croft - has slumped after it reported that full-year sales slid to £152.9m, from £203.2m, because of a "cyclical downturn" in its markets. Its share price is down 2¾p to 276¼p.