Footsie up in early trading

Technology-based stocks took a battering today after a profits warning from bluetooth chip maker CSR.

CSR lost a quarter of its value, while other second-tier stocks such as Wolfson Microelectronics and ARM Holdings were also impacted.

The rest of the London market made steady progress, with the FTSE 100 Index up 27.2 points at 5904.2 by mid-morning.

Miners set the pace with gains across the board, while speculation that gas explorer BG could be in the sights of Royal Dutch Shell lifted shares in both companies.

BG rose 2% or 16p to 656p with Cantor Index analyst David Buik citing unconfirmed rumours of a 720p a share bid.

Shares in Shell were up 11p to 1794p while BP was 7p higher at 580p after reports said it had begun a review of its global operations in response to last year’s Texas City refinery blast which killed 15 people.

Among the miners, Kazakhmys lifted 36p to 1243p ahead of interim results tomorrow, with Vedanta Resources up 32p at 1253p and Xstrata 52p stronger at 2212p.

Fortunes in the gaming sector continued to fluctuate, following a gain of 4% for Party Poker owner PartyGaming. Shares were up 4.25p at 105p, alongside a rise of 5.75p to 147.5p for 888 Holdings in the FTSE 250 Index.

Elsewhere outside the top flight, department store group Debenhams was in the spotlight after it gave its first trading update since returning the stock market in May.

Shares in the company were up 0.25p at 192.25p after like-for-like sales rose by 0.5% in the year to September 2.

Infrastructure firm John Laing was up another 4% – or 11.5p to 334.75p – after it was said to have agreed to an £800 million takeover by fund managers Henderson. Shares in Laing rocketed last week as it confirmed it was being courted by an unnamed suitor.

CSR moved in the opposite direction, losing 288p at 856p after the Cambridge-based company said that sales in the second half of the year would be lower than first expected. Wolfson Microelectronics fell 21p to 489p and ARM dipped 1.25p to 116.5p.