London afternoon: Footsie advancing again

Footsie has rallied and is now showing modest gains as worries over the Dubai debt situation ease.Royal Bank of Scotland has led teh recovery having calmed nerves by saying it has signed up for the government's asset protection scheme (APS). The bank said in a statement that the agreement was signed on Thursday, 26 November, on the terms summarised in the announcement published on 3 November. Peer Barclays is another top riser.London Stock Exchange is higher after a bad day yesterday when the exchange had to shut down due to a technical glitch.Miners are bearing the brunt of the selling in London, with the dollar rallying and investors having big profits to lock in. Kazakhmys, Fresnillo and ENRC are the worst hit.Gulf-related worries have also knocked Petrofac, while fund manager Schroders is also under pressure. Elsewhere, mobile phone retailer and broadband provider Carphone Warehouse has provided some cheer. It upped its full year guidance after posting better than expected half year figures. The group increased its headline EPS guidance for March 2010 to between 14.0p and 15.0p.Pub groups are doing well led by Punch Taverns, which has gained nearly 15%. Enterprise Inns and Mitchells and Butlers are also higher.Holidaybreak has suffered a big drop in full-year profit, but the firm's education business had a better time of it as parents refused to let their kids go without. Headline profit before tax for the year to 30 September fell by 12.9% to £28.4m, while statutory profit slumped to £5.4m from £23.4m in 2008. Revenue rose to £473.4m from £455.1m.Things are not looking a lot better in the business travel world, where the recession hit travel agent Hogg Robinson in the first half, with profits almost halving. Domino's Pizza is higher after it scrapped its tender offer, announced last week, because the shares have fallen about 7% below the tender price. A straightforward share buy-back might now be on the cards.Respiratory inhaler firm Vectura reported a 67% reduction in half year pre-tax losses and said it plans to establish an infrastructure in the US marketAccident Exchange expects a first half loss and has warned it needs to refinance as insurers continue to drag their heels over settling claims.