Advancers

Lonmin led the advancers. The platinum miner jumped 3.6% as the precious metal surged $148, or 12%, to a record $1,401.50 an ounce. Mid-cap Aquarius Platinum gained 4.6%.

Scottish Power rose 1.2% while International Power rose 2.8% and Scottish & Southern Energy was 3.1% higher.

Takeover speculation also lifted credit checking group Experian, up 3.4%, and Gallaher, the tobacco group, 0.9% higher.

ICAP firmed 2% after the inter-dealer broker reported solid first half earnings, with revenue up 22%.

British Land advanced 1.8% after the property group announced an 11% rise in net asset value from the interim period. British Land said its rental growth was above average for the sector.

Decliners

Chilled foods group Uniq turned in a hefty loss for the first half after booking restructuring costs but said it was seeing a recovery in all three divisions. Uniq fell 3.12%.

Semiconductor products maker CML Microsystems released poor interim figures and warned that trading results for the opening half are significantly down on the same period last year. The stock gave up 12.24%.


9:00AM U.S. stock futures advanced, boosted by earnings and corporate news.
Stock index futures pointed to a higher market open on Tuesday on a multibillion-dollar order for Boeing, strong earnings reports and several brokerage upgrades.

Boeing Co. (BA: chart) received a $5.5 billion order for planes from Korean Air. A brokerage upgrade of software maker Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE: chart) also boosted sentiment. Wachovia lifted its rating on shares of Adobe (ADBE: chart), while J.P. Morgan Securities raised its rating on Medtronic (MDT: chart) after the medical device maker reported earnings above estimates. Bear Stearns raised its price target on online retailer Amazon.com (AMZN: chart) to $45 from $40.

Jack in The Box (JBX: chart) reported a 54% rise in Q4 net income after selling 25 restaurants in Hawaii and said it would buy 5.5 million of its shares through a modified Dutch-auction tender offer.

Nordstrom Inc. (JWN: chart), operator of high-end department stores, posted Q3 profit rise of 26%, benefiting from higher margins and brisk same-store sales. The company earned 52 cents a share, up from 39 cents a share in the year-ago period, surpassing estimates of 51 cents. Total sales increased 12% to $1.9 billion while same-store sales rose 11%.

Medtronic Inc. (MDT: chart), medical device maker, reported Q2 earnings decline of 59 cents a share, down 16.6% from 67 cents a share last year due to higher costs. However, revenue for the quarter jumped more than 11% to $3.08 billion from, exceeding estimates.


8:00AM Stock futures were steady.
U.S. stock market futures were trading near the flat line after a six-session winning streak for the Dow Industrials Index was snapped on Monday, despite several mega merger deals totaling about $70 billion. However, Vow components Boeing and Verizon are seen as potential gainers for the blue-chip index.

Of companies in focus, Korean Air said it is buying 25 planes from Boeing (BA: chart) that are worth $5.5 billion. Dow component Verizon (VZ: chart) was upgraded at Credit Suisse to outperform from neutral, citing expectations of earnings increase.

On the earnings news front Deere & Co (DE: chart), agricultural equipment maker, reported Q4 earnings and revenue that rose above year-earlier levels and topped analyst forecasts. The company also said production levels are expected to decline 4% in Q1 and for the year. Other companies reporting quarterly earnings today include Borders, J. Crew Group (BGP: chart) and Jack in the Box (JBX: chart). S&P 500 futures rose 1 point at 1,406.30 and Nasdaq 100 futures rose 2 points at 1,813.25. Dow industrial futures advanced 10 points.