LONDON

London shares ease in early deals; oils weigh, offsetting Reed Elsevier, Diageo Leading shares slipped lower in early deals as weakness in the oil & gas sector offset stellar performances from Reed Elsevier following plans to sell its struggling education operations and Diageo on the back of its raised guidance, dealers said. At 9.10 am, the FTSE 100 index was 8.3 points lower at 6,412.9, after breaching the 6,400 point level in afternoon trade yesterday to close up 39.4 points at 6,421.2. But the broader indices were marginally higher. Volume was relatively light, with 209.0 mln shares changing hands in 39,830 deals. In the US overnight, the Dow Jones industrials set new highs when stocks extended their gains for a second day after Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told a Senate panel the economy should grow modestly this year and that he expects inflation will continue to ease. The Dow Jones closed 87.10 points higher at 12,741.90, while the Nasdaq Composite added 28.50 points at 2,488.38 and the S&P 500 index took on 11.05 points at 1,455.30. Meanwhile, Asian markets were in a jubilant mood this morning, with Tokyo's Nikkei 225 index closing up 144.59 points at 17,897.23 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng ending 92.54 points higher at 3,142.94 ahead of the Chinese New Yearcelebrations this weekend. Still in Asia, oil prices were little changed following last night's decline, sparked by a report showing higher-than-expected US stockpiles of heating fuel. Earlier this morning, New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in March, was up three cents at 58.03 usd per barrel after falling 1.06 usd to 58.00 in late US trades overnight. Brent North Sea crude for April rose six cents to 57.49 usd. In London, Reed Elsevier led the risers, taking on 5.7 pct, or 34-1/2 pence at 639, after the Anglo-Dutch publisher announced plans to sell its under-performing education division and return the proceeds to shareholders, overshadowing slightly dull sales figures for the full-year. Reed, which counts the Lancet medical journal and New Scientist magazine among its 15,000-plus publications, said adjusted pretax profit rose 5 pct to 1.02 bln stg on revenue up 4 pct to 5.39 bln. Peers Pearson, Reuters and WPP Group followed suit, gaining 9-1/2 pence at 826, 2-1/2 pence at 429-1/2 and 5-1/2 pence at 756-1/2, respectively. Meanwhile, Diageo was close on Reed's heels, up 36 pence at 1,057 -- a climb of almost 3.6 pct, as the world's largest alcoholic drinks producer reported organic operating profit growth of 8 pct in the first half and raised its full-year guidance to 8 pct organic operating profit growth.