EasyJet joins in London's mid-cap rally The best action on London's equity markets on Tuesday came from the second tier of stocks, as shares in low cost airline easyJet jumped following forecast-beating profits and a large dividend increase. Shares in easyJet climbed 3.1 per cent to 672.69p after a surge in summer demand helped it post a 28 per cent rise in its full-year profit. Profit before tax climbed to £317m, from £248m in 2011. Dividend news was also a market pleaser, as the company proposed returning 21.5p a share to shareholders, more than double last year's payout. "Longer-term prospects remain exciting, which is why we retain our buy recommendation," said Gert Zonneveld at Panmure Gordon. Based on today's jump in dividends, the prospective dividend yields should be in excess of 3 per cent. Meanwhile, Homeserve, the provider of emergency repair insurance, gained 1.4 per cent to 226p after it reported an 8 per cent rise in half-yearly revenues, while adjusted operating profit rose 12 per cent to £27.1m as it took full control of French acquisition Domeo. The mid-cap FTSE 250 outperformed its senior partner, climbing 0.1 per cent to 11,749.89. The mood worsened a little for equity markets, however, after Moody's downgraded France's sovereign rating, leaving London's main indices lower. The FTSE 100 fell 25 points to 5,712.84 in early trade, a loss of 0.4 per cent. On the main index, miners and financial stocks were lower as the re-emergence of Europe's travails in the spotlight marked a return to risk aversion. Among the fallers, HSBC shed 1.1 per cent to 611.7p after it announced it may sell shares in Ping An, the Chinese insurance group. Barclays, which had been top of the leaderboard during the FTSE's 2.4 per cent gain of the previous session, eased 0.4 per cent to 248.73p. Miners were also broadly lower, but Xstrata climbed 0.5 per cent to 962.1p as the company's main shareholders prepared to vote on the merger with Glencore. Ahead of the meeting, Glencore's shares were 0.2 per cent higher at 327.35p. British Land, the UK's second-largest real estate investment trust, reported its first-half underlying profit, which excludes changes in asset valuations and one-off items, rose 4 per cent to £137m. Net profit, however, at £112m was only just over a third of the previous year's £332m. The shares fell 0.9 per cent to 510.5p.