Avocet, Petra to move to LSE's main list

Africa-focused miners Petra Diamonds and Avocet Mining are expected to be part of the main market of the London Stock Exchange, the companies said separately last week.

They expect the listing to take place on or shortly after Dec. 8, at which time trading of their shares on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange will be cancelled.

The AIM All-Share Index index has lost nearly a quarter of its value since the start of 2011, compared with a 13 percent loss for the FTSE Small Caps . The FTSE 100 lost 7.45 percent in the same period.

Shares in Petra, currently the largest diamond company on AIM, were trading down 2 percent at 116.75 pence, while Avocet shares were down 1.8 percent at 235.5 pence at 0846 GMT.

(Reporting by Suzannah Benjamin in Bangalore; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)