London close: Mining stocks help lift FTSE to positive finish
Coming off the morning's declines, London-listed stocks ended Monday's session on a relatively upbeat note, thanks to a strong performance by the mining sector on what was a generally quiet day for markets.
Anglo American
2,560.00p
16:40 25/04/24
ARM Holdings
1,700.00p
17:09 02/09/16
FTSE 100
8,078.86
17:14 25/04/24
Glencore
468.60p
16:40 25/04/24
Melrose Industries
625.20p
17:14 25/04/24
Smith & Nephew
964.40p
16:35 25/04/24
Synergy Health
2,325.00p
13:25 28/10/15
The FTSE 100 finished near its best levels of the session, closing 26.27 points higher at 6,366.24.
"Shares in Europe rebounded modestly off yearly lows [...] when last week’s downside momentum ran out of steam thanks to the Federal Reserve and Bank of England hinting at later rate hikes and positive trade data from China," said CMC market analyst Jasper Lawler.
Bank of England governor Mark Carney was making headlines after giving a speech at the International Monetary Fund's annual meeting in Washington, telling CNBC afterwards that weak growth in the Eurozone had been a central theme.
"Governor Carney in an interview at the International Monetary Fund suggested weakening growth in the Eurozone would influence policy at the Bank of England," Lawler continued.
"Carney’s comments infer that domestic inflation, wage and unemployment data may be slower to reach targets thanks to slowing growth in the Eurozone and perhaps pushes back the timing of the first UK rate hike to the second quarter of next year."
London house prices less affordable than at 2007 peak
A surge in London house prices this year has left the capital far less affordable than ever before, particularly compared to the rest of Britain, according to Hamptons International.
The report found London to be less affordable now than when the housing market hit its previous peak in 2007. It was also outlined that buyers face many pressures, whether from the increased cost of living or rising housing prices.
Miners help FTSE back into positive territory
Mining stocks gained strongly thanks to broker upgrades and strong economic data out from China which showed that both exports and imports jumped strongly in September, by 15.3% and 7% year-on-year respectively. The sector has in the past few months declined sharply due to mounting concerns about slowing global growth
Credit Suisse gave an extra boost to Anglo American after raising its rating on the stock to 'outperform' from 'neutral', while Canaccord Genuity started its coverage on Glencore Xstrata with a 'buy' rating and a target price of 400p.
Manufacturing conglomerate Melrose rose after it said it would sell its industrial rope and cable division Bridon for £365m - a price above some analysts' expectations.
Shares in Arm Holdings were hit by a downgrade from JPMorgan & Co. to 'neutral', while Tesco declined after the Financial Times reported that two more directors at the supermarket are set to depart. Company secretary Jonathan Lloyd is expected to exit in March after serving out his notice period, while non-executive director Ken Hanna will bid farewell before the year's end.
Medical technology business Smith & Nephew fell after reporting negative results for the phase-three study on its living cell spray-on therapy, which failed to meet its primary goal. The treatment is designed to work with the body's own cells to stimulate healing of venous leg ulcers, but failed to result in a statistically significant improvement in healing over a placebo.
On the second tier, shares in Synergy Health surged after US group Steris Corp offered $1.9bn for the UK sterilisation services provider in a cash-and-stock deal. Analysts at Canaccord Genuity said it was an "attractive price for Synergy holders".
Market Movers
techMARK 2,655.15 -0.57%
FTSE 100 6,366.24 +0.41%
FTSE 250 14,543.98 -0.67%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Anglo American (AAL) 1,388.00p +4.72%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 4,381.00p +4.38%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,090.00p +4.22%
Fresnillo (FRES) 778.50p +3.94%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,660.50p +2.91%
Glencore (GLEN) 320.60p +2.67%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 677.00p +2.34%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 808.00p +2.08%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 632.80p +2.02%
BG Group (BG.) 1,040.00p +1.46%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Tesco (TSCO) 180.60p -2.51%
TUI Travel (TT.) 335.40p -2.44%
ARM Holdings (ARM) 822.00p -2.43%
Carnival (CCL) 2,155.00p -2.36%
Weir Group (WEIR) 2,155.00p -2.31%
Dixons Carphone (DC.) 357.10p -1.46%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 976.50p -1.46%
Shire Plc (SHP) 5,140.00p -1.44%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 2,165.00p -1.37%
Bunzl (BNZL) 1,546.00p -1.34%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Synergy Health (SYR) 1,840.00p +31.43%
De La Rue (DLAR) 492.00p +3.67%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 90.55p +3.07%
SSP Group (SSPG) 236.70p +2.91%
Ladbrokes (LAD) 113.70p +2.71%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 119.00p +2.59%
Polymetal International (POLY) 483.60p +2.54%
Lonmin (LMI) 174.00p +2.17%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 243.20p +1.89%
Just Retirement Group (JRG) 122.70p +1.74%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Essentra (ESNT) 698.00p -5.93%
Just Eat (JE.) 270.00p -4.26%
CSR (CSR) 645.00p -3.87%
Laird (LRD) 283.50p -3.64%
Booker Group (BOK) 118.90p -3.57%
Alent (ALNT) 301.30p -3.52%
AO World (AO.) 154.00p -3.45%
Riverstone Energy Limited (RSE) 840.00p -3.45%
Cineworld Group (CINE) 306.50p -3.31%
Fisher (James) & Sons (FSJ) 1,216.00p -3.11%