London close: FTSE pushes higher with help from miners

London stocks closed higher on Tuesday, underpinned by strength in the mining sector as investors digested a flurry of earnings reports.

The FTSE 100 closed up 0.8% at 7,434.82, with sterling up 0.09% against the dollar at 1.3040 and the euro also up against the dollar by 0.15%.

On the data front, the latest survey from the Confederation of British Industry showed industrial production in the last three months increased at the fastest pace since the mid-1990s, although the headline balance of total orders was lower than expected.

The CBI industrial trends survey recorded a balance of +10 more companies saying total orders were above normal versus those where they were below normal, which was short of the forecast for a balance of +12 and down from the previous +16.

Business optimism about the current situation for July rose to a balance of +5 from the previous +1 when it had been forecast to be flat. Volume of output in the three months to July rose to a balance of +31, the highest since 1995, from +22, while the balance of export orders and domestic orders both eased slightly.

The picture on exports was mixed too, adding to signs that the sterling's sharp fall since last year's Brexit vote has yet to trigger a deluge of orders from abroad.

Export orders slowed in the three months to July, but manufacturers' optimism about exports over the coming three months rose to the highest in 40 years, the CBI said.

The Bank of England is said to be monitoring guages of exports and investement by business ahead of next week's interest rate decision.

In corporate news, Rio Tinto was in the black as the Serious Fraud Office launched a corruption probe into the company’s activities in Guinea.

Anglo American rallied as it said Kumba Iron Ore, in which it holds a majority stake, reported headline earnings of ZAR4.6bn (£272.58m) for the six months to the end of June.

Luxury accessories brand Jimmy Choo surged as it agreed to be bought by Michael Kors for £896m, while Segro advanced after posting a 5.4% rise in first-half net asset value per share and a 23% jump in adjusted pre-tax profit.

Exhibitions group Informa racked up strong gains as it said pre-tax profit rose to £148.8m from £98.9m as first-half revenue increased 41.3% on strong trading in its global exhibitions division, while soapmaker PZ Cussons advanced as its full-year pre-tax profit rose.

Wealth manager Rathbone Brothers closed up after reporting a rise in profit for the first half.

The fallers were led by sub-prime lender Provident Financial, which retreated after reporting a 46% fall in statutory first-half profits, which it blamed on the disruption from reorganising its home credit business to a self-employed model.

Croda International was on the back foot despite reporting that half-year pre-tax profits at the speciality chemical company rose 15.8% to £168m boosted by currency tailwinds as sales increased 16.2% to £707.3m.

Virgin Money slumped after posting a 32% jump in first-half profit but sounding a cautious note over "areas of weakness" in the UK housing market, while Spectris was under pressure after its half-year results.

Domino's Pizza shares weren't looking so tasty despite the company posting an increase in first-half pre-tax profit as like-for-like sales growth slowed and Polymetal nudged lower after saying second-quarter revenue increased 26%.

Acacia Mining was having a rough time again, down sharply after being slapped with a huge Tanzanian tax bill.

Morrisons and Marks & Spencer were down despite growth reported in industry surveys from Kantar Worldpanel and Neilsen, while Tesco and Sainsbury bounced back after some precautionary profit-taking late in the previous session.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,434.82 0.77%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,641.28 0.13%
techMARK (TASX) 3,508.28 -0.12%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Antofagasta (ANTO) 951.00p 7.46%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,171.50p 6.07%
Glencore (GLEN) 330.65p 5.76%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,475.00p 4.54%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,343.50p 4.31%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 841.20p 2.89%
SEGRO (SGRO) 519.50p 2.87%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,698.00p 2.78%
Informa (INF) 695.50p 2.74%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,528.00p 2.62%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Provident Financial (PFG) 2,163.00p -5.83%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 5,283.00p -2.40%
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 241.20p -2.19%
WPP (WPP) 1,561.00p -2.01%
Croda International (CRDA) 3,766.00p -1.54%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 321.10p -1.53%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 7,533.00p -1.18%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,165.00p -1.05%
British Land Company (BLND) 607.00p -0.98%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 182.90p -0.87%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 695.00p 9.28%
Petra Diamonds Ltd.(DI) (PDL) 108.30p 5.35%
Evraz (EVR) 237.00p 4.59%
Victrex plc (VCT) 1,990.00p 4.52%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 153.70p 4.06%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 738.50p 3.94%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 234.60p 3.58%
Ascential (ASCL) 362.00p 3.43%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 292.10p 3.36%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 162.00p 2.79%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Virgin Money Holdings (UK) (VM.) 279.60p -8.78%
Acacia Mining (ACA) 169.00p -8.40%
Spectris (SXS) 2,439.00p -7.40%
Domino's Pizza Group (DOM) 263.70p -5.55%
Carillion (CLLN) 60.70p -4.18%
McCarthy & Stone (MCS) 172.00p -3.91%
Essentra (ESNT) 540.50p -3.74%
Aldermore Group (ALD) 221.70p -2.95%
IP Group (IPO) 138.50p -2.88%
Derwent London (DLN) 2,714.00p -2.65%