London close: Blue chips slide, led by gold-exposed miners amid profit-taking

London blue-chip stocks fell on Thursday as traders took profits stoked by Donald Trump's election win, with gold-exposed miners, pharmaceutical and US rates-sensitive utilities all flopping.

The FTSE 100 ended the session down 1.21% to 6,827.98 points, somewhat out of kilter with mild gains on the FTSE All Share and FTSE 250.

Gold-focused miners Fresnillo and Randgold Resources plunged, as did in-the news National Grid, which led other utilities down. AstraZeneca, also in the news, led beleaguered pharmas.

"The FTSE 100 gave up its early gains thanks to a late drop in the energy sector," said Jasper Lawler, market analyst at CMC Markets.

"Basic materials and industrial sectors led gainers on hopes of a US-led infrastructure spending boom while perceived havens like utilities and tobacco lost out."

Against this backcloth, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was making positive progress early in the US session. On the continent, the Euro Stoxx 50 also ended down.

Connor Campbell, financial analyst at Spreadex, noted overall the mining and banking sectors were in rude health this afternoon, confusing the picture as to exactly why the FTSE was down.

"It is perhaps apt that the reaction to Donald Trump’s victory has been so confused, flipping between bombast and baloney much in the same manner as the soon to be President," he said.

"That’s all well and good for the short-term, especially for those traders looking to benefit from the present volatility.

"One suspects the seemingly rudderless movements may soon wear thin, however."

At about 16:24 GMT, sterling was up 0.96% to $1.2525, while the dollar-spot index was up 0.42% to $98.915. Meantime, crude oil futures continued their southbound schlep as traders remained haunted by the twin spectres of oversupply and slowing global growth.

Oil prices wavered after the monthly report from the International Energy Agency on Thursday revealed production rose 230,000 barrels a day to a record 33.83m barrels a day in October.

At about 16:24 GMT, West Texas Intermediate was down 1.3% to $44.68, while Brent was down 1.01% to $45.89 a barrel.

In economic data, British house prices rose in October at the fastest pace since April as a shortage of homes propped up the market.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors' House Price Balance index jumped to 23% in October from 18% in September, surprising analysts who had expected no change.

Stateside, Federal Reserve bank of St.Louis president James Bullard said the US central bank would only need to tighten policy once more over the next two to three years.

He reiterated his pre-election view that the US economy would continue to be in a low-interest rate regime possibly for between two to three years.

"If there is a change of regime, monetary policy would have to adjust," Bullard added, making no reference to the 2016 election result.

In other US economic news, initial jobless claims fell 11,000 from the previous week’s unrevised level to 254,000, surpassing expectations of a smaller drop to 260,000.

Back in UK, shares in Rio Tinto and Glencore rallied as HSBC initiated its coverage of the mining stocks with a 'buy' rating.

Prudential advanced as it agreed to sell its life insurance business in Korea, PCA Life Assurance, to Mirae Asset Life Insurance for £119m.

Hikma Pharmaceuticals shares dropped as it lowered its guidance on full year revenue slightly to $2bn from a previous $2bn-$2.1bn expectation.

Astrazeneca slid as it reported third quarter revenue fell 4% to $5.7bn, missing forecasts of $5.87bn, as generic versions of its best-selling medicine Crestor hurt sales.

ITV gained after saying total external revenues increased 5% to £2.15bn in the third quarter despite a 4% fall in advertising revenue. Non-advertising revenue drove the growth, rising 15% to £1.25bn.

National Grid fell after its half-year adjusted earnings per share came in at 28.2p, flat on the year, and operating profit at £1.9bn, up 1%.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,827.98 -1.21%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 17,659.47 0.39%
techMARK (TASX) 3,352.50 -0.57%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Antofagasta (ANTO) 715.00p 11.46%
Prudential (PRU) 1,531.00p 7.40%
Glencore (GLEN) 285.00p 5.46%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 202.70p 5.41%
Legal & General Group (LGEN) 232.80p 5.01%
BAE Systems (BA.) 612.00p 4.62%
Barclays (BARC) 201.10p 4.25%
Travis Perkins (TPK) 1,414.00p 4.20%
Shire Plc (SHP) 5,083.00p 3.80%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 59.63p 3.69%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Mediclinic International (MDC) 776.00p -15.65%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,576.00p -11.01%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 6,385.00p -10.26%
3i Group (III) 604.50p -7.78%
Polymetal International (POLY) 878.00p -7.27%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 3,389.00p -6.13%
National Grid (NG.) 943.90p -6.13%
Informa (INF) 645.00p -5.43%
Relx plc (REL) 1,299.00p -5.39%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 4,258.50p -4.94%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Evraz (EVR) 248.60p 11.13%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 867.00p 11.01%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 352.00p 10.48%
Keller Group (KLR) 800.00p 9.36%
Supergroup (SGP) 1,574.00p 8.78%
Hill & Smith Holdings (HILS) 1,250.00p 7.94%
Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 1,083.00p 7.77%
Laird (LRD) 141.20p 7.67%
Atkins (WS) (ATK) 1,711.00p 6.20%
OneSavings Bank (OSB) 307.70p 5.99%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Acacia Mining (ACA) 499.50p -7.93%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 152.00p -7.49%
Halfords Group (HFD) 320.00p -6.90%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 260.80p -6.46%
Inmarsat (ISAT) 726.00p -4.99%
NMC Health (NMC) 1,334.00p -4.91%
Go-Ahead Group (GOG) 2,049.00p -4.21%
GVC Holdings (GVC) 629.00p -4.12%
Pennon Group (PNN) 789.00p -3.55%
Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 5,485.00p -3.39%