London close: FTSE closes higher as miners rally

The FTSE 100 closed in the black on Tuesday, bolstered by a rally in mining stocks as metal and oil prices jumped.

Miners were the biggest risers of the day with Antofagasta, Glencore and BHP Billiton in the lead as gold, silver and copper prices gained 1.62%, 4.44% and 2.02% on the Comex.

“The metals complex is flying, aided by the weaker dollar and also apparently because base metal buying is considered a decent hedge against the Chinese yuan,” said Brenda Kelly, head of analysts at London Capital Group.

“Despite all the apparent risk on sentiment, silver prices are surging with gold prices also taking upside cues. The price ratio is now at a 2016 low. Silver’s greater industrial use means it is more sensitive to the industrial cycle and potentially less of a haven than gold. Over the long term (100 years) the ratio has gone below 20 three times and neared 100 twice, so silver does look cheap relative to gold in some respects.”

Oil prices were continuing to rebound from the heavy losses seen after the meeting of OPEC and non-OPEC producers in Doha on Sunday, which failed to yield an agreement to freeze production.

Brent crude rose 2.4% to $44.01 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate increased 3.4% to $41.18 per barrel at 1636 BST.

“The stability in oil prices has strengthened attitudes among traders who are developing a strong appetite for riskier assets. After an initial plunge in oil prices due to a failed meeting in Doha, oil prices recovered remarkably and this has served as a signal that no more adverse news can cause any major dents for oil,” said Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at AvaTrade.

According to analysts at Energy Aspects, the strike by workers in Kuwait's oil sector which has helped to buoy prices may last for between 10 to 15 days.

In economic data, German investor confidence came in better than expected for April, according to the latest survey from the ZEW Center for European Economic Research in Mannheim. The index of investor and analyst expectations rose to 11.2 from 4.3 in March, beating consensus estimates of 8.0.

US housing starts fell a little more than expected in March, according to the Commerce Department. Housing starts declined 8.8% from February to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 1.09m compared with expectations for a drop to 1.17m. This was a 14.2% increase from the same month in 2015.

On the company front, TUI was on the back foot, giving back some of the gains it made in the previous session after Berenberg upgraded the stock to ‘buy’ from ‘hold’ and nudged the price target up to 105p.

Paddy Power Betfair slipped, resuming the previous day’s decline as the bookmaker’s annual report revealed it paid former chief executive Andy McCue over €3.7m in 2015 in salary, benefits and shares.

Meggitt jumped after it reiterated its full-year revenue guidance as it said first-quarter trading has been in line with expectations.

Aveva advanced after the provider of engineering data and design software did its best to reassure the market ahead of its results next month, saying its numbers looked to be in line with forecasts.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,405.35 0.82%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 17,039.57 0.89%
techMARK (TASX) 3,189.18 0.55%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Anglo American (AAL) 752.50p 8.49%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 494.00p 7.81%
Glencore (GLEN) 170.20p 7.69%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 964.50p 5.25%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,061.00p 4.84%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 696.50p 4.66%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 541.90p 3.61%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 846.50p 3.61%
GKN (GKN) 295.70p 3.28%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,333.00p 2.84%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Mediclinic International (MDC) 900.50p -3.54%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 433.30p -2.08%
Paddy Power Betfair (PPB) 9,330.00p -2.05%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 1,046.00p -1.78%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 499.60p -1.46%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,232.00p -1.20%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 2,758.00p -1.15%
Provident Financial (PFG) 3,019.00p -1.02%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 171.40p -0.92%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 67.85p -0.88%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Aveva Group (AVV) 1,661.00p 9.06%
Clarkson (CKN) 2,398.00p 6.82%
Evraz (EVR) 144.00p 6.75%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,196.00p 6.31%
Meggitt (MGGT) 413.60p 6.27%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 183.90p 5.39%
TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 249.70p 5.14%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 224.20p 5.11%
CLS Holdings (CLI) 1,613.00p 4.88%
Telecom Plus (TEP) 866.00p 4.72%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Supergroup (SGP) 1,223.00p -6.07%
Shawbrook Group (SHAW) 265.90p -5.04%
OneSavings Bank (OSB) 280.00p -3.78%
Aldermore Group (ALD) 186.10p -2.87%
St. Modwen Properties (SMP) 303.80p -2.78%
Laird (LRD) 362.00p -2.29%
UDG Healthcare Public Limited Company (UDG) 595.50p -2.06%
Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 91.85p -1.97%
BGEO Group (BGEO) 2,085.00p -1.79%
Domino's Pizza Group (DOM) 962.00p -1.79%