London midday: Metals prices lift stocks as Thanksgiving holiday thins volumes

Mining companies gave the UK equity market a boost on Thursday as metal prices increased.

Glencore, Anglo American, Antofagasta and Rio Tinto were on the FTSE 100’s leaderboard at the midday mark as copper prices jumped 2.29% on the Comex. Gold, silver and platinum also registered gains.

The rally came Chinese regulators considered a request from the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association to investigate short-selling in domestic metal contracts amid the slump in prices, Bloomberg reported.

Meanwhile, with little in the way of major economic news on Thursday due to US markets closing for Thanksgiving, investors continued to process George Osborne’s joint Spending Review and Autumn Statement.

The Chancellor on Wednesday announced measures to support the housing sector, giving housebuilding stocks a boost. He also made a giant U-turn on tax credits and revealed an increase in the state pension and a change in NHS finances.

On the company front, BHP Billiton slid as a United Nations investigation concluded that waste from the tailings burst at the Samarco mine in Brazil is toxic and that measures taken by the group and its partner Vale to prevent any damage being done were “clearly insufficient”. The company denied the claims, however.

Tesco gained after paying $12m to settle one of two class action lawsuits brought by disgruntled US investors who sued over the overstatement of the grocer's 2014 first-half profits.

Marston’s climbed as the brewer reported a 7% increase in revenue for the year and grew profit in all its trading areas.

Paypoint plunged as it reported a 1.4% drop in revenue for the six months to 30 September, to £102.8m.

Daily Mail and General Trust advanced as it sold its online discount business, Wowcher, to a newly formed company controlled by Exponent Private Equity, in which it holds a stake of around 30%. Societe Generale upgraded the company to ‘hold’ from ‘sell’ following the company’s results on Wednesday, saying there is significantly less scope for bad news from here.

Aviva fell as RBC Capital Markets downgraded the insurance firm to ‘sector perform’ to ‘underperform’ based on the company’s solvency ratio and as it steps away from the bulk annuities market.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,375.04 0.59%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 17,114.28 0.02%
techMARK (TASX) 3,214.04 0.58%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Glencore (GLEN) 94.06p 3.84%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 570.00p 3.35%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 510.50p 2.39%
Royal Mail (RMG) 491.50p 2.01%
Fresnillo (FRES) 735.00p 2.01%
Standard Life (SL.) 411.40p 1.98%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 2,896.00p 1.97%
BAE Systems (BA.) 517.00p 1.87%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 256.70p 1.70%
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 155.30p 1.70%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

BHP Billiton (BLT) 836.80p -1.96%
National Grid (NG.) 928.10p -1.88%
Aviva (AV.) 509.00p -0.97%
Legal & General Group (LGEN) 269.80p -0.77%
Intu Properties (INTU) 321.20p -0.77%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 1,223.00p -0.73%
British Land Company (BLND) 825.50p -0.54%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,828.00p -0.44%
Sky (SKY) 1,114.00p -0.36%
Hammerson (HMSO) 605.00p -0.33%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Ophir Energy (OPHR) 96.00p 5.49%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 93.00p 3.45%
OneSavings Bank (OSB) 351.90p 3.11%
Marston's (MARS) 164.40p 3.07%
SIG (SHI) 132.00p 2.88%
RPC Group (RPC) 737.50p 2.86%
Sophos Group (SOPH) 280.40p 2.71%
SSP Group (SSPG) 304.20p 2.60%
John Laing Group (JLG) 204.50p 2.56%
Serco Group (SRP) 110.30p 2.51%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Lancashire Holdings Limited (LRE) 682.50p -9.96%
PayPoint (PAY) 910.00p -8.31%
Diploma (DPLM) 676.00p -3.77%
Telecom Plus (TEP) 1,034.00p -3.63%
Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 895.00p -3.35%
Poundland Group (PLND) 203.60p -3.28%
AO World (AO.) 136.00p -3.06%
Aldermore Group (ALD) 238.20p -2.78%
Card Factory (CARD) 352.00p -2.55%
Atkins (WS) (ATK) 1,538.00p -2.23%