London midday: Miners lead equities higher

London stocks advanced on Monday as mining shares rallied on an increase in metal prices.

Shares in a gauge of miners, including Anglo American, Glencore, BHP Billiton and Fresnillo, jumped as gold, silver and platinum prices rose.

Oil prices also gained as Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro said OPEC and non-OPEC producers were close to reaching an output deal. Meanwhile, disruptions in restarting crude exports in Libya relieved worries about the global supply glut.

Brent crude rose 1.3% to $46.38 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate increased 1.4% to $43.66 per barrel.

Polymetal International was higher after saying its Viksha platinum mine is “both technically and financially viable” after a mineral resource estimate.

Sky was in the black as Morgan Stanley upgraded the stock to ‘overweight’ from ‘equalweight’.

On the downside, outsourcer Mitie Group tumbled after it warned that full year profits would be materially lower than expected due to a drop-off in higher margin contracts in the first-half and the cost of new efficiency programmes.

HICL Infrastructure was weaker as it announced a proposal to raise £76m through an issue of ordinary shares.

On the economic data front, Rightmove said UK house prices rose 0.7% on the month and 1.2% on the year in September to an average of £306,499.

Eurozone construction output rose 1.8% in July compared to a month earlier and increased 3.1% compared to the same month a year ago, Eurostat revealed.

Still to come, the US NAHB housing market index will be released at 1500 BST.

Later in the week, the attention turns to the Federal Reserve and Bank of Japan’s policy decisions. Both central banks meet on Wednesday.

“The respective decisions from the BoJ and FOMC will no doubt shape the look and feel of markets for weeks to come, yet realistically it is just the Japanese who stand any chance of raising rates on Wednesday,” said IG market analyst Joshua Mahony.

“Despite differing expectations, it makes sense that the BoJ will avoid anything too drastic with existing monetary stimulus leaving little room for manoeuvre.”

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,802.54 1.37%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 17,849.68 -0.01%
techMARK (TASX) 3,514.26 0.56%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Anglo American (AAL) 855.00p 4.99%
Glencore (GLEN) 192.95p 4.30%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 632.90p 4.25%
Tesco (TSCO) 174.65p 3.16%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,016.50p 3.08%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,343.00p 2.79%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,659.00p 2.66%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 579.90p 2.33%
Sky (SKY) 859.50p 2.32%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 2,163.00p 2.22%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 1,063.00p -0.37%
Mediclinic International (MDC) 916.00p -0.33%
SABMiller (SAB) 4,439.50p -0.01%
Capita (CPI) 971.50p -0.00%
Intu Properties (INTU) 286.80p 0.03%
Informa (INF) 732.50p 0.14%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 3,955.50p 0.14%
CRH (CRH) 2,489.00p 0.20%
Shire Plc (SHP) 5,106.00p 0.22%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 5,106.00p 0.22%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Centamin (DI) (CEY) 142.40p 5.72%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 518.50p 4.68%
Hunting (HTG) 436.00p 3.75%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 821.00p 3.08%
Evraz (EVR) 142.10p 3.05%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,554.00p 2.91%
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 1,650.00p 2.48%
Vectura Group (VEC) 145.30p 2.11%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 710.50p 2.08%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 2,606.00p 2.08%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Mitie Group (MTO) 200.20p -25.58%
Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 1,152.00p -4.56%
Hastings Group Holdings (HSTG) 222.20p -3.89%
Dairy Crest Group (DCG) 646.50p -3.22%
SSP Group (SSPG) 317.40p -2.97%
IP Group (IPO) 187.30p -2.65%
Spire Healthcare Group (SPI) 380.10p -2.54%
PayPoint (PAY) 1,013.00p -2.50%
HICL Infrastructure Company Ltd (HICL) 175.30p -2.45%
CMC Markets (CMCX) 229.30p -2.43%