London midday: Miners lift equities as metal prices rise

London stocks rallied on Monday at midday, led by mining companies as metal prices rose.

Glencore, Anglo American, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton were among the top risers on the FTSE 100 after gold, silver, copper and platinum prices increased.

In contrast, oil continued to slide with Brent crude down 1.5% to $36.46 per barrel and West Texas Intermediate down 0.95% to $35.72 per barrel at 1125 GMT.

FXTM research analyst Lukman Otunuga said oil prices may remain vulnerable after Iraq’s oil Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi reiterated that OPEC will stick to its decision of maintaining a policy of uncapped production levels.

"It remains clear that OPEC’s decision to leave production unchanged is motivated by the hope of regaining market share and pushing away other competitors from the market," Otunuga said.

"With any expectations of an immediate production cut discounted, WTI Oil remains fundamentally bearish and this should encourage sellers to attack."

Meanwhile, Spain faces political uncertainty after anti-austerity party Podemos and liberal Ciudadanos made big gains as the conservative Popular Party (PP) lost its majority.

Sunday’s vote sees prime minister Mariano Rajoy’s PP ostensibly still in power, but with 123 seats away from a majority.

"It’s like the Greek election saga in a minor key, one that poses a host of new problems for a country that has spent the last few months gradually sinking to the bottom of the Eurozone’s unofficial performance chart," said Connor Campbell, financial analyst at Spreadex.

In macroeconomic data, high street sales growth accelerated in the year to December, according to the Confederation of British Industry’s latest monthly Distributive Trades Survey.

However, growth was a little weaker than expected, with the retail sales balance rising to +19 from +7 the previous month, compared with estimates of +21.

German producer prices posted their sharpest annual drop in nearly six years in November as energy prices dragged, according to data released by Destatis.

Producer prices slipped 0.2% on the month and 2.5% compared with the corresponding month last year.

Economists had expected a 0.2% decline from last month and a 2.4% fall on the year.

On the company front, Primark owner Associated British Foods declined after RBC Capital Markets downgraded the stock to 'underperform' from 'sector perform'.

John Wood Group jumped after buying Kelchner Inc, a privately-owned US-based provider of construction and energy field services.

Meggitt gained as it completed the $340m (£228m) acquisition of the composites division of EDAC after receiving the customary US regulatory approvals.

BG and Shell climbed on news they will seek High Court approval on Monday to hold shareholder meetings over their £55bn merger following satisfaction of the final pre-condition to the recommended combination and with the unanimous approval of both boards.

Dairy Crest rose as it took full ownership of its galacto-oligosaccharide business on Monday.

Hammerson advanced as it agreed to sell Newcastle-upon-Tyne’s Monument Mall to the Standard Life Investments UK Property Fund for £75m.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,098.00 0.75%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 17,164.81 0.34%
techMARK (TASX) 3,168.81 0.27%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Glencore (GLEN) 86.40p 6.85%
Anglo American (AAL) 293.00p 5.15%
ITV (ITV) 272.90p 3.45%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 1,913.50p 2.74%
BG Group (BG.) 932.50p 2.70%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 426.70p 2.50%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 734.90p 2.47%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 261.30p 2.39%
Standard Life (SL.) 383.00p 2.30%
Tesco (TSCO) 146.35p 2.02%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 1,470.00p -2.00%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 3,265.00p -1.86%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,153.00p -1.62%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 1,096.00p -1.26%
Inmarsat (ISAT) 1,098.00p -0.90%
Sports Direct International (SPD) 566.00p -0.70%
Admiral Group (ADM) 1,647.00p -0.48%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 574.00p -0.43%
Next (NXT) 7,255.00p -0.27%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,463.00p -0.27%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Acacia Mining (ACA) 166.00p 4.08%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 62.15p 3.84%
Ophir Energy (OPHR) 89.25p 3.84%
Polymetal International (POLY) 540.00p 3.65%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 160.30p 3.35%
Entertainment One Limited (ETO) 175.40p 3.18%
Drax Group (DRX) 227.20p 2.99%
Aggreko (AGK) 918.50p 2.86%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 273.60p 2.74%
Amec Foster Wheeler (AMFW) 401.40p 2.50%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

CLS Holdings (CLI) 1,785.00p -2.99%
International Personal Finance (IPF) 297.00p -2.78%
Jimmy Choo (CHOO) 122.30p -2.55%
National Express Group (NEX) 323.30p -2.53%
DFS Furniture (DFS) 331.40p -2.41%
Telecom Plus (TEP) 1,077.00p -2.18%
BGEO Group (BGEO) 1,924.00p -1.84%
Genesis Emerging Markets Fund Ltd Ptg NPV (GSS) 446.60p -1.63%
OneSavings Bank (OSB) 357.10p -1.63%
Dechra Pharmaceuticals (DPH) 1,038.00p -1.61%