London midday: Miners weigh on Footsie amid US dollar strength

London shares were moderately lower at midday, with investors focusing on speeches from central bankers on both sides of the Atlantic ahead of the holiday-shortened Thanksgiving trading week in the US.

At 1207 GMT, the FTSE 100 was down 0.46% or 31.13 points to 6,765.07 and front month Brent crude oil futures were rising by 0.32% to $46.64 per barrel on the ICE.

Miners were the weakest segment of the market, especially precious metal outfits, as gold futures continued to come under pressure as the US dollar hovered near 13 year highs.

On Thursday, Fed chair Janet Yellen suggested in her testimony before Congress that the central bank could move on rates “relatively soon” as the economy is strong enough to withstand this, pushing the odds of an interest rate hike in December from 94% to 96%, according to Fed funds futures.

“At this stage, I do think that the economy is making very good progress toward our goals, and that the judgment the [Fed policy] committee reached in November still pertains,” Yellen told the Joint Economic Committee of the US Congress.

Her comments were reinforced on Friday morning, when St.Louis Fed president James Bullard said he was leaning towards a December rate hike.

Spreadex’s Connor Campbell said: “It appears that the main driver of movement this Friday, at least in the early hours of the session, continues to be the prospect of a Fed rate hike in December. Growing US inflation, and a testimony from Janet Yellen that speculated interest rates could rise ‘relatively soon’, gave the dollar some extra juice yesterday, and it seems that it still has something left in tank this morning.”

In corporate news, engineering distribution firm Electrocomponents rallied after reporting a 44% jump in first half profits to £55.1m.

DIY company Grafton Group rose as it has agreed to by Dutch ironmonger Gunters en Meuser in order to increase its presence in Amsterdam.

Luxury retailer Jimmy Choo rose sharply as it reported revenue growth for the second half and said it was on track to deliver full-year underlying profits in line with expectations.

Specialty chemicals company Bodycote fell despite posting a rise in revenue in the four months to the end of October.

Flybe flew higher after HSBC lifted the stock to ‘buy’ from ‘reduce’, while Premier Oil nudged up after Jefferies upped it to ‘buy’ from ‘hold’.

The only significant US indicator set for release was the Conference Board´s index of leading economic indicators referencing the month of October.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,762.90 -0.47%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 17,653.53 0.30%
techMARK (TASX) 3,316.00 -0.15%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Paddy Power Betfair (PPB) 8,755.00p 1.68%
Compass Group (CPG) 1,378.00p 1.62%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 3,239.00p 1.60%
Whitbread (WTB) 3,577.00p 1.48%
St James's Place (STJ) 960.00p 1.43%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 3,211.00p 1.26%
DCC (DCC) 6,145.00p 1.24%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 240.50p 1.22%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 153.80p 1.12%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 1,012.00p 1.10%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Fresnillo (FRES) 1,295.00p -6.43%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 5,770.00p -5.18%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 661.00p -3.85%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 675.00p -3.43%
Sky (SKY) 760.50p -3.06%
Polymetal International (POLY) 765.00p -2.98%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,094.00p -2.89%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,947.50p -2.43%
Glencore (GLEN) 261.55p -2.28%
BT Group (BT.A) 366.20p -1.93%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Electrocomponents (ECM) 432.90p 17.00%
Laird (LRD) 145.60p 4.52%
Vectura Group (VEC) 151.60p 4.05%
UDG Healthcare Public Limited Company (UDG) 667.50p 3.97%
Allied Minds (ALM) 368.00p 3.34%
Metro Bank (MTRO) 3,216.00p 2.75%
CYBG (CYBG) 298.90p 2.71%
Clarkson (CKN) 2,235.00p 2.57%
Ted Baker (TED) 2,572.00p 2.47%
Rightmove (RMV) 3,900.00p 2.44%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Hochschild Mining (HOC) 222.10p -5.49%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 133.00p -4.93%
GCP Infrastructure Investments Ltd (GCP) 127.50p -3.77%
Petra Diamonds Ltd.(DI) (PDL) 150.30p -3.53%
TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 180.50p -2.43%
Atkins (WS) (ATK) 1,578.00p -2.23%
Meggitt (MGGT) 451.50p -1.95%
CMC Markets (CMCX) 199.10p -1.92%
P2P Global Investments (P2P) 774.00p -1.71%
Evraz (EVR) 239.10p -1.60%