London midday: Shares outperform as miners, financials up on China hopes

UK shares were outperforming European counterparts after returning from the Christmas on Wednesday, as optimism over China's easing of Covid curbs outweighed concerns around skyrocketing Covid-19 case numbers in the country.

The FTSE 100 was up 0.92% at 1231 GMT. Sterling was also above the waterline, last trading up 0.13% on the dollar at $1.2041, as it strengthened 0.12% against the euro to change hands at €1.1314.

Miners, including Antofagasta, Glencore and Anglo American were up on higher copper prices driven by hopes of China reopening its borders, while Prudential and HSBC, which have a large exposure to the region was also on the rise.

“UK markets have reopened higher, playing catch up after the FTSE 100 which was closed for a public holiday on Tuesday," said Interactive Investor analyst Victoria Scholar.

"The UK index could end the year in positive territory despite the broad pressures on global equity markets, weighed down by rising interest rates, inflation, and the threat of recession."

It was looking to be a quiet day on the economic calendar, as expected, although the Richmond Manufacturing Index and pending home sales data was due out stateside at 1500 GMT.

Economists were expecting prints of -10 and -0.9%, respectively.

On London’s equity markets, AstraZeneca was up after it said its immunotherapies Imfinzi and Imjudo have been approved in Japan for the treatment of three cancer types - advanced liver, biliary tract and lung.

Elsewhere, Fresnillo was also higher after confirming that the final testing of the downstream power distribution and control systems at the Juanicipio project was now complete.

Specialist engineering group IMI also managed gains as its completed its acquisition of Heatmiser.

The FTSE 250 company announced the acquisition plans on 8 November, for an enterprise value of £110m, with up to a further £8m based on Heatmiser's future financial performance. It said Heatmiser would become part of IMI Hydronic Engineering.