London midday: Stocks lifted by banks and miners
London stocks rose on Monday, boosted by a rally in mining and banking shares.
At 1158 GMT, the FTSE 100 climbed 0.17% to 7,200.17 points.
Randgold Resources was the top riser after saying it will hike its dividend by 52% after an increase in full year profit and gold production. A rise in gold prices and lower costs helped the company achieve a 38% jump in profit to $294.2m.
Sector peers Anglo American and Glencore also rallied.
Barclays and Lloyds Banking Group gained following news of US President Donald Trump’s plans to relax banking regulation as he signed an executive order to possibly modify Dodd-Frank within the next four months.
Barclays was also supported by reports over the weekend that it is undertaking a restructuring of its back office operations in order to cut costs ahead of new ringfencing rules, which will come into effect in 2019.
Astrazeneca was another high riser after Deutsche Bank reiterated a ‘buy’ rating but cut the target price to 5,500p from 6,000p after the drug maker warned that profit and revenue would fall this year. While the company said its recovery will depend on the success of new medicines and results from a clinical trial of a combination of two lung cancer drugs, Deutsche Bank continues to see “positive risk-reward ahead of a major flow of pipeline catalysts through 2017”.
Going the other way, housebuilders were on the back foot following reports the government is expected to reveal a major shift in housing policy in a white paper this week. The white paper will deliver more affordable and secure rental deals, and threaten tougher action against rogue landlords, for those unable to buy due to rising property prices, the Guardian reported. Housebuilders will also have to adhere to a timetable to build their homes or they may lose their planning permission.
Taylor Wimpey, Persimmon and Barratt Developments were in the red.
On the data front, China services activity continued to grow in January but the pace of expansion eased from the previous month. The Markit/Caixin services purchasing managers’ index fell to 53.1 in January on a seasonally adjusted basis from 53.4 in December. However, it remained above the 50 level that separates an expansion in sector activity from a contraction.
The composite PMI, which measures services and manufacturing, dropped to 52.2 in January from 53.5 in December.
Elsewhere, German factory orders rose 5.2% in December from the previous month, when they declined a revised 3.6%, beating analysts’ expectations for a much more modest 0.7% gain, according to Destatis.
Meanwhile, a survey by Sentix showed eurozone investor confidence rose more than expected in February. The investor confidence index edged up to 17.4 from 18.2 in January, exceeding forecasts of 16.8.
Still to come, European Central Bank President Mario Draghi is due to speak to Parliament in Brussels.
There are no UK economic reports due for release.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,199.78 0.16%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 18,407.15 -0.02%
techMARK (TASX) 3,285.21 0.15%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 7,185.00p 4.74%
Mediclinic International (MDC) 814.00p 3.23%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 814.40p 1.61%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,490.00p 1.43%
Aviva (AV.) 499.70p 1.34%
SSE (SSE) 1,497.00p 1.15%
Sage Group (SGE) 637.00p 1.11%
BAE Systems (BA.) 589.50p 1.03%
British Land Company (BLND) 592.00p 1.02%
Capita (CPI) 490.80p 0.99%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Dixons Carphone (DC.) 298.20p -2.10%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 478.10p -1.36%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 7,037.00p -1.29%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 170.60p -1.16%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 495.90p -1.12%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 336.60p -1.06%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 262.00p -1.06%
ITV (ITV) 203.40p -1.02%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,951.00p -1.01%
Tesco (TSCO) 195.45p -0.94%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Inmarsat (ISAT) 635.00p 3.00%
CMC Markets (CMCX) 112.30p 2.74%
McCarthy & Stone (MCS) 172.10p 2.56%
Spire Healthcare Group (SPI) 326.10p 2.55%
NMC Health (NMC) 1,762.00p 2.44%
Essentra (ESNT) 434.30p 2.04%
AA (AA.) 252.00p 1.94%
Pennon Group (PNN) 793.00p 1.93%
Keller Group (KLR) 857.50p 1.66%
Petra Diamonds Ltd.(DI) (PDL) 149.20p 1.57%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 1,069.00p -3.26%
PayPoint (PAY) 976.50p -3.03%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 355.30p -2.60%
William Hill (WMH) 268.40p -2.58%
Sophos Group (SOPH) 255.00p -2.41%
Restaurant Group (RTN) 295.30p -2.35%
Hill & Smith Holdings (HILS) 1,190.00p -2.06%
Telecom Plus (TEP) 1,195.00p -2.05%
Supergroup (SGP) 1,472.00p -2.00%
UK Commercial Property Trust (UKCM) 83.30p -1.88%