London midday: Stocks maintain small gains as oil, metals prices rally

London stocks were still a touch higher by midday on Monday, underpinned by strength in the mining and energy sectors as the FTSE hit a fresh intraday high, although a firmer pound kept a cap on gains.

The FTSE 100 was up 0.1% to 7,443.99, having hit a fresh intraday record of 7,460 earlier. Meanwhile, the pound was up 0.3% versus the dollar at 1.2929.

At the same time, oil prices gushed higher after Saudi Arabia's energy minister Khalid al-Falih and Russian energy minister Alexander Novak said that a joint deal to cut crude supplies would be extended until the end of March 2018 from the middle of this year. The 2016 agreement was to cut output by 1.8m barrels a day in the first half of this year and Russia said this latest agreement is expected to be on the same terms. OPEC ministers are due to hold a meeting at the end of this month in Vienna to make a final decision over the pact.

West Texas Intermediate was up 2.7% to $49.17 a barrel and Brent crude was 2.6% higher at $52.20.

Shell and BP racked up healthy gains, while mining stocks also pushed higher as metals prices were given a boost after Chinese President Xi Jinping said over the weekend that the 'One Belt, One Road' infrastructure initiative will get financing of $78bn as Beijing looks to strengthen infrastructure and trade links with the rest of the world. This helped to offset disappointing Chinese data, with retail sales, industrial production and fixed asset investment all falling short of expectations.

Antofagasta, BHP Billiton, Glencore and Anglo American were among the top risers.

Despite the positive tone, IG analyst Chris Beauchamp was a little wary about the new record high for the FTSE 100: "What should worry FTSE bulls is that the index is exhibiting similar characteristics to the S&P 500 - namely that the rally is being powered by smaller and smaller numbers of rising stocks each day; this doesn’t mean a correction is around the corner, but it does raise the prospect of a reckoning that could be ugly.

"The last time we saw this was in October, when a spike to 7,120 was followed by a swift 6% fall. Latecomers to this rally should tread carefully, lest they find themselves holding the bag."

Elsewhere, Dignity surged after the funeral provider reported a 15% jump in revenue for the first quarter as underlying profit and the number of deaths rose and it reiterated its full-year expectations. The stock was also boosted by an upgrade to 'buy' at Investec.

Cyber security company Sophos was a high riser, benefiting improved sentiment for the sector after the global cyber attack that hit the NHS on Friday and over the weekend.

NEX Group, formerly ICAP, ticked higher as it reported a rise in profit and revenue for the year to the end of March but said activity since the start of the year has been subdued.

High-performance polymer company Victrex gained ground as it said half year revenue and earnings were strong, but warned of low visibility in the second half.

On the downside, Fever-Tree reversed course after saying it expects results for the year ending 31 December to be "comfortably ahead" of the current market expectations thanks to strong sales.

Lonmin turned lower after it reaffirmed its full-year guidance as it posted a wider net loss for the first half due to a large impairment charge.

Vodafone slipped after saying it has agreed to transfer 35% of its indirect shareholding in Safaricom to Vodacom Group, its sub-Saharan African subsidiary, for 226.8m new Vodacom shares.

Thomson travel owner TUI was on the back foot as it said losses grew in the first half but expressed confidence it can grow underlying earnings 10% this year.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,443.99 0.12%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,747.97 -0.08%
techMARK (TASX) 3,586.49 -0.22%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Antofagasta (ANTO) 789.50p 2.00%
Glencore (GLEN) 290.00p 1.75%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,184.00p 1.72%
BP (BP.) 466.75p 1.47%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,055.00p 1.34%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 755.10p 1.27%
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 2,221.00p 1.25%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,005.00p 1.18%
Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 2,168.50p 1.10%
Micro Focus International (MCRO) 2,491.00p 1.05%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 1,140.00p -4.20%
ITV (ITV) 188.00p -2.19%
Next (NXT) 4,259.00p -1.98%
Shire Plc (SHP) 4,681.00p -1.46%
Pearson (PSON) 688.00p -1.43%
Kingfisher (KGF) 345.20p -1.34%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 372.60p -1.25%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 3,092.00p -1.21%
BT Group (BT.A) 302.45p -1.14%
Provident Financial (PFG) 3,156.00p -1.13%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Sophos Group (SOPH) 367.30p 7.65%
Dignity (DTY) 2,694.00p 6.48%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 263.80p 3.65%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 201.40p 3.23%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 458.70p 3.15%
Cairn Energy (CNE) 198.20p 2.91%
Hunting (HTG) 567.50p 2.81%
Amec Foster Wheeler (AMFW) 554.00p 2.78%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 632.00p 2.76%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,891.00p 2.27%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Entertainment One Limited (ETO) 230.30p -2.79%
JRP Group (JRP) 128.00p -2.59%
Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 93.70p -2.29%
Paysafe Group (PAYS) 470.00p -2.10%
Allied Minds (ALM) 147.90p -2.05%
Carillion (CLLN) 199.70p -2.01%
Moneysupermarket.com Group (MONY) 341.60p -2.01%
Berendsen (BRSN) 834.00p -2.00%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 687.00p -1.86%
Indivior (INDV) 329.20p -1.70%