London open: Miners pace gains on China news; easyJet flies higher

London stocks rose in early trade on Wednesday, with miners pacing the gains after China said it will cut the reserve requirement ratio for banks from next month.

At 0850 GMT, the FTSE 100 was up 0.4% at 7,515.27.

Sentiment got a boost after the governor of the People’s Bank of China said the country plans to cut the amount of liquidity that banks are required to hold as reserves early next month as it looks to bolster the economy.

At a press conference in Beijing, Pan Gongsheng said the reserve ratio requirements for banks will be cut by 50 basis points from 5 February, providing 1 trillion yuan in long-term capital.

Still to come on the UK macro front, the S&P Global manufacturing and services PMIs for January are due at 0930 GMT.

In equity markets, heavily-weighted miners jumped on the China news, with Anglo American, Glencore, Antofagasta and Rio Tinto all up. Asia-focused Prudential and Standard Chartered also advanced.

Precious metals miners Endeavour, Fresnillo, Centamin and Hochschild shone.

Budget airline easyJet flew higher as it said it had taken a £40m hit from the Middle East conflict, but that it expects first-half losses to narrow and reported positive booking momentum for the summer.

The airline was forced to suspend flights to Israel and Jordan after the Hamas Islamic group attacked Israel last October, with demand also softening on its routes to Egypt.

Pre-tax losses for the three months to December 31 came in at £126m from £133m a year earlier. Revenues were up 16% to £1.1bn.

TI Fluid Systems rallied as it said full-year results were set to be "slightly ahead" of expectations after a continued strong performance in the fourth quarter.

Diversified Energy recovered some ground, having tumbled on Tuesday after activist investor Snowcap Research said the company may not have enough funds to cover the costs of plugging its inactive wells and that a dividend cut was imminent.

On the downside, Wetherspoons fell even as the pub chain held annual guidance and reported a rise in first-half underlying sales.

Asset manager Abrdn was trading lower as it said it was embarking on a new cost-cutting initiative to save £150m by the end of 2025 and reported net outflows of over £12m in the second half.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,515.27 0.39%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,057.39 0.34%
techMARK (TASX) 4,347.27 0.21%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Endeavour Mining (EDV) 1,475.00p 7.48%
Fresnillo (FRES) 502.80p 4.47%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,847.20p 3.63%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,639.00p 2.76%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 152.00p 2.57%
Glencore (GLEN) 414.20p 2.16%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 5,494.00p 1.72%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 588.80p 1.39%
Prudential (PRU) 830.60p 1.37%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 306.80p 1.36%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Haleon (HLN) 317.25p -1.66%
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 397.50p -1.07%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,449.00p -0.83%
Bunzl (BNZL) 3,167.00p -0.60%
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 520.20p -0.58%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 143.60p -0.49%
Airtel Africa (AAF) 125.00p -0.48%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT) 5,532.00p -0.43%
Tesco (TSCO) 298.00p -0.40%
Compass Group (CPG) 2,102.00p -0.38%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Centamin (DI) (CEY) 98.25p 5.21%
easyJet (EZJ) 536.00p 5.16%
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 2,020.00p 4.12%
Diversified Energy Company (DEC) 871.50p 4.02%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 91.95p 3.55%
TI Fluid Systems (TIFS) 144.60p 3.44%
Ruffer Investment Company Ltd Red PTG Pref Shares (RICA) 264.00p 3.42%
Quilter (QLT) 102.40p 2.94%
Premier Foods (PFD) 144.00p 2.86%
Hammerson (HMSO) 26.48p 2.55%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Abrdn (ABDN) 167.25p -3.19%
Senior (SNR) 166.20p -2.81%
Sequoia Economic Infrastructure Income Fund Limited (SEQI) 82.50p -1.67%
Games Workshop Group (GAW) 9,465.00p -1.41%
Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 200.00p -1.29%
Wetherspoon (J.D.) (JDW) 831.50p -1.25%
BH Macro Ltd. GBP Shares (BHMG) 362.50p -1.09%
Ibstock (IBST) 149.90p -1.07%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 440.20p -0.99%
Greggs (GRG) 2,680.00p -0.96%