London open: Stocks little changed but miners gain after Rio results

London stocks were little changed in early trade, but miners put in a solid performance following well-received results from Rio Tinto.

At 0825 GMT, the FTSE 100 was up 0.1% to 7,191.06.

Meanwhile, oil prices were on the back foot after figures late on Tuesday from the American Petroleum Institute showed a 14.2m barrel build in its crude oil inventory last week, compared to a 5.8m barrel rise the week before and expectations for a 2.5m build. West Texas Intermediate was down 0.9% to $51.73 a barrel and Brent crude was off 0.5% to $54.75.

Prices are likely to remain in focus ahead of the US Energy Information Administration's crude oil stocks data at 1530 GMT.

Accendo Markets’ Mike van Dulken said: “Another big build would add to last week’s disappointment and an uptrend since Christmas, reinforcing concerns about rising US shale production overpowering OPEC cuts.”

In corporate news, mining giant Rio Tinto rose after saying it swung to a profit in the year to the end of December thanks to a recovery in commodity prices, as it announced a better dividend than expected and a $500m share buyback. Net earnings came in at $4.6bn compared to a loss of $866m the year before, while underlying earnings rose 12% to $5.1bn.

Peers followed suit, with Anglo American and Antofagasta both on the front foot.

Packaging company Smurfit Kappa advanced after it said earnings grew last year despite headwinds from higher raw material costs and adverse currency effects, while it hiked its dividend by 20%.

RSA rallied as it announced it has signed contracts to dispose of £834m of UK legacy insurance liabilities to Enstar Group.

Sophos Group pushed higher as it agreed to acquire the commercial software arm of Invincea for up to $120m and reported strong trading momentum in the third quarter.

Housebuilder Redrow gained ground as it reported a jump in first-half pre-tax profit and hiked its dividend, while WS Atkins was in the black after reaffirming its outlook for the year to the of September as trading in the year to date was in line with its expectations.

On the downside, Hargreaves Lansdown fell despite posting a strong set of half-year numbers and hiking its dividend 10%, boosted by a much-elevated level of share dealing since the Brexit vote.

Homewares retailer Dunelm slumped after posting a 26% drop in pre-tax profit in the first half amid a weaker market, while Tullow Oil gushed lower as it said it was in the red for the third year running, although its operating loss narrowed.

There are no major UK data releases due.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,191.06 0.07%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 18,613.42 0.29%
techMARK (TASX) 3,312.59 -0.03%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,530.00p 2.77%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,370.50p 2.62%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 856.50p 2.45%
RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 600.50p 2.39%
Glencore (GLEN) 325.30p 2.34%
Smurfit Kappa Group (SKG) 2,192.00p 2.24%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 229.80p 1.95%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 710.00p 1.36%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,981.00p 1.23%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 501.50p 1.05%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,364.00p -1.59%
Mediclinic International (MDC) 791.50p -1.25%
Shire Plc (SHP) 4,510.50p -1.11%
Old Mutual (OML) 205.90p -0.96%
Pearson (PSON) 661.00p -0.90%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,553.00p -0.83%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 7,380.00p -0.74%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 3,722.50p -0.57%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 1,789.00p -0.56%
Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 2,142.50p -0.53%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Sophos Group (SOPH) 283.50p 5.12%
Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 262.90p 4.82%
Redrow (RDW) 472.00p 4.31%
OneSavings Bank (OSB) 353.90p 2.40%
CLS Holdings (CLI) 1,614.00p 2.02%
Henderson Group (HGG) 220.00p 1.99%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 163.60p 1.93%
Aldermore Group (ALD) 221.60p 1.70%
CMC Markets (CMCX) 114.70p 1.68%
St. Modwen Properties (SMP) 332.04p 1.54%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Dunelm Group (DNLM) 624.50p -8.77%
Safestore Holdings (SAFE) 371.80p -2.62%
Shaftesbury (SHB) 880.00p -2.33%
AO World (AO.) 156.70p -2.06%
Victrex plc (VCT) 1,938.00p -1.77%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 174.50p -1.47%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 291.00p -1.46%
Ascential (ASCL) 296.50p -1.33%
Allied Minds (ALM) 385.90p -1.23%
PayPoint (PAY) 1,001.00p -1.09%