London open: Stocks waver in early trade; miners weak

Stocks in London flitted between small gains and losses as concerns about global growth continued to weigh on investors’ minds, with miners suffering the heaviest declines.

At 0915 GMT, the FTSE 100 was up 0.4% to 5,711, showing some resilience compared with the heavy falls seen in the US and in Asia, where the Nikkei 225 closed down over 5%.

Oil prices were higher, with West Texas Intermediate up 2.1% at $30.32 a barrel and Brent crude 1.2% higher at $33.26.

“Investors are largely ignoring Asian market falls and pushing the share indices higher this morning,” said Mike McCudden, head of derivatives at Interactive Investor.

“However, while the banks remain under pressure the next panic sell off could just be around the corner. Janet Yellen’s testimony this week will be under even more scrutiny than usual and those without the stomach for some extreme volatility may well be advised to take a back seat.”

In corporate news, TUI AG was under the cosh after the tour operator reaffirmed its 2016 earnings guidance but reported a wider net loss for the first quarter.

Housebuilder Redrow nudged higher after posting a rise in first half pre-tax profit as revenue and completions grew.

Legal & General rallied after the insurer and investment manager updated the market with details of its annuity bond portfolio.

Supermarket retailer J Sainsbury was a high riser after market research firm Kantar said it was continuing to outperform the industry.

In terms of sectors, miners were the standout losers, with Antofagasta, Anglo American, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton firmly in the red.

Broker notes weighed on the sector as Goldman Sachs downgraded Antofagasta to ‘sell’ from ‘neutral’.

UK trade balance figures for December are due at 0930 GMT, while US wholesale inventories are at 1500 GMT.