FTSE 100 movers: Miners jump as China cuts interest rates, oil stocks rise

Mining stocks were dominating the risers list on the FTSE 100 on Friday after China's central bank surprised with an interest-rate cut in an effort to boost growth, raising hopes that the top metals consumer will be able to avert a hard landing.

Anglo American, Fresnillo, BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, Antofagasta and Glencore were among the best performers by the afternoon, with all stocks rising at least 4%.

Asia-focused lender Standard Chartered wasn't far behind after the People's Bank of China also raised the ceiling for the rates which banks can pay depositors in an attempt to boost lending.

Oil and gas groups were also performing well as crude prices continued to recover after hitting multi-year lows last week. West Texas Intermediate oil was poised for its first weekly gain since September as investors continued to speculate about whether OPEC will cut output at its meeting next week. Tullow Oil, BP, Shell and BG Group were all putting in decent gains.

The increase in risk appetite meant that defensive stocks were out of favour, such as tobacco group Imperial, pharmaceutical firm Shire and utilities SSE and Centrica. British Gas owner Centrica was extending losses after a profit warning on Thursday, as the company lowered its earnings forecast on the back of mild weather.

FTSE 100 - Risers

Anglo American (AAL) 1,373.50p +6.18%
Fresnillo (FRES) 769.00p +6.07%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,676.00p +5.91%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,032.00p +5.83%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 504.00p +5.59%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 730.50p +4.81%
Glencore (GLEN) 337.15p +4.24%
Weir Group (WEIR) 2,113.00p +4.09%
CRH (CRH) 1,473.00p +3.81%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 941.60p +3.56%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
easyJet (EZJ) 1,549.00p -1.02%
Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 2,900.00p -0.82%
Dixons Carphone (DC.) 420.20p -0.57%
Shire Plc (SHP) 4,448.00p -0.47%
Royal Mail (RMG) 428.00p -0.40%
Direct Line Insurance Group (DLG) 284.70p -0.28%
SSE (SSE) 1,593.00p -0.25%
Centrica (CNA) 293.20p -0.24%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,489.00p -0.20%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 5,180.00p -0.19%