FTSE 100 movers: Airlines grounded as miners bounce on results

Despite mixed results, mining giants led the FTSE 100 risers on Tuesday but the index was drifting lower late in the session as rebounding oil prices weighed on airlines.

A 10% surge in the price of oil in the past four days, while some analysts pointed to difficulties suffered by Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific, led to EasyJet and British Airways owner International Consolidated Airlines Group (IAG) descending earthwards.

One of the worse performing earlier was Vodafone after the proposed merger between its New Zealand unit and Sky Network ran into opposition.

Top of the leaderboard was Antofagasta after the Chilean copper miner improved earnings and kept its dividend flat thanks to some heavy cost cutting.

Revenues of $1.45bn in the six months to 30 June were down 18.5% compared to the last year's due to lower copper prices and production levels, but management slashed almost a quarter of costs and were rewarded by earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) edging 2.3% higher to $571.6m, beating analyst expectations that were on the other side of $500m.

Fellow miner BHP Billiton was also a big riser despite reporting a record loss in the year to the end of June as weaker commodity prices, writedowns and the dam disaster in Brazil took their toll.

Even though the company posted a loss of $6.4bn from a profit of $1.91bn the year before but its fourth-quarter earnings were better than expected and saw the shares take flight, and lift sector peers Anglo American, Glencore and Rio Tinto.

FTSE 100 - Risers

Antofagasta (ANTO) 560.50p 9.05%
Anglo American (AAL) 895.90p 2.66%
Glencore (GLEN) 197.05p 2.10%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,474.00p 1.58%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,056.50p 1.34%
CRH (CRH) 2,501.00p 0.77%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 440.00p 0.73%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 2,885.00p 0.49%
Admiral Group (ADM) 2,270.00p 0.44%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 4,134.00p 0.44%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 341.10p -2.21%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,064.00p -2.12%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 394.90p -1.96%
BAE Systems (BA.) 523.50p -1.87%
St James's Place (STJ) 962.00p -1.79%
Paddy Power Betfair (PPB) 9,625.00p -1.79%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 1,086.00p -1.72%
Prudential (PRU) 1,419.50p -1.59%
Old Mutual (OML) 213.70p -1.52%
Wolseley (WOS) 4,273.00p -1.45%