FTSE 100 movers: Anglo American up on mine sale, Mondi shunned

The FTSE 100 remained just above the waterline in afternoon trading, though it had pared back gains it made in the morning as investors digested fresh data showing continued expansion in UK construction activity in March.

Miner Anglo American was one of the leading risers after it announced on Monday morning that it had entered into a sale and purchase agreement to offload its 70% interest in the Foxleigh metallurgical coal mine in Australia. The agreement, with a consortium led by Taurus Fund Management, was to be effected by the sale of shares in the subsidiary companies holding Anglo American’s interest in Foxleigh, though the exact terms remained confidential.

Rio Tinto was another despite copper prices falling to a one-month low. The stock had its ‘neutral’ rating reaffirmed by BNP Paribas, with a price target of 2,000p on the stock, indicating a potential, modest 0.98% upside on the shares. The report came days after Rio’s ‘outperform’ rating was reaffirmed by JPMorgan Chase & Co last Thursday. Rio Tinto shareholders could also expect a dividend of $1.073 to be paid this Thursday.

The fall in copper did hit Antofagasta however. Having bounced back strongly since mid-January the red metal was down for a seventh successive session, with analysts saying the rally was overstretched.

Paper and packaging company Mondi was also on the way down despite stressing that it was unaffected by unannounced inspections by the European Commission at several companies in the sector last week. The EC had confirmed that it inspected companies that may have violated Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, though Mondi’s board said it was not aware of any contravention of that legislation.

Having stood among the fallers in early trade United Utilities, after being cut to hold at HSBC last week, the shares mounted a late rally. Analyst Brenda Kelly said the stock is "approaching interesting levels" at around 900p, "as buyers have traditionally started to show up around the 890p level". She added that failure to hold above here would indicate a move back towards 850p.

Equipment rental group Ashtead Group was under pressure despite receiving a ‘buy’ rating again by analysts at Jefferies. The broker set a target price of 1,385p set on Ashtead’s shares, which indicated a potential upside of 61.7% from Monday’s opening price of 856.5p. Ashtead shares had been on a downward slide recently, decreasing 233.5 points in the last 90 days.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,170.54 0.40%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 16,856.17 0.07%
techMARK (TASX) 3,132.75 0.24%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Mediclinic International (MDC) 927.50p 3.29%
Anglo American (AAL) 553.70p 2.84%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 1,997.00p 2.78%
Shire Plc (SHP) 4,169.00p 2.13%
Glencore (GLEN) 152.05p 1.54%
Pearson (PSON) 861.00p 1.47%
Worldpay Group (WI) (WPG) 279.00p 1.42%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 3,987.00p 1.39%
WPP (WPP) 1,649.00p 1.35%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 913.00p 1.33%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Mondi (MNDI) 1,315.00p -2.45%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 443.50p -2.29%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 842.50p -1.75%
Next (NXT) 5,350.00p -1.74%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 1,063.00p -1.67%
RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 469.40p -1.53%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 3,150.00p -1.50%
Kingfisher (KGF) 374.30p -1.14%
Fresnillo (FRES) 915.00p -1.03%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 216.40p -0.96%