FTSE 100 movers: Anglo leads and British Land plays catch up

The FTSE 100 had crawled to positive territory with around an hour left of Monday's session, helped by a positive start across the Atlantic.

Miners led the charge among the blue chips, taking seven of the top ten spots as some market commentary suggested that disappointing Chinese data over the weekend would drive more risk-asset friendly stimulus from Beijing to counter slowing economic growth.

Anglo American gained almost 7% after Bank of America Merrill Lynch double-upgraded the miner to 'buy' from 'underperform' on improved confidence in management's "strategic reshaping" plan.

Last month, the diversified miner agreed to sell its niobium and phosphates businesses in Brazil to China Molybdenum for a bumper $1.5bn cash, which has improved analysts' view. “We have discussed the plan at length with management and now have greater confidence on both mandate and desire to deliver,” Merrill said.

Rio Tinto was a riser in spite of news that its AutoHaul project in Western Australia's Pilbara region appears to be delayed by up to three years, costing the company up to 30mtpa of iron ore export capacity, according to the Australian newspaper.

Analysts at Investec, noting that the delayed tonnes could add value for the company by supporting prices for the commodity, said with the iron ore price currently US$55 per tonne it is around 17% higher than consensus in December 2015 had expected it to be. "So the higher price, as long as it continues, is more than offsetting the reduction in volume."

Tesco rose strongly despite some barbed coverage in the weekend's press. The Guardian wondered whether the £3m bonus for chief executive Dave Lewis was justified in view of the weakness in the share price, whilst the Times business editorial noted that Tesco staff will also share a big bonus and bemoaned the fact that shareholders are still not getting a dividend.

Furthermore, there was troubling news for the big grocers with reports that Amazon plans to sell its own-label range of food and other grocery essentials.

A new line of products that includes nuts, spices, coffee, baby food, nappies, laundry detergent is planned, and set for launch as soon as June, unnamed sources told the Wall Street Journal.

Among the fallers, Barclays was lower after agreeing to sell its London precious metals storage business to the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China. ICBC Standard Bank, which last week joined the prestigious London clearing system for gold, silver, platinum and palladium, is buying vaults from the London-listed bank with capacity for 2,000 tonnes of gold, together with client and operational contracts.

The contract is expected to complete in July, ICBC said, subject to various approvals. Barclays said neither side will reveal the financial terms of the deal.

British Land was down, but cutting earlier losses, after solid final results were accompanied by a slightly cautious outlook.

The giant property developer reported an 11% increase in net asset value (NAV) over the year and chief executive Chris Grigg positioned the portfolio as offering a defensive rock among signs of a slowdown in the commercial property market, with shares trading well below NAV.

“Our portfolio is virtually full with occupancy of 99%. In good occupational markets in both retail and offices, we saw strong levels of demand for our remaining space,” the company said.

“We remain confident in the underlying strength of the business despite continued global macro uncertainty and the potentially adverse impact of a vote for the UK to leave the European Union.”

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,135.76 -0.04%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 16,665.78 0.09%
techMARK (TASX) 3,044.91 -0.36%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Anglo American (AAL) 616.80p 6.68%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 428.50p 4.06%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,158.00p 3.86%
Tesco (TSCO) 166.40p 2.94%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 844.00p 2.58%
Glencore (GLEN) 134.30p 2.40%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 6,300.00p 2.19%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,030.00p 1.91%
ARM Holdings (ARM) 938.00p 1.79%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 658.00p 1.23%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Mediclinic International (MDC) 818.00p -2.09%
Inmarsat (ISAT) 745.00p -2.04%
Provident Financial (PFG) 2,790.00p -1.66%
Old Mutual (OML) 166.30p -1.66%
Shire Plc (SHP) 4,069.00p -1.57%
Carnival (CCL) 3,575.00p -1.52%
Barclays (BARC) 163.25p -1.27%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,225.00p -1.24%
British Land Company (BLND) 711.50p -1.18%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 2,604.00p -1.18%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Evraz (EVR) 122.30p 6.16%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 155.90p 5.12%
Restaurant Group (RTN) 303.00p 4.99%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 260.60p 4.87%
Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 550.50p 4.86%
Victrex plc (VCT) 1,499.00p 4.83%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 382.60p 3.83%
Aldermore Group (ALD) 192.90p 3.21%
Ophir Energy (OPHR) 69.05p 3.06%
McCarthy & Stone (MCS) 221.40p 2.64%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Drax Group (DRX) 293.50p -6.47%
Entertainment One Limited (ETO) 172.00p -4.02%
Jimmy Choo (CHOO) 115.90p -2.77%
TalkTalk Telecom Group (TALK) 256.10p -1.88%
William Hill (WMH) 300.00p -1.77%
Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 636.00p -1.70%
DFS Furniture (DFS) 295.60p -1.63%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 266.60p -1.59%
Allied Minds (ALM) 305.10p -1.58%
Supergroup (SGP) 1,376.00p -1.57%