FTSE 100 movers: Antofagasta rockets as copper rallies; Mediclinic slumps

London’s FTSE 100 was down 0.2% to 6,899.40 in afternoon trade.

Antofagasta racked up stellar gains as copper prices surged amid expectations that US President-elect Donald Trump will boost infrastructure spending.

Financial services group Prudential rallied after agreeing to sell its life insurance business in Korea, PCA Life Assurance, to Mirae Asset Life Insurance for £119m.

Prudential said the sale was consistent with its strategy of allocating its capital to markets where it is well positioned to generate attractive long-term returns for its shareholders.

Banks were on the front foot, with RBS, Barclays, Standard Chartered and Lloyds all in the black, with traders pointing to the prospect of lighter regulation for their US operations and higher lending rates.

Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior market analyst at London Capital Group, said: “Investors now see opportunity in buying the bank stocks, as higher yields are believed to take some pressure off the weak revenue streams.”

On the downside, private healthcare group Mediclinic International fell sharply after it reported a 26% drop in underlying earnings per share to 12.8p, mostly due to the shares issued to acquire Al Noor, and its adverse operating performance.

3i Group was under the cosh despite posting an increase in net asset value in the first half as its investments saw little impact from geopolitical uncertainty and financial market volatility.

AstraZeneca slid after its third-quarter revenues missed expectations, while National Grid declined as it posted a 64% drop in pre-tax profit for the first half.

Precious metals miners Fresnillo and Randgold were on the back foot as gold gave up much of the gains it made in the previous session's brief Trump-inspired flight to safety.

Risers

Antofagasta (ANTO) 716.50p 11.69%
Prudential (PRU) 1,527.50p 7.16%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 204.40p 6.29%
Barclays (BARC) 204.35p 5.94%
Glencore (GLEN) 284.95p 5.44%
Aviva (AV.) 467.10p 5.18%
Travis Perkins (TPK) 1,427.00p 5.16%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 684.80p 4.77%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 59.97p 4.28%
Legal & General Group (LGEN) 231.00p 4.19%

Fallers

Mediclinic International (MDC) 801.50p -12.88%
3i Group (III) 610.00p -6.94%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,665.00p -5.99%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 6,700.00p -5.83%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 4,318.00p -5.63%
National Grid (NG.) 950.20p -5.50%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 3,429.00p -5.03%
Polymetal International (POLY) 909.50p -4.16%
Relx plc (REL) 1,317.00p -4.08%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 4,309.00p -3.82%