FTSE 100 movers: Heavily-weighted miners rally but ITV gives back gains

London's FTSE 100 index was up 0.7% to 6,073.90 at 1440 GMT in holiday-thinned volumes, with many traders already away from their desks for the Christmas holiday.

Heavily-weighted miners were the biggest gainers, with Antofagasta and Anglo American firmly in the black as Chinese copper producers consider a possible production cut in January.

Meanwhile, BG Group and Royal Dutch Shell were also on the front foot as oil prices recovered. West Texas Intermediate was up 0.4% at $35.95 a barrel while Brent crude was 0.1% lower at $36.32, having fallen to 2004 lows in the previous session.

On the downside, retailer Marks & Spencer and slid after Nomura cut its price target on the stock to 565p from 600p, although it retained its ‘buy’ rating. The Japanese bank was updating its estimates for clothing retailers following November Kantar Worldpanel Fashion data.

ITV was lower, giving back Monday’s gains after a spokesman for Comcast told Variety magazine that speculation it was looking to bid for the London-listed broadcaster was “completely inaccurate.”

Centrica also slipped after RBC Capital Markets cut its target price on the British Gas owner to 260p from 280p, but reiterated its ‘outperform’ recommendation.

“We remain supporters of Centrica’s strategy, but it is unsurprising that longer-term positives are currently being outweighed by weak oil & gas prices,” said the bank.

Following the company’s recent trading statement, RBC downgraded its earnings per share forecasts by 9-13% over 2015-18, but said cash flow generation remains attractive and its forecast free cash flow yields of 8-10% for 2015-18.

Risers

Antofagasta (ANTO) 441.00p 3.72%
Anglo American (AAL) 289.65p 3.26%
BG Group (BG.) 922.40p 2.51%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 3,644.00p 2.39%
Fresnillo (FRES) 685.00p 2.01%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 616.00p 1.82%
Carnival (CCL) 3,789.00p 1.80%
Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 290.00p 1.79%
Experian (EXPN) 1,181.00p 1.72%
Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 1,466.50p 1.70%

Fallers

Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 440.10p -1.68%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 563.00p -1.14%
RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 425.30p -0.70%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 6,067.00p -0.64%
ITV (ITV) 269.80p -0.63%
Whitbread (WTB) 4,367.00p -0.61%
Centrica (CNA) 209.00p -0.57%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 258.30p -0.50%
Tesco (TSCO) 144.60p -0.48%
GKN (GKN) 294.30p -0.44%