FTSE 100 movers: Heavily-weighted miners weigh but Severn Trent rallies again

London’s FTSE 100 index was down 0.4% to 6,367.74 at 1540 GMT in thin trading, as US markets were only open for half a day due to the Thanksgiving holiday.

Heavily-weighted miners were under the cosh overall, but Anglo American was the standout loser as it announced the closure of its Drayton coal mine in Australia next year after the New South Wales Planning and Assessment Commission recommended that the government block an expansion of the mine.

The commission said the Drayton South extension would spoil the region and critically impact stud-farming operations.

Anglo said that in its assessment, the commission had ignored detailed scientific assessments and advice from government agencies, concentrating instead on “unfounded claims” from two horse studs.

With metals prices down across the board, miners were the standout losers. Fresnillo, Antofagasta, Randgold Resources, Glencore, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton were all firmly in the red.

Rio Tinto said on Friday that it has approved the $1.9bn expansion of its high-quality Amrun bauxite project in Queensland's Cape York Peninsula, with much of the capital expenditure scheduled for 2017 and 2018 and first delivery from 2019.

On the upside, Water utility Severn Trent was a high riser for the second day in a row after it posted a 36% rise in first half pre-tax profit on the back of cost-cutting. “Through more intensive management of our network we are seeing reduced supply interruptions, lower sewer flooding incidents and faster incident response times,” said chief executive Liv Garfield.

FTSE 100 - Risers

Dixons Carphone (DC.) 481.70p 1.67%
Inmarsat (ISAT) 1,105.00p 1.56%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,235.00p 1.50%
Admiral Group (ADM) 1,624.00p 1.44%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 1,085.00p 1.31%
Relx plc (REL) 1,195.00p 1.01%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 2,767.00p 0.73%
Compass Group (CPG) 1,141.00p 0.71%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,902.00p 0.70%
Shire Plc (SHP) 4,670.00p 0.67%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Anglo American (AAL) 405.00p -7.07%
Fresnillo (FRES) 715.50p -4.47%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 496.20p -4.12%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 4,017.00p -3.81%
Glencore (GLEN) 92.29p -3.74%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,192.50p -3.46%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 805.90p -3.28%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 2,796.00p -2.95%
GKN (GKN) 297.40p -1.56%
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 1,670.00p -1.33%