FTSE 100 movers: Miners drop but travel-related stocks recover

London’s FTSE 100 index was down 0.2% to 6,180.92 at 1525 GMT, with miners under the cosh.

Mining stocks suffered the brunt of the losses as metals prices declined, with Anglo American, Fresnillo, Glencore, Randgold Resources, Antofagasta and BHP Billiton all weaker.

Glencore was also taking a hit from a downgrade to ‘market perform’ by BMO Capital Markets.

Paddy Power Betfair was lower after it announced that chief operating officer Andy McCue will leave the company and cease to be a director with effect from 30 April.

McCue was chief executive officer of Paddy Power from January 2015 until the completion of the merger with Betfair in February, having joined the business in 2006.

On the upside, B&Q owner Kingfisher was the standout gainer as its full year pre-tax profit beat analysts' expectations and the company said its turnaround plan was on track.

Adjusted pre-tax profit for the year ended 31 January nudged up 0.3% to £686m as revenues fell 2.6% to £10.3bn. Retail profit up was up 7.4% to £746m in constant currencies.

The company said the fundamentals of the UK economic backdrop remain positive in the short term, but the outlook for France was cautious.

Sky was on the front foot after saying it has taken a minority stake in Sugar Films, a new independent production company founded by a group of senior television professionals, alongside Discovery Channel president Mark Hollinger, who has also invested in the company and will become chairman.

Also on Wednesday, it was revealed at the Guardian Changing Media Summit in London that Stephen van Rooyen – Sky’s chief marketing and digital officer – was set to be announced as the telecommunications company’s new chief executive of in the UK and Ireland.

Sky also benefited from an upgraded by Exane BNP Paribas to ‘outperform’ from ‘neutral’ as it said recent underperformance offers an attractive entry point. It noted Sky has underperformed media by 11% year-to-date and said the stock was “attractively valued versus global pay-tv and large-cap EU media peers”.

Travel and leisure stocks were higher, recovering from losses on Tuesday on the back of the terrorist attacks in Brussels. TUI AG, Carnival and Experian were all firmly in the black.

Risers

Kingfisher (KGF) 369.20p 5.31%
Mediclinic International (MDC) 885.00p 2.31%
Sky (SKY) 1,036.00p 2.27%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 996.50p 2.21%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 3,262.00p 2.03%
WPP (WPP) 1,625.00p 1.88%
Carnival (CCL) 3,515.00p 1.71%
Experian (EXPN) 1,225.00p 1.66%
Unilever (ULVR) 3,152.50p 1.61%
Next (NXT) 6,690.00p 1.44%

Fallers

Anglo American (AAL) 517.10p -6.54%
Fresnillo (FRES) 950.50p -4.38%
Glencore (GLEN) 153.65p -3.88%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 6,320.00p -3.29%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 673.50p -3.02%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 483.20p -2.91%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 481.25p -2.72%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 795.10p -2.64%
Tesco (TSCO) 198.25p -1.69%
Paddy Power Betfair (PPB) 9,095.00p -1.57%