FTSE 100 movers: Miners lead market on back of Chinese data

The FTSE 100 had a strong start to the day on Wednesday, up 48.94 points (0.77%) to 6,432.55 by mid-afternoon.

Glencore was the biggest riser of the day after it reported “significant progress” on plans to cut net debt to the low $20bns by the end of 2016 and increased output from its mines generally in line with estimates.

It said net debt is now expected be roughly $25bn by year end, helped by $0.9bn raised from its first precious metals streaming transaction also announced on Wednesday. Total production in the third quarter to end September rose 1.34% to 396,600 metric tons compared to the same period last year.

It was also boosted along with mining stocks Anglo American, Antofagasta, BHP Billiton and Fresnillo thanks to reports that Chinese authorities will open a trading link between Shenzhen and Hong Kong this year.

The market also responded positively to Marks and Spencer’s mixed bag of half year results.The retailer said overall sales were up 1.4% from the previous year on a constant currency basis to £5bn, driven by a 1.7% increase in UK sales. Underlying profit before tax increased 6.1%.

The strong sales growth was primarily from growth in the food business, with the retailer saying it outperformed the market by approximately three percentage points. However international revenues were down 5.1% and general merchandise sales, mainly women's clothing, also dipped 0.4% overall.

On the other side of the ledger, Taylor Wimpey, Berkeley Group Holdings and Persimmon continued their slide after Liberum downgraded the housebuilders’ stance to ‘sell’ from ‘hold’ on Tuesday.

“We believe the largest housebuilders’ valuations are too optimistic to withstand the gross margin pressure that we expect in the coming years as house price inflation is suppressed by a more vigilant regulator and build cost inflation returns.”

Liberum said these three stocks are especially vulnerable to falling gross margins as managements have turned their backs on volume growth.

Persimmon’s trading update on Wednesday didn’t stem the flow, despite it saying it expected strong trading to continue throughout the remainder of 2015, as the UK housing market improved in the second half of the year. The group said its private sales rate rose 12% year-on-year since it published its interim results on 18 August and indicated pricing was still strong across its regional markets.

FTSE 100 - Risers

Glencore (GLEN) 129.90p 8.75%
Anglo American (AAL) 599.20p 6.64%
Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 369.90p 3.93%
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 177.40p 3.80%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 539.50p 3.65%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 279.00p 3.56%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 522.70p 3.53%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,092.50p 3.21%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 551.50p 2.99%
Fresnillo (FRES) 750.00p 2.95%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 181.10p -3.52%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 3,104.00p -2.88%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,875.00p -2.39%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 573.50p -2.22%
Hammerson (HMSO) 611.00p -1.69%
Intu Properties (INTU) 338.20p -1.51%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 1,305.00p -1.36%
Whitbread (WTB) 4,775.00p -1.20%
British Land Company (BLND) 847.00p -1.17%
Inmarsat (ISAT) 980.00p -0.76%