FTSE 100 movers: Miners rally but housebuilders slump

London’s FTSE 100 was flat at 6,202.58 in afternoon trading, with gains in the mining sector offset by weakness in housebuilders.

Heavily-weighted miners were the standout performers as investors bet that benign Chinese inflation data would prompt some action by Beijing.

Data out of China earlier showed the consumer price index rose 2.3% on the year in March, versus expectations for a 2.5% increase and in line with the previous month’s 2.3%.

The consumer price index fell 0.4% in March from February.

“For an extended period, data from Beijing has repeatedly followed a negative path and this could be the continuing theme as the nation continues to transition away from its manufacturing roots towards the service sector,” said Lukman Otunuga, research analyst at FXTM.

“Despite the mounting concerns over China’s pace of growth, the Shanghai Composite Index received a welcome boost trading +1.65% higher as expectations heightened over further monetary easing by the People’s Bank of China (PBoC) in an effort to attain stability.”

Silver miner Fresnillo was also in the black. RBC Capital Markets downgraded its rating on the stock to ‘underperform’ from ‘sector perform’ on valuation grounds but lifted the price target to 750p from 610p.

“Fresnillo's asset portfolio, costs position, growth potential and balance sheet have created a very strong company,” it said.

Housebuilders suffered the heaviest losses after a report from consulting firm Arcadis NV showed the record number of luxury homes planned in London was raising the prospect that developers could be forced to turn some projects into offices as demand falls.

Direct Line slid after Barclays downgraded the stock to ‘equalweight’ from ‘overweight’ and cut the price target to 369p from 443p as it took a look at UK motor insurers.

The bank noted Direct Line has been one of the best performing insurance stocks since its IPO in 2012, more than doubling from its 170p IPO price and returning two-thirds of the price as dividends.

“However, we believe the stock is now fairly valued as we lower our estimates for the loss of its Nationwide and Sainsbury’s contracts.”

Retailer Next was weaker after Exane BNP Paribas cut its price target on the stock and said around 25% of the group’s profitability was at risk.

Risers

Anglo American (AAL) 565.60p 3.36%
Barclays (BARC) 153.55p 1.89%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,023.50p 1.81%
Tesco (TSCO) 193.95p 1.78%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,315.00p 1.70%
Fresnillo (FRES) 948.50p 1.66%
Glencore (GLEN) 138.90p 1.54%
Mediclinic International (MDC) 936.00p 1.52%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 770.40p 1.30%
Standard Life (SL.) 343.80p 1.15%

Fallers

Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 3,031.00p -2.98%
Persimmon (PSN) 2,017.00p -2.28%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 182.10p -2.20%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 535.50p -2.10%
Direct Line Insurance Group (DLG) 355.00p -1.58%
Next (NXT) 5,440.00p -1.45%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 3,186.00p -1.36%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 1,030.00p -1.34%
ARM Holdings (ARM) 1,033.00p -1.24%
Paddy Power Betfair (PPB) 9,475.00p -1.15%