FTSE 100 movers: Miners rally on China data; Tesco slumps on outlook

London’s FTSE 100 index was up 1.7% to 6,347.98 in afternoon trade, with miners pacing the advance after better-than-expected Chinese trade figures.

Anglo American, BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Glencore were all sharply higher after data showed China’s yuan-denominated exports rose 18.7% in March compared to the same month a year ago.

Yuan-denominated imports, meanwhile, fell 1.7% on the year compared with an 8% decline the previous month and giving a trade surplus of 194.6bn yuan.

In dollar terms, exports grew 11.5% to $160.8bn after dropping 25% in February, beating consensus forecasts for a 10% rise.

“For the commodities rout to be over a resurgent China is required, and the impressive trade data released overnight provided exactly the assurance we were looking for. While it may be too soon to conclude that the worst is over for China, this revival in exports helps restore confidence as investors pile into commodity stocks once more,” said Joshua Mahony, market analyst at IG.

Meanwhile, banking stocks benefited from the general risk-on tone, with better-than-expected results from US bellwether JPMorgan Chase & Co also providing support.

Asia-focused Standard Chartered racked up the biggest gains in the sector and overall.

On the downside, supermarket chain Tesco suffered the heaviest losses. Although the company’s full year numbers beat expectations as it swung to a pre-tax profit from a loss the year before, investors were spooked by the cautious outlook statement.

Peer Morrison followed suit.

Risers

Standard Chartered (STAN) 516.10p 9.65%
Anglo American (AAL) 683.80p 7.06%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 863.80p 6.83%
Barclays (BARC) 165.20p 6.14%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 444.80p 5.88%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,209.00p 5.87%
Glencore (GLEN) 155.65p 4.78%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 226.40p 4.43%
Standard Life (SL.) 361.50p 4.30%
Prudential (PRU) 1,402.00p 4.24%

Fallers

Tesco (TSCO) 185.00p -5.76%
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 199.10p -1.04%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 6,800.00p -0.87%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 952.50p -0.78%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,226.00p -0.76%
Compass Group (CPG) 1,254.00p -0.71%
Inmarsat (ISAT) 1,008.00p -0.59%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 2,776.00p -0.50%
SSE (SSE) 1,515.00p -0.39%
SABMiller (SAB) 4,223.00p -0.39%