FTSE 100 movers: Miners shine on China data; RBS drops

London’s FTSE 100 was up 0.5% to 7,263.56 in afternoon trade as investors digested better-than-expected UK data on trade and industrial production.

Heavily-weighted mining stocks racked up the strongest gains, buoyed by encouraging Chinese manufacturing figures. Data released earlier showed Chinese exports rose 7.9% in January in dollar terms, marking the fastest pace in almost two years, while imports rose 16.7%. Both sets of figures beat economists’ expectations.

The data also lifted copper prices, as it suggested a strong demand outlook for the metal.

Anglo American, Antofagasta, Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and Glencore were the top performers,

Software company Sage Group also advanced, as Exane BNP Paribas upgraded the stock to ‘outperform’ from ‘neutral’ and lifted the price target to 750p from 640p.

The bank noted that Sage has de-rated on uninspiring top-line trends, including a slight hiccup in the first quarter of 2017, and perhaps the lower attraction of defensive cash return stories.

Royal Bank of Scotland slumped as it rejected calls to expand a £400m scheme to reimburse customers who claim they were mistreated by the bank’s restructuring division.

Consumer goods group Reckitt Benckiser reversed earlier losses after it agreed to buy US infant formula maker Mead Johnson Nutrition for $16.6bn.

Risers

Anglo American (AAL) 1,348.00p 4.05%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 859.00p 3.81%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,489.00p 3.16%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,367.50p 2.20%
Glencore (GLEN) 318.95p 2.16%
Direct Line Insurance Group (DLG) 370.60p 2.04%
Old Mutual (OML) 211.10p 1.73%
Capita (CPI) 521.50p 1.66%
Sage Group (SGE) 647.50p 1.65%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 728.50p 1.46%

Fallers

Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 229.80p -1.42%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,183.00p -1.25%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 7,168.00p -0.98%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 65.51p -0.95%
Unilever (ULVR) 3,298.50p -0.95%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 1,937.00p -0.92%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 264.50p -0.82%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 3,165.00p -0.78%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 7,365.00p -0.74%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 3,766.50p -0.74%