FTSE 100 risers: Mining and Bank stocks pace gains

Mining and banking stocks were pacing gainers on the top-flight index in the middle of the week on the back of continued hopes for near-term support for the economy from lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

Shares of Barclays, StanChart, Antofagasta, BHP and Rio Tinto were thus all putting in solid gains.

As of 1545 BST, the FTSE 100 was little changed, edging up by 0.05% to 5,952.87.

Overnight, US President Donald Trump upended hopes that a $1.6-2.2trn stimulus package might be agreed between Republicans and Democrats before the 3 November elections.

Nonetheless, he said he was open to immediately signing into law measures to extend monthly income support for Americans and for furloughed airline workers.

Construction and other stocks related to the same sector were also extending their recent gains, buoyed by reports that Downing Street was studying aid for young homebuyers.

Shares of CRH, Kingfisher, and Taylor Wimpey were all thus near the top of the leaderboard.

Gains for the above mentioned areas of the market were being offset however by the drag from Big Oil after analysts at Morgan Stanley cut their target prices for shares of BP and Royal Dutch Shell.

Potential valuation upside had begun to emerge, but a cocktail of potential headwinds on both short and longer-term time horizons meant that investors would likely be best served by waiting a bit longer before turning more positive, especially in the case of BP and Royal Dutch Shell, the investment bank said.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 5,954.67 0.08%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 155.75p 3.83%
Kingfisher (KGF) 305.90p 3.21%
Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 1,303.00p 2.76%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 2,496.00p 2.67%
Glencore (GLEN) 169.16p 2.61%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,286.00p 2.55%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,005.50p 2.54%
CRH (CRH) 3,010.00p 2.52%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 116.85p 2.50%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 4,766.50p 2.45%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

M&G (MNG) 160.55p -3.20%
Relx plc (REL) 1,675.00p -3.01%
Avast (AVST) 502.50p -2.80%
Rightmove (RMV) 652.80p -2.33%
BT Group (BT.A) 102.15p -2.06%
Persimmon (PSN) 2,611.00p -2.03%
Informa (INF) 406.80p -2.00%
DCC (DCC) 5,392.00p -1.96%
Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 559.40p -1.89%
British Land Company (BLND) 362.50p -1.76%