Sectors movers: Miners lead charge on risk-on Wednesday

The mining sector led the way on Wednesday, along with stocks offering exposure to Asia.

The FTSE 100 index closed 1.6% and the FTSE 250 1.3%, with most stock lifted by the rising tide as sentiment in the London and across Europe was lifted by Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen’s dovish speech the previous day.

Heavyweight miners put in a strong performance as the dollar weakened following the speech on Tuesday and risk sentiment improved. A weaker dollar makes commodities more affordable for holders of other currencies, while economists also noted that prices of many commodities should also benefit from rising inflation risks.

Anglo American, Glencore, BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Antofagasta were all firmly in the black.

In addition, Mike van Dulken, head of research at Accendo Markets, said London-listed miners “are benefiting from an understandable increase in risk appetite based on expectations of lower global interest rates and accommodative policy for longer coupled with now quasi-certainty that April is off the table in terms of another US rate hike”.

“A jump in Chinese Consumer sentiment may also be helping even if the underlying commodities prices themselves are trading mixed,” he added.

Also on Wednesday, Anglo American said South Africa’s Public Investment Corporation has lifted its stake in the miner to just over 11% after it purchased just under 8m shares.

Meanwhile, after strong performance on Wednesday left emerging market (EM) equities on course to outperform those in developed markets for the fourth consecutive month in March, Capital Economics noted that their previous commodity-driven outperformance earlier this year has broadened more recently.

"While we still expect commodity prices to rise further during the next year or so, they are unlikely to do so as rapidly as they have in recent months. Meanwhile, as the better news that we have been predicting from China becomes increasingly clear, and economic growth more generally picks up a little, equity markets in commodity-importing countries, particularly in Emerging Asia, should continue to post decent returns."

Reflecting emerging market strength, Standard Chartered and Burberry, both with strong exposure to China and other Asian powerhouses, both were in the leaderboard.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,203.17 1.59%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 16,974.95 1.30%
techMARK (TASX) 3,132.69 1.25%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Anglo American (AAL) 535.70p 11.81%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 472.10p 7.43%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 1,973.00p 5.90%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 793.60p 5.81%
Glencore (GLEN) 151.55p 5.39%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 1,505.00p 4.59%
Carnival (CCL) 3,692.00p 4.00%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,370.00p 3.87%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 467.90p 3.46%
Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 1,709.50p 3.42%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Next (NXT) 5,575.00p -1.33%
Worldpay Group (WI) (WPG) 272.00p -1.16%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 2,820.00p -0.46%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 3,254.00p -0.40%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,520.00p -0.33%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 945.50p -0.32%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 67.80p -0.29%
Rexam (REX) 632.50p -0.16%
Persimmon (PSN) 2,102.00p -0.14%
ITV (ITV) 243.30p -0.00%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 279.70p 8.81%
Evraz (EVR) 89.70p 8.60%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 333.70p 6.61%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 916.50p 5.34%
OneSavings Bank (OSB) 329.40p 4.84%
International Personal Finance (IPF) 289.10p 4.50%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 165.10p 4.49%
Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 988.50p 4.48%
Allied Minds (ALM) 479.40p 4.42%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 369.20p 4.38%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Riverstone Energy Limited (RSE) 815.00p -3.54%
Dunelm Group (DNLM) 899.50p -2.91%
Ted Baker (TED) 2,733.00p -2.53%
NMC Health (NMC) 1,033.00p -2.27%
Vectura Group (VEC) 163.70p -1.57%
Lancashire Holdings Limited (LRE) 535.50p -1.56%
UDG Healthcare Public Limited Company (UDG) 587.00p -1.42%
Just Retirement Group (JRG) 152.20p -1.36%
William Hill (WMH) 330.80p -1.28%
Debenhams (DEB) 73.25p -1.01%