Sector movers: Mining, oil stocks drag London market lower again

Mining, metals and oil stocks pulled the London market lower on Thursday, reversing the previous session’s partial uptick.

The FTSE 100 fell 1.18% or 73.20 points to 6,155.81, while the FTSE 250 was down 0.78% or 133.22 points at 17,020.06, as fresh concerns over China halted the base metal futures uptick on the London Metal Exchange.

Past the midway point of trading on the LME, three-month delivery contracts of copper (up 0.5%), lead (up 0.3%), nickel (up 2.6%) and tin (up 1.6%) were all in positive territory. However, primary aluminium (down 1.4%) and zinc (down 0.1%) were in negative territory.

Meanwhile, an afternoon rise in oil prices arrived too late to lend support to oil and gas stocks. At 1607 BST, the Brent front month futures contract was up 1.11% or 53 cents to $48.11 per barrel, having registered losses for much of the Asian session. WTI futures, up 2.31% or $1.02 to $45.17, narrated a similar tale as the oil markets struggled to find direction.

Predictably, blue chip fallers were led lower by mining stocks. Glencore (down 7.84%), BHP Billiton (down 5.95%) and Anglo American (down 3.49%) were among the FTSE 100’s biggest fallers. Concurrently, the FTSE 250 had Lonmin (down 8.47%), Tullow Oil (down 7.37%), Premier Oil (down 6.25%), Petrofac (down 5.90%) and Hunting (down 5.35%) among its biggest fallers, completing a miserable session for natural resources stocks.

However, on the positive side, the market drew comfort from retailers and housebuilders. Barratt Developments was a high riser for the second day in a row after its full-year results impressed during the previous session.

The company posted a 44.8% increase in full-year pre-tax profits to £565.5m on the back of a 19% jump in revenues to £3.7bn. In addition, it said shareholders will get a final dividend of 10.3p a share, up from 7.1p last time.

On the retail front, Dixons Carphone rallied after it said significant market share gains in mobile phones lifted first quarter like-for-like revenues. In the UK and Ireland, revenues rose 10% and in the Nordic region by 4%, but were flat in southern Europe, although Dixons saw improved trading in Spain and growth in Greece “despite challenging markets”.

Clothing retailer Next was also in the positive territory after reporting a 7.1% jump in first-half pre-tax profit, with revenue up as the company sold more items at full price than it had expected. Profit came in at £347.1m from £324.2m in the first half of last year, while total sales were up 2.7% at £1.91bn.