Sector movers: Resource stocks fall, financials tick higher

Resource blue chips headed lower on Friday, while financial stocks ensured headline London indices ended the week on positive turf.

The FTSE 100 closed 2.56% or 152.01 points higher at 6083.79, while the FTSE 250 ended 1.80% or 291.17 points higher at 16,487.72. Oil futures stayed within the $32-34 per barrel range, as conflicting market chatter about possible production cuts loomed large over proceedings for a second successive session.

The Brent front-month oil futures contract was up 1.15% or 39 cents to $34.28 per barrel, while WTI was down 0.09% or three cents to $33.19 per barrel at 1712 GMT.

Headline base metal futures returned to positive territory on the London Metal Exchange. During late afternoon trading, three-month futures contracts of copper (up 1.2%), lead (up 3.5%), nickel (up 0.3%), tin (up 3.8%) and zinc (up 2.9%) headed higher.

Precious metals saw safe haven demand uptick yet again as tepid US data sent expectations for another rate hike by the Federal Reserve lower. Preliminary data from the country’s Commerce Department showed gross domestic product growth slowed sharply in the fourth quarter to an annualised rate of 0.7% from 2% in the third, preliminary data from the Commerce Department showed.

This was weaker than the 0.8% expected by economists. The Commerce Department said it reflected a deceleration in personal consumption expenditure and downturns in non-residential investment, exports, and state and local government spending that were partly offset by a smaller decrease in private inventory investment, a slowdown in imports and an up-tick in federal government spending.

On the COMEX, the front-month gold futures contract was up 0.11% or $1.10 to $1,117.10 an ounce, while spot gold was 0.10% or $1.15 higher at $1,116.48 an ounce. COMEX silver rose 0.27% or four cents to $14.27 an ounce, while spot platinum rose 0.92% or $7.95 to $865.38 an ounce.

Despite healthy metal pricing, FTSE 100 miners Antofagasta (down 0.99%), Glencore (down 1.07%) and BHP Billiton (down 0.47%) stayed in the red courtesy of a combination of the BoJ’s surprise move on interest rates, tepid US data and some end of the week profit taking by traders. Midcap Nostrum Oil & Gas (down 4.11%) found itself among the few oil and gas stocks in the red.

However, financial stocks ticked higher. Old Mutual (up 5.14%) shares rallied after South Africa’s central bank raised interest rates for the second time in two months on Thursday. The bank also cut its growth forecast as it tried to offset inflationary pressures by tightening policy.

Hargreaves Lansdown (up 4.28%) and Barclays (up 4.26%) were also among the blue chip risers. Midcap Tullett Prebon (up 6.44%) surged after it said market activity in the last two months of 2015 was higher than experienced in the same period a year earlier

Home Retail Group (down 4.07%) slumped after a report in the Financial Times said that Sainsbury's proposed acquisition of the company had stalled. Going the other way, supermarket Tesco (4.33%), have endured tough week, ended it on a high.

Among telecom and media stocks, BT Group climbed after it said it has completed its £12.5bn acquisition of mobile network operator EE. Sky gained after reporting strong revenue growth for the first half of the year and announcing that James Murdoch will return as chairman.