Sector movers: Resource stocks recover in tandem with oil, metal prices uptick

Resource stocks rose on Tuesday following an uptick in metal and oil futures prices, with headline London indices ending the session in positive territory.

The FTSE 100 ended 0.59% or 34.46 points higher at 5,911.46, while the FTSE 250 rose 0.20% or 32.04 points at 16,179.02. At 1712 GMT, the Brent front-month futures contract was up 4.82% or $1.47 to $31.97 per barrel while the WTI was 4.22% or $1.28 higher at $31.62 per barrel, having been through another rocky session for the oil markets.

The Brent-WTI spread narrowed to less than a dollar in intraday calls, rising by 35 cents in favour of the former as the Iraqi oil minister commented that OPEC members may need to cooperate to reduce output.

Elsewhere, base metal futures traded higher across the London Metal Exchange board. At 1635 GMT, the much scrutinised three-month copper delivery futures contract rose 1.9% to $4,507.50 per tonne, but remained within range of six-year lows. Concurrently, primary aluminium (up 0.8%), nickel (up 1.2%), zinc (3.1%), lead (1.4%) and tin (up 3.0%) contracts also headed higher.

Meanwhile, precious metals posted upticks on the expectation of a dovish tone from the US Federal Reserve and continued safe haven demand. Front-month COMEX gold futures rose a further 1.18% or $13.00 to $1,118.60 an ounce, while spot gold was 0.91% or $10.07 higher at $1,117.97 an ounce.

Unsurprisingly, Anglo American (up 11.80%), Glencore (up 7.73%), Fresnillo (up 5.55%), Rio Tinto (up 4.94%) and Randgold Resources (up 4.87%) were among the leading FTSE 100 stocks. On FTSE 250, Tullow Oil (up 11.12%) and Acacia Mining (up 6.78%) led the uptick.

Away from resource stocks, shares in Tesco rose despite the UK grocery watchdog finding the supermarket “seriously breached” a legally-binding code to protect suppliers by prioritising its own finances rather than treating its suppliers fairly

However, Dixons Carphone (down 2.27%) slumped after lifting profit guidance slightly above consensus forecasts and saying it will go ahead with the full roll-out of stores in the US. The group reported like-for-like sales were up 5% in the third-quarter, with an all-time record day on Black Friday as the FTSE 100 electronics retailer said it now expected profit before tax to range between £440m and £450m for the full year.

Elsewhere, budget airline easyJet (down 3.19%) led the FTSE 100 fallers after saying the Sharm el-Sheikh disaster and the Paris attacks hurt revenues in the three months to 31 December.

Finally, PZ Cussons (down 8.88%) led the FTSE 250 fallers after reporting a dip in reported revenue and drop in pre-tax profit, reflecting foreign exchange headwinds.