FTSE 100 movers: Slide continues on yuan devaluation

There were only a handful of gainers on the FTSE 100 on Wednesday as oil stocks were flat rather than falling.

Spreadex's analyst Connor Campbell said while commodities recovered in the afternoon a dismal display by mining and banking sector deepened losses.

“To make matters worse, the release of this morning’s jobs figures saw the UK use up all of its useful data in one fell swoop, leaving it at the mercy of China and the commodities for the rest of the week,” Campbell said.

A three-week high in gold prices helped miner Randgold to the top of the index, its shares rose by 5.14% to 4,155p.

Meanwhile BP and Royal Dutch Shell rose by 0.39% and 0.05% respectively off a rise in oil prices. Only eight companies in the index closed in positive territory.

Going the other way, companies exposed to China’s yuan devaluation were hit hardest as the currency continued to fall.

Mining company Glencore shed 6.20%, while luxury brand Burberry continued to slide by 3.65%, as did Standard Chartered Bank by 3.72%.

ARM Holdings slipped by 4.69% after fears Chinese demand for one of the products of one of its biggest clients, Apple, would be reduced. However Apple’s NASDAQ listed shares began to recover and were up by 0.41% in mid-morning trading local time.

FTSE 100 - Risers

Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 4,155.00p +5.14%

Babcock International Group (BAB) 993.50p +1.07%

Fresnillo (FRES) 659.50p +1.00%

BP (BP.) 382.00p +0.39%

G4S (GFS) 267.70p +0.38%

BG Group (BG.) 1,097.00p +0.09%

Intu Properties (INTU) 336.10p +0.09%

Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 1,868.00p +0.05%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Glencore (GLEN) 179.15p -6.20%

Unilever (ULVR) 2,774.00p -4.74%

ARM Holdings (ARM) 914.00p -4.74%

International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 525.00p -4.46%

Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,470.00p -4.30%

3i Group (III) 514.50p -4.19%

Sports Direct International (SPD) 784.00p -3.86%

Standard Chartered (STAN) 873.40p -3.72%

Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,151.00p -3.52%

Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 175.20p -3.47%