Sector movers: Pharma, tobacco stocks lead a defensive London market higher
Pharmaceuticals and big tobacco stocks led the London market higher, as relative calm in the Chinese equities market, and better second half trading in the European commodities sphere ensured leading indices stayed in positive territory.
Anglo American
2,430.00p
17:15 04/10/24
Antofagasta
1,973.00p
17:15 04/10/24
BHP Group Limited NPV (DI)
2,304.00p
17:00 04/10/24
British American Tobacco
2,681.00p
16:44 04/10/24
Compass Group
2,401.00p
16:40 04/10/24
FTSE 100
8,280.63
16:49 04/10/24
FTSE 250
20,900.08
17:14 04/10/24
FTSE 350
4,570.17
17:14 04/10/24
FTSE All-Share
4,527.24
16:54 04/10/24
GSK
1,459.50p
16:44 04/10/24
Hikma Pharmaceuticals
1,904.00p
16:44 04/10/24
IMPERIAL TOBACCO
n/a
n/a
Lonmin
75.60p
11:03 14/06/19
Mining
11,521.23
17:14 04/10/24
Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology
22,108.24
17:14 04/10/24
Rio Tinto
5,298.00p
17:15 04/10/24
Tobacco
30,784.36
17:14 04/10/24
Travel & Leisure
7,830.25
17:14 04/10/24
The FTSE 100 closed up 1.16% or 75.72 points at 6631, and the FTSE 250 closed up 0.72% or 124.92 points at 17512.81. The blue chips were led by tobacco and pharmaceutical sectors as investors sought the safety of high-yield stocks.
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (up 3.71%) and GlaxoSmithKline (up 3.63%) were among the biggest FTSE 100 risers. British American Tobacco (up 3.63%) shaded rival Imperial Tobacco (up 2.40%) in finding its place among the top five blue chips of the day.
Fresnillo, up 2.54% or 16p at 646p, also found its place among the market leaders for the mining sector on a less than certain, albeit calmer, day for the commodities market.
Plays on industrial metals were pretty mixed. Past the midway point of trading on the London Metal Exchange, the three-month futures contract of primary aluminium was up 0.4%, while tin was down 0.2%. Copper, nickel and lead were broadly flat.
Investment bank Macquarie noted that lower copper prices were likely to plunge activity at several mines below cost of operations, leading to closures with little respite in sight. It sent market specialist Antofagasta (down 0.17%) lower.
The oil price also recovered later in the day with WTI within touching distance of $50 a barrel, with US stockpiles declining by 4.2m barrels on the previous week.
CMC Markets observed: “A positive close in Chinese stocks helped reduce the volatility in commodities on Wednesday ahead of the latest US Federal Reserve meeting which could have a significant impact on the US dollar in which most commodities are priced.”
Lonmin (down 5.92%) led the FTSE 250 fallers bringing a reminder that all was far from well within the mining and metals sectors reliant for so long on China, which has of late begun to show signs of a cooling down. Centamin (down 0.55%) was another sector participant to see red, alongside a plethora of smallcaps likely to face a challenging time as the metals market readjusts to current realities.
Nonetheless, the blue chip mining trio of Anglo American (up 2.13%), BHP Billiton (up 2.14%) and Rio Tinto (up 2.00%) posted a respectable uptick.
Going the other way, Compass Group (down 5.34%) was the biggest FTSE 250 faller after the company warned about costs of a new restructuring exercise. Giving details, the company said planned restructuring would cost between ÂŁ20-ÂŁ25m per year in 2015 and 2016, impacting its full-year operating margins.