Sector Movers: Resource stocks tick higher, housebuilders slip further

At the close of proceedings, the FTSE 100 ended 0.27% or 16.60 points lower at 6130.46, but the FTSE 250 ended 0.10% or 16.67 points higher at 16,745.64. Oil prices rallied for the fourth successive session, with Brent and WTI futures posting gains for much of the European afternoon.

Overnight, the International Energy Agency said US oil production fell last week by about 25,000 barrels per day to just over 9m bpd, down from a peak of 9.6m bpd in April, soothing concerns about a supply glut.

With Saudi Arabia commenting that it would work with other producers to limit oil market volatility, selected analysts opined that there were hints the market had bottomed out.

However, the US Department of Energy’s statistical arm – the Energy Information Administration – reported the country’s crude oil inventories rose by 10.4m barrels to a total of 518m barrels last week, well above the 3.6m barrel increase expected by analysts, tempering market expectations.

At 1600 GMT, the Brent front month futures contract was up 0.68% or 25 cents to $37.18 per barrel, while the WTI fell 1.38% or 48 cents to $35.14 per barrel.

Away from oil markets, precious metals stayed on positive turf. The COMEX front-month gold futures contract was up 1.04% or $12.90 at $1,254.70 an ounce, while spot gold was up 1.33% or $16.47 to $1,256.45 an ounce.

COMEX silver rose 0.95% or 14 cents to $15.17 an ounce, while spot platinum also rose 1.31% or $12.23 to $946.93 an ounce.

Headline base metal futures were largely higher across the London Metal Exchange board. At 1635 GMT, three-month futures contracts of nickel (+1.8%), lead (+2.0%), tin (+1.7%), zinc (+1.8%) and copper (+1.3%) headed upwards, with the latter rising to its highest levels in over three months. Going against market direction, primary aluminium (-0.1%) futures headed lower.

Predictably, Glencore (+5.61%) was among the biggest FTSE 100 risers, while Vedanta Resources (+12.94%) and Tullow Oil (+8.92%) were on the FTSE 250 risers' roster. Away from resource stocks, insurer Admiral (+9.03%) led the FTSE 100 after it reported record annual pre-tax profits of £377m for 2015, up 6% on the previous year.

CRH (+4.59%) rallied after reporting a 33% jump in full year earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation to €2.2bn. However, on a negative note, housebuilders including Taylor Wimpey, Persimmon and Barratt Developments, remained in the red for a second successive session after ill-received data on house prices.

Finally, Inmarsat (-4.24%) slumped as it said full year pre-tax profit slid 17.3% to $282m on flat revenues of $1.27bn, while broadcaster ITV (-3.45%) lost further ground following overnight declines.