London open: Stocks in the black as miners rally
London stocks edged up in early trade on Monday, underpinned by a strong performance in the mining sector, as investors shifted their attention from the US jobs report last week to the inflation outlook.
At 0850 BST, the FTSE 100 was up 0.3% at 7,117.12.
Inflation was in focus again after Bank of England policymaker Michael Saunders said over the weekend that people should prepare for "significantly earlier" interest rate rises as inflation pressure mounts.
CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said: "He isn’t alone in thinking along these lines either after new Chief economist Huw Pill voiced concerns over longer lasting inflation, something that the UK tends to be especially vulnerable to, while Governor Andrew Bailey also appears to be leaning in that direction as well."
In equity markets, miners were the standout gainers as metals price rose, with Anglo American, Antofagasta, Glencore, BHP and Rio all higher.
AstraZeneca was a little weaker despite saying that its antibody cocktail to combat Covid-19 had achieved a "statistically significant reduction" in the virus or death in a phase 3 trial.
Drinks maker Britvic was knocked lower by a downgrade to ‘sector perform’ from ‘outperform’ at RBC Capital Markets.
Outside the FTSE 350, Asos shares tumbled after the online fashion retailer said in a surprise announcement that chief executive Nick Beighton was stepping down, as it posted a jump in full-year profit but warned that sales growth was set to slow as it highlighted supply chain challenges and cost pressures.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,117.12 0.30%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 22,470.38 -0.29%
techMARK (TASX) 4,524.28 -0.17%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Anglo American (AAL) 2,778.00p 3.23%
Glencore (GLEN) 364.75p 2.66%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,397.00p 2.46%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 5,046.00p 2.37%
BHP Group (BHP) 1,956.20p 2.26%
Fresnillo (FRES) 825.00p 1.93%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,427.00p 1.86%
BP (BP.) 359.85p 1.78%
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 1,741.60p 1.57%
NATWEST GROUP PLC ORD 100P (NWG) 229.50p 1.46%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Ashtead Group (AHT) 5,498.00p -2.24%
Flutter Entertainment (CDI) (FLTR) 14,090.00p -1.85%
Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 2,745.00p -1.79%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 1,024.50p -1.63%
Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 2,055.00p -1.49%
CRH (CDI) (CRH) 3,409.00p -1.36%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 2,594.00p -1.22%
Entain (ENT) 2,108.00p -1.13%
Whitbread (WTB) 3,225.00p -1.10%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 292.40p -1.08%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Harbour Energy (HBR) 384.80p 3.27%
Syncona Limited NPV (SYNC) 168.00p 2.82%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 318.20p 2.65%
JPMorgan Emerging Markets Inv Trust (JMG) 129.40p 1.73%
easyJet (EZJ) 647.40p 1.70%
BlackRock Smaller Companies Trust (BRSC) 2,015.00p 1.66%
Cairn Energy (CNE) 195.20p 1.61%
C&C Group (CDI) (CCR) 246.60p 1.48%
Edinburgh Worldwide Inv Trust (EWI) 300.00p 1.35%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 137.00p 1.33%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Darktrace (DARK) 822.00p -5.73%
Britvic (BVIC) 859.50p -4.82%
Drax Group (DRX) 485.80p -4.75%
Baltic Classifieds Group (BCG) 205.00p -3.76%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 283.60p -3.31%
Trainline (TRN) 328.80p -2.84%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 1,727.50p -2.46%
Pagegroup (PAGE) 664.00p -2.28%
AO World (AO.) 150.30p -2.15%
Draper Esprit (GROW) 912.00p -2.15%