London open: Stocks nudge up in quiet trade
Stocks in London ticked a touch higher in early trade as activity kicked off again following the Christmas break, but volumes are likely to remain thin, with many traders still away form their desks in the run-up to the New Year.
At 0830 GMT, the FTSE 100 was up 0.1% to 7,076.35. Meanwhile, oil prices were a little firmer, with West Texas Intermediate and Brent crude up 0.5% to $54.15 a barrel and $56.37, respectively.
Miners were the standout gainers as metals prices rose, with Anglo American, BHP Billiton and Fresnillo at the top of the index.
Oil giant BP nudged higher after agreeing to buy the Australian fuels business of Woolworths Ltd for AUD1.79bn.
Housebuilder Bovis Homes slumped as it warned that volume delivery for the year is expected to be lower than anticipated and that there will be a “modest” reduction in the operating margin.
Volume delivery for the year ended 31 December is expected to be between 3,950 and 4,000 homes, depending on the number of legal completions in the remaining days of the year.
Discount chain Sports Direct was higher after saying it will sell its Dunlop business to Sumitomo Rubber Industries for $137.5m in cash as part of its strategy to move upmarket.
The Dunlop Business currently operates in the UK, Europe, Asia (except Japan, Korea and Taiwan), USA and Canada. For the year to 24 April 2016, it had combined revenue of £42.64m, gross assets of £41.76m and pre-tax profits of £4.06m.
Riverstone Energy was in focus after announcing it has invested $93m into its portfolio company Centennial Resource Development (CDEV) as part of a deal to buy independent oil and gas firm Silverback Exploration.
Listed infrastructure investment company International Public Partnerships edged up after it acquired a further 3.33% interest in the Gold Coast Light Rail Project from Aveng Group.
Online fashion retailer Boohoo.com advanced after saying it has entered into an asset purchase agreement to buy certain intellectual property assets from US retailer Nasty Gal for $20m.
On the data front, BBA mortgage approvals are at 0930 GMT while in the US, pending home sales are at 1500 GMT.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,076.35 0.12%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 17,925.82 0.09%
techMARK (TASX) 3,354.48 0.05%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Anglo American (AAL) 1,173.50p 4.26%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,309.00p 4.10%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,143.00p 2.79%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,643.00p 2.37%
Glencore (GLEN) 277.05p 2.36%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 5,970.00p 2.31%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,128.50p 2.11%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 685.50p 1.48%
Smurfit Kappa Group (SKG) 1,904.00p 1.38%
Old Mutual (OML) 201.20p 1.16%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 446.30p -2.38%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,016.00p -1.84%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 669.50p -1.62%
Bunzl (BNZL) 2,059.00p -1.39%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 151.80p -1.36%
Schroders (SDR) 2,947.00p -1.27%
Hammerson (HMSO) 562.00p -1.23%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 3,558.00p -1.19%
Direct Line Insurance Group (DLG) 363.70p -1.11%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,746.00p -1.08%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 196.20p 4.98%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 138.60p 3.05%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 314.90p 2.71%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 365.20p 2.61%
Polymetal International (POLY) 815.00p 2.58%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 131.60p 2.57%
Redefine International (RDI) 39.01p 2.44%
Ibstock (IBST) 187.00p 2.41%
Acacia Mining (ACA) 360.60p 2.18%
International Personal Finance (IPF) 168.40p 2.00%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Bovis Homes Group (BVS) 813.50p -4.96%
John Laing Group (JLG) 270.30p -1.96%
Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 456.80p -1.70%
Synthomer (SYNT) 374.40p -1.58%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 2,813.00p -1.37%
Evraz (EVR) 222.10p -1.33%
Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 399.80p -1.26%
Polypipe Group (PLP) 315.00p -1.22%
Redrow (RDW) 421.00p -1.15%
Pets at Home Group (PETS) 232.00p -1.15%