London midday: Stocks tick higher as miners rally

(Sharecast News) - London stocks had ticked higher by midday on Thursday, helped along by a strong showing from the mining sector as investors awaited fresh catalysts.

The FTSE 100 was up 0.3% at 8,748.11.

Neil Wilson, UK investor strategist at Saxo Markets, said: "Equity markets have breathed a sigh of relief over the ceasefire between Israel and Iran following the 12-day war. We've even had a record high for the Nasdaq 100 as investors bought back into tech, with Nvidia hitting a new record high, while the gains for megacap names lifted the S&P 500 closer to its all-time high. The FTSE 100 also hit a record recently - although weakness in oil pricing has nudged it back down a touch to a four-week low.

"So is it time to scale new highs, or are there still big risks on the horizon that will encourage more volatility. I think we've got complacent despite being past peak fear on many fronts - and soon we will talking about tariffs and tax again just as we head into a seasonally weaker time for the market. This could see risk appetite stall as we head into the summer.

"Geopolitics has maybe taken investors' eyes off the ball in terms of tax and trade. Key deadlines loom for both. Meanwhile Donald Trump has threatened to name Fed chair Jay Powell's successor as early as September, creating in effect a 'shadow' Fed chair which could seriously undermine policymaking and the transmission to markets."

In equity markets, heavily-weighted miners were among the biggest gainers as copper prices rose, with Anglo American, Glencore and Antofagasta all up.

Ladbrokes owner Entain rallied after an upgrade to 'buy' at Goldman Sachs.

3i Group was in the black as it said Dutch retailer Action saw sales jump over the first half of the year. Updating on its portfolio at the annual general meeting, the blue chip private equity firm said like-for-like sales grew by 6.9% at Action in the first 25 weeks of the year.

Car dealership Inchcape rose as it reiterated its full-year outlook and hailed a resilient operating performance in the first half.

Serco gained as it reported a "strong" first-half performance and announced the appointment of Keith Williams as a non-executive director and board chair designate. Williams is currently chair of Halfords.

Oil giants Shell and BP were in focus after Shell said it had "no "intention" of making an offer for its rival.

In a brief statement in response to media speculation on Wednesday, the company said it has not been actively considering making an offer for BP, it has not made an approach and no talks have taken place with regards to a possible offer.

Derren Nathan, head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "Structurally lower oil prices are causing the majors to look at their options, but given Shell's superior asset quality and balance sheet, any combination may be difficult for its shareholders to stomach.

"Cherry picking some flagship assets could be another option, but that's unlikely to satisfy BP investors. For now, the focus for Shell is likely to remain on buying back its own shares."

On the downside, British American Tobacco fell sharply as it traded without entitlement to the dividend. B&M, Premier Foods, Templeton, Sirius Real Estate and Ocean Wilsons also lost ground as they went ex-dividend.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 8,748.11 0.34%

FTSE 250 (MCX) 21,420.13 0.57%

techMARK (TASX) 5,061.61 0.65%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Anglo American (AAL) 2,104.00p 4.91%

3i Group (III) 4,113.00p 4.15%

Glencore (GLEN) 283.40p 3.70%

Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,789.50p 3.68%

JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 81.14p 3.47%

St James's Place (STJ) 1,157.50p 3.16%

Entain (ENT) 879.00p 2.78%

Fresnillo (FRES) 1,476.00p 2.57%

Mondi (MNDI) 1,190.50p 2.36%

DCC (CDI) (DCC) 4,690.00p 2.31%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 1,994.00p -2.06%

British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,457.00p -1.71%

Melrose Industries (MRO) 512.80p -1.42%

Experian (EXPN) 3,781.00p -1.38%

Unilever (ULVR) 4,444.00p -1.29%

CRH (CDI) (CRH) 6,474.00p -1.16%

Admiral Group (ADM) 3,280.00p -1.15%

Barratt Redrow (BTRW) 459.10p -1.06%

Persimmon (PSN) 1,305.00p -1.02%

Haleon (HLN) 379.70p -0.97%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Inchcape (INCH) 725.00p 6.46%

Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) 133.30p 5.54%

QinetiQ Group (QQ.) 495.40p 4.34%

Hochschild Mining (HOC) 259.00p 4.10%

Close Brothers Group (CBG) 377.60p 3.34%

XPS Pensions Group (XPS) 380.50p 3.12%

RHI Magnesita N.V. (DI) (RHIM) 2,825.00p 3.10%

Chemring Group (CHG) 567.00p 3.09%

CMC Markets (CMCX) 256.50p 2.81%

Bridgepoint Group (Reg S) (BPT) 308.40p 2.66%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Moonpig Group (MOON) 209.50p -13.96%

B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 267.50p -3.39%

Ocado Group (OCDO) 227.50p -2.44%

TR Property Inv Trust (TRY) 329.50p -2.23%

Templeton Emerging Markets Inv Trust (TEM) 185.80p -2.11%

Ocean Wilsons Holdings Ltd. (OCN) 1,505.00p -1.95%

Premier Foods (PFD) 196.00p -1.90%

W.A.G Payment Solutions (WPS) 86.40p -1.82%

British Land Company (BLND) 372.00p -1.69%

Watches of Switzerland Group (WOSG) 401.40p -1.18%