Markets: Miners help dig FTSE out of a hole

By DOMINIC JEFF
Published on 19/01/2013 01:28

London’s heavyweight miners ensured the UK market outperformed yesterday, as solid Chinese growth figures promised demand for commodities will remain high.

The FTSE-100 shrugged off domestic and European worries to build on the week’s multi-year high, up 22.1 points or 0.4 per cent at 6,154.4.

Toby Morris, senior sales trader at CMC Markets, said: “While the better-than-expected Chinese GDP numbers may have boosted the resource-heavy FTSE-100, they’ve done precious little for the rest of Europe’s markets, which have struggled to make headway against a backdrop of a GDP downgrade from the Bank of Italy and another rise in non-performing loans in the Spanish banking sector.”

Copper specialist Evraz led the gains, up 13p to 304.4p, while Rio Tinto was 63p higher at 3,502.5p as shares recovered from Thursday’s shock departure of chief executive Tom Albanese.

Elsewhere, Aberdeen Asset Management was up 8.9p to 393.9p as a whole host of brokers showed their approval of this week’s update by moving their target prices higher.

Its neighbour Wood Group continued to rise a day after announcing that it had won a contract with Nexen Petroleum for a project in the North Sea. The Aberdeen-based energy services firm was the second biggest blue-chip riser, climbing 22p to 826.5p.

With retailers still in the spotlight, Sainsbury’s slipped 1.9p to 326.1p, as Goldman Sachs said it expected the company’s results to deteriorate as competition in the grocery sector intensifies.

In the FTSE-250, Dixons and Home Retail Group were lower after their shares had soared in the previous session on the back of well-received updates from both firms. They were down 0.1p to 27.2p and 2.2p at 134.4p respectively.

NEW YORK: The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at a five-year high yesterday, marking a third week of gains.

Bolstered by sound reports from Morgan Stanley yesterday, and Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Chase earlier in the week, the Dow closed up 53.68 points at 13,649.70.

The performance may have been stronger but for Intel, which forecast quarterly revenue below analysts’ estimates.