Miners lead recovery as bid emerges

The London market clawed back some of its recent losses yesterday as bid talk lifted the beleaguered mining sector.

Cyclical stocks were also driven higher by comments from the European Central Bank suggesting it will cut rates if the economy continues to slide.

William Nicholls at Capital Spreads said the sell off earlier in the week was also looking overdone. “So far, US earnings have by no means been a disaster, growth figures and indicators have been a little disappointing, but for these things to warrant a whole week of moves to the downside seems unfair,” he said.

The FTSE 100 bounced back 42.92 to close at 6,286.59, aided by news that Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation (ENRC) is the subject of bid talks among its billionaire founders. The miner, one of the biggest recent fallers, surged more than 26 per cent to 291p at the prospect of a swoop. FTSE 250 rival Kazakhmys, ENRC’s largest shareholder with a 26 per cent stake, jumped 24 per cent at 385.7p.

Other miners took heart, with Vedanta up 6 per cent at 1,151p and Evraz adding 3.5 per cent at 161.8p. Vedanta was boosted by a decision of the Supreme Court of India allowing it to re-open a closed mine. Oil prices also rebounded, with Brent crude stabilising above $99 a barrel in a second day of gains. Contractor Petrofac was the largest beneficiary, up 36p at 1,302p.

Pawnbroker Albemarle & Bond, which has seven outlets in Scotland, warned after shares had closed up 3.75p at 186.1p that profits for the financial year ending 30 June are expected to be “materially below current market expectations”.

News that Fitch Ratings had become the second international agency to strip the UK of its top-notch credit rating also broke after the market closed.

NEW YORK: Wall Street rose last night as earnings from Google and other companies boosted technology shares, but it wasn’t enough to prevent the S&P 500 from suffering its worst week since November.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 10.37 points or 0.07 per cent, to end at 14,547.51 while the broader S&P 500 gained 13.64 points or 0.88 per cent, to finish at 1,555.25. The Nasdaq Composite added 39.69 points or 1.25 per cent, to close at 3,206.06.