London midday: Mining and oil stocks lift markets despite weak economic data

(Sharecast News) - Decent gains from mining and oil stocks lifted UK equity markets on Thursday, as investors largely shrugged off a barrage of weak economic data with very little corporate news to focus on. Commodities were higher across the board, with oil, gold, silver and iron ore prices all on the rise, supporting the share prices of London-listed producers.

After a tentative start, the FTSE 100 was up 0.3% at 8,198 by lunchtime, rising for the fifth time in six sessions and trading at its highest level since 18 December.

Numerous festive holidays have meant that there has been little to guide market sentiment over the past week or so. And while the corporate earnings calendar still remains quiet, things have picked up for economic data.

Weak data from China did little to dampen mining stocks early on, despite the Caixin manufacturing purchasing managers' index unexpectedly declining to 50.5 from a five-month high 51.5 in November (consensus: 51.7). The survey showed that new order growth eased on the back of "softening external demand".

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said it was "somewhat perplexing" to see mining stocks perform well on Thursday. "China is a significant player in the global commodities market and negative economic data typically casts a dark cloud over the mining sector for fear that metals demand will weaken. The jump in mining shares [...] will have been influenced by a weaker pound against the US dollar," he said.

In the UK, the S&P Global manufacturing PMI for December was revised down to an 11-month low of 47.0, down from 48.0 in November and below the initial estimate of 47.3 released two weeks ago.

The S&P Global/HCOB eurozone manufacturing PMI for December was also revised down to 45.1 from 45.2, marking the 30th straight reading below 50.

In other news, Nationwide reported that UK house prices rose 4.7% year-on-year in December to £269,426, up 0.7% over the month to sit just below an all-time high recorded in summer 2022. Robert Gardner, Nationwide's chief economist, said that the housing market "ended 2024 on a strong footing", but volatility is expected across the next few months due to upcoming changes to stamp duty, which will "make it more difficult to discern the underlying strength of the market".

Producers track commodities higher

Fresnillo, Glencore, BP and Shell were among the best performers of the day as commodity prices rose. Brent crude in particular was up 1.3% at $75.64 a barrel, trading at its highest since mid-October.

As a result, airline stocks IAG, easyJet and Wizz Air were flying lower as the fuel cost outlook worsened.

Also down were banking peers HSBC, Barclays, Standard Chartered and NatWest.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 8,197.94 0.30% FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,558.49 -0.31% techMARK (TASX) 4,624.86 0.02%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Fresnillo (FRES) 636.50p 2.41% Centrica (CNA) 136.55p 2.21% Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 381.60p 1.62% Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 577.20p 1.51% Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 3,944.00p 1.39% Glencore (GLEN) 358.30p 1.39% BP (BP.) 398.15p 1.31% BT Group (BT.A) 145.70p 1.15% Unite Group (UTG) 815.00p 1.05% Shell (SHEL) 2,502.00p 1.05%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 296.50p -1.79% Barclays (BARC) 263.40p -1.77% Standard Chartered (STAN) 973.20p -1.56% HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 773.10p -1.55% easyJet (EZJ) 551.40p -1.54% Melrose Industries (MRO) 547.20p -1.19% NATWEST GROUP (NWG) 397.40p -1.17% St James's Place (STJ) 859.00p -1.04% Kingfisher (KGF) 246.20p -1.01% Land Securities Group (LAND) 579.00p -0.86%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Ithaca Energy (ITH) 114.70p 3.89% Wood Group (John) (WG.) 67.80p 3.35% Ocado Group (OCDO) 310.80p 2.81% Endeavour Mining (EDV) 1,454.00p 2.04% Energean (ENOG) 1,062.00p 1.82% Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) 131.00p 1.71% PayPoint (PAY) 793.00p 1.67% Ferrexpo (FXPO) 107.40p 1.51% Safestore Holdings (SAFE) 653.50p 1.48% SDCL Energy Efficiency Income Trust (SEIT) 55.30p 1.47%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

IntegraFin Holding (IHP) 335.00p -3.04% Bank of Georgia Group (BGEO) 4,570.00p -2.97% Elementis (ELM) 141.20p -2.75% Plus500 Ltd (DI) (PLUS) 2,638.00p -2.58% Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 1,403.00p -2.50% Foresight Group Holdings Limited NPV (FSG) 401.00p -2.43% Big Yellow Group (BYG) 938.00p -2.29% Pennon Group (PNN) 581.00p -2.11% B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 359.40p -2.07% Fidelity Emerging Markets Limited Ptg NPV (FEML) 681.10p -2.00%