FTSE 100 movers: Mining stocks regain their lustre; Centrica blows a raspberry with price hike
Mining stocks regained their lustre on Tuesday after the US Russian sanctions-inspired pounding they took a day earlier.
The mood was brightened by a pledge from Chinese leader Xi Jinping to open up the country's economy and lower import tariffs, seen by observers as a sign he was taking the heat out of the tit-for-tat tariff tantrum with Twitter aficionado US President Donald Trump.
In a speech at the Boao Forum for Asia, seen by many as Asia's Davos, President Xi - who made no reference to the trade spat with the US - said he will "significantly lower" tariffs on car imports this year and ease restrictions on foreign ownership in the industry as soon as possible. He also said he would expand the protection of intellectual property.
Glencore, which took a beating on Monday on the back of US President Trump's sanctions against Russia, rose as it said chief executive Ivan Glasenberg has resigned as a director of Russian aluminium producer Rusal, in which it holds a stake of just under 9%.
In a statement, Glencore said it was "taking all necessary measures in order to mitigate any risks" to its business as result of the designation of Rusal and its parent company EN+ as Specially Designated Nationals (SDNs) by the Trump administration.
Russian steel producer Evraz was on the front foot after heavy losses in the previous session, while other miners also bounced back, with Anglo American, Antofagasta, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto all stronger given China's voracious appetite for raw materials.
Energy and utilities shares were in the red after the Centrica-owned British Gas said it would bump up prices for customers on its standard variable tariff by 5.5% from next month.
The price increase, which kicks in on 29 May, will see the average annual dual fuel bill rise by £60 to £1,161.
Centrica attributed the price hike to rising wholesale and policy costs, adding that similar pressures were cited by Ofgem when they increased the pre-payment meter cap by just over £57 on 1 April.
National Grid and SSE were also lower on the news.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,239.67 0.62%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,626.59 0.73%
techMARK (TASX) 3,348.17 0.60%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Anglo American (AAL) 1,689.20p 4.89%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 946.60p 3.84%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,721.00p 3.35%
Glencore (GLEN) 350.25p 3.27%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,428.20p 3.10%
Evraz (EVR) 395.80p 2.70%
Royal Mail (RMG) 566.00p 2.31%
Pearson (PSON) 761.60p 2.17%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 2,013.00p 1.74%
GKN (GKN) 427.90p 1.64%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Severn Trent (SVT) 1,848.00p -2.51%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 713.40p -2.46%
National Grid (NG.) 819.80p -1.68%
Shire Plc (SHP) 3,653.50p -1.48%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 264.20p -1.42%
Centrica (CNA) 142.04p -1.05%
DCC (DCC) 6,605.00p -1.05%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 2,672.00p -1.04%
SSE (SSE) 1,288.00p -0.88%
WPP (WPP) 1,178.50p -0.84%