Sector movers: Commodities climb, retail market remains tough
After the storm, a relatively calm Friday saw the commodity-related sectors and defensive stocks climb, while the retail sector was splattered with red.
Oil producers and services companies shone in the reflected glory as harmony broke out among the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, together with Russia and Kazakhstan, which are known as OPEC+.
Oil prices surged almost 5% on reports that the production cartel will cut their combined output by 1.2m barrels of oil per day from January.
The deal is set to last six months and to be reviewed in April.
"The outcome was about as positive as it could be from the point of view of oil prices," said Danske Bank, added the output cut deal will bring OPEC+ production back to its level at the beginning of the year
Danske analysts said oil market fundamentals are turning more positive for crude prices. "The US government is done selling off strategic reserves for now. Furthermore, there is risk of further output loss in Iran and Venezuela in the coming months as sanctions continue to bite."
Industrial metals and miners were also on the rise following heavy losses on Thursday, with Evraz, Glencore and Anglo American all on the FTSE 100 leaderboard.
The FTSE 350 leisure sector, which only consists of Games Workshop, was higher as the high street chain said its Warhammer hobby was "in great shape" and declared a dividend of 30p per share.
Utilities and food producers were almost all higher, with markets remaining febrile, while the yield-related gains from the day before were extended for life insurers. Tobacco was down, beverage were mostly higher.
The food producers sector was dragged into the red by just one stock, as a curate's egg of a trading statement from AB Foods, where overall earnings were said to be on track for the full year but retail chain Primark was battling to remain on course, disappointed the market.
This warning that clothing chain Primark had endured a "tough" November sent shares in many big retailers lower.
We know it’s tough out there and share prices across the piece reflect that already to a large degree. But Primark has done better than most and the fact that it too is facing severe headwinds is a concern for the sector as a whole.
"If Primark is struggling, what chance does the rest of the high street have?" wondered market analyst Neil Wilson at Markets.com.
Debenhams, another needing a big uplift from this holiday season, dropped more than 4% and B&M European Value was the only other general retailer down more than 3%, with most just under water.
Top performing sectors so far today
Leisure Goods 7,819.24 +4.67%
Oil Equipment, Services & Distribution 12,275.16 +4.32%
Industrial Metals & Mining 4,471.58 +3.95%
Oil & Gas Producers 8,660.16 +3.18%
Health Care Equipment & Services 7,200.86 +2.80%
Bottom performing sectors so far today
Automobiles & Parts 7,125.53 -3.29%
Food Producers & Processors 6,913.69 -1.81%
Technology Hardware & Equipment 922.80 -1.18%
Electronic & Electrical Equipment 6,279.26 -0.46%
General Retailers 2,025.68 -0.30%
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,789.74 1.28%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 17,855.02 0.57%
techMARK (TASX) 3,345.23 0.16%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 628.00p 4.42%
Tesco (TSCO) 201.80p 4.15%
Evraz (EVR) 483.00p 4.14%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,475.00p 3.84%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,609.00p 3.38%
Glencore (GLEN) 279.80p 3.29%
Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 2,348.50p 3.23%
CRH (CRH) 2,048.00p 2.84%
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 2,365.00p 2.76%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 4,181.00p 2.73%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Associated British Foods (ABF) 2,247.00p -4.38%
Paddy Power Betfair (PPB) 6,455.00p -1.75%
GVC Holdings (GVC) 670.50p -1.69%
Informa (INF) 651.80p -1.66%
Shire Plc (SHP) 4,535.00p -1.63%
Kingfisher (KGF) 227.60p -1.47%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 154.85p -1.05%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 54.13p -1.02%
Halma (HLMA) 1,307.00p -0.98%
Micro Focus International (MCRO) 1,465.50p -0.95%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Premier Oil (PMO) 75.43p 14.11%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 189.80p 7.54%
Stagecoach Group (SGC) 172.10p 5.20%
Cairn Energy (CNE) 167.60p 4.82%
Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 437.80p 4.71%
Amigo Holdings (AMGO) 266.00p 4.42%
Games Workshop Group (GAW) 3,120.00p 4.17%
Rotork (ROR) 246.40p 3.53%
Quilter (QLT) 114.20p 3.27%
Bakkavor Group (BAKK) 144.40p 3.14%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
IP Group (IPO) 106.00p -6.85%
Genus (GNS) 2,230.00p -6.54%
Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 30.90p -5.39%
Stobart Group Ltd. (STOB) 153.20p -4.37%
HGCapital Trust (HGT) 1,795.00p -4.01%
TI Fluid Systems (TIFS) 175.00p -3.95%
NewRiver REIT (NRR) 212.50p -3.85%
Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 5,740.00p -3.20%
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 324.60p -3.16%
Rank Group (RNK) 137.20p -3.11%