London open: Mining and oil stocks lift FTSE early

(Sharecast News) - UK stocks put in decent gains on Tuesday morning, starting the second quarter off strongly on the back of a good performance from the mining and oil sectors early on. By 0851 BST, the FTSE 100 was up 0.6% at 8,002.17. The index, which rose 0.3% in a shortened trading week last week, gained 3% over the first three months of the year to settle at 7,952.62 on Thursday.

With UK markets closed on Friday and Monday, investors will get their chance to react to some mixed economic data from the US released last week, which weighed on Wall Street indices the previous session. The all-important US personal consumption expenditures index showed that the annual rate of inflation rose to 2.5% in February from 2.4% the month before - the first acceleration since September - while the US manufacturing sector registered its first month of expansion in 16 months.

"This fanned further fears that the economy is continuing to expand under its own steam, with the sharp spike in production and new orders, alongside rising component prices, also potentially adding to the possibility of further inflationary pressures," said Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor.

Data barrage

Tuesday looks like another busy session in terms of economic data, with UK lending and house price figures, along with Germany inflation, manufacturing surveys across Europe and US job openings, along with a number of hotly anticipated speeches from members of the Federal Reserve.

The Nationwide UK house price index showed that price inflation ebbed unexpectedly last month. In seasonally adjusted terms, house prices recorded a month-on-month dip of 0.2% in March, under the consensus forecast of a 0.3% increase, after a 0.7% gain in February.

Meanwhile, manufacturing PMI from March released by Hamburg Commercial Bank (HCOB) in Italy, Spain, France and Germany all came in ahead of expectations - with Italy showing its first month of industry expansion in nearly a year.

Looking ahead, market participants will be keeping their eyes out for Eurozone inflation figures and ADP's US employment report on Wednesday and the closely watched US non-farm payrolls data on Friday.

Market movers

Mining and oil stocks were performing well on Tuesday in London, with Fresnillo, Anglo American, Rio Tinto, Glencore, BP and Shell among the top performers as commodity prices gained.

HSBC was also on the rise after completing the sale of its Canadian banking operations to RBC, a move which it says "unlocks significant value". Completion of the transaction will result in the recognition of an estimated gain on sale of $4.9bn in the first quarter of 2024, the company said.

Biopharma giant AstraZeneca was also performing well after receiving the green light from US regulators for its Voydeva drug.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 8,002.17 0.62% FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,959.39 0.38% techMARK (TASX) 4,539.29 0.05%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Fresnillo (FRES) 492.20p 4.75% Anglo American (AAL) 2,013.00p 3.14% Glencore (GLEN) 446.80p 2.64% Rio Tinto (RIO) 5,137.00p 2.39% Shell (SHEL) 2,679.00p 2.06% BP (BP.) 505.80p 2.04% Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 2,086.00p 1.56% HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 628.40p 1.52% St James's Place (STJ) 471.20p 1.44% Antofagasta (ANTO) 2,067.00p 1.37%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 1,875.00p -2.27% Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT) 4,418.00p -2.08% GSK (GSK) 1,680.00p -1.67% Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 2,466.00p -1.48% WPP (WPP) 744.20p -1.25% CRH (CDI) (CRH) 6,756.00p -1.05% Compass Group (CPG) 2,301.00p -0.95% Experian (EXPN) 3,425.00p -0.84% Persimmon (PSN) 1,305.00p -0.84% Intertek Group (ITRK) 4,946.00p -0.78%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Hochschild Mining (HOC) 133.80p 5.02% Baltic Classifieds Group (BCG) 235.00p 4.21% Trainline (TRN) 383.80p 3.62% Diversified Energy Company (DEC) 981.50p 3.53% Endeavour Mining (EDV) 1,665.00p 3.48% Moonpig Group (MOON) 174.40p 3.01% OSB Group (OSB) 387.40p 2.65% Quilter (QLT) 109.50p 2.24% Rathbones Group (RAT) 1,582.00p 2.20% AO World (AO.) 103.00p 2.18%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

W.A.G Payment Solutions (WPS) 63.40p -5.37% Watches of Switzerland Group (WOSG) 348.20p -2.90% Redde Northgate (REDD) 371.50p -2.62% Ithaca Energy (ITH) 130.10p -2.18% Mobico Group (MCG) 68.15p -2.08% Bellevue Healthcare Trust (Red) (BBH) 153.00p -2.05% Fidelity Emerging Markets Limited Ptg NPV (FEML) 646.90p -1.98% Hammerson (HMSO) 29.30p -1.61% TR Property Inv Trust (TRY) 320.00p -1.54% Worldwide Healthcare Trust (WWH) 330.00p -1.49%