FTSE 100 movers: Glencore and Antofagasta lead blue chips higher

7th Sep 2015 15:20

(ShareCast News) - The FTSE 100 began the week on the front foot, lifted by commodities giants Glencore and Antofagasta.With less than an hour before the London session's close, the blue chip index was up 0.48% at 6,071.64 points.Glencore was surging on the back of its new plan to pare back its $30bn debt pile. Chief executive Ivan Glasenberg and finance chief Steven Kalmin said the company aimed to issue up to $2.5bn in new shares, cut its dividend, sell some assets and dispose of its stake in its agricultural business. Merrill Lynch analysts were among those to upgrade their rating on the stock.With copper's continued small steps away from August's low, up 0.41% so far on the day, copper miner Antofagasta was up by more than 7%. The group last month announced it remained on track with its targeted streamlining measures, which should cut $160m of cost for the year and enable the cash-generative producer to outperform many rivals.Broker upgrades were behind several of the indexes biggest gainers, with Pearson lifted by ratings improvements from both Investec and Kepler Cheuvreux.United Utilities rallied after Bernstein recommended the stock was one that would 'outperform', motivated by the valuation gap that has opened between it and Severn Trent since June.RSA Insurance, on the other hand, was given a boost as reports emerged that suitor Zurich Insurance had arranged financing to complete its bid for the London-listed company.Fallers were led by Standard Chartered, though its fortunes waxed and waned over the session as a number of factors dragged on sentiment. After unconfirmed news emerged on Friday afternoon that the Asia-focused bank may be cutting a quarter of its senior bankers, Citi on Monday issued a short note where it maintained its 'buy' rating but highlighted that productivity metrics were poor compared to peers.StanChart was also feeling the pressure from weekend media reports that it may face new fines for the alleged breaking of sanctions in place for dealing with Iran. Banks were also hit by research from accountancy group EY that Chancellor George Osborne's profit surcharge forecasts "vastly understate" the likely pain on sector.Despite a largely positive pre-close trading update, Associated British Foods was hit by a warning that margins were being squeezed by the impact of the strength of the US dollar on Far East sourcing.Another faller was shopping centres operator Intu Properties after chief operating officer Mike Butterworth revealed he will retire at the end of the year. The company said the process of determining how best to fill Butterworth's role had already begun. FTSE 100 - RisersGlencore (GLEN) 131.95p +7.15%Antofagasta (ANTO) 604.50p +7.09%Pearson (PSON) 1,126.00p +3.21%United Utilities Group (UU.) 852.00p +2.04%Legal & General Group (LGEN) 251.00p +1.54%Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,363.00p +1.49%Standard Life (SL.) 407.60p +1.37%RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 505.00p +1.32%SSE (SSE) 1,459.00p +1.25%London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 2,461.00p +1.23%FTSE 100 - FallersStandard Chartered (STAN) 698.20p -2.12%Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 1,286.00p -1.38%Sports Direct International (SPD) 783.50p -1.14%Intu Properties (INTU) 314.80p -0.82%Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 235.50p -0.80%BAE Systems (BA.) 439.50p -0.77%Associated British Foods (ABF) 3,117.00p -0.70%Weir Group (WEIR) 1,272.00p -0.47%InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 2,375.00p -0.42%Mondi (MNDI) 1,459.00p -0.41%