London close: Miners lead shares higher on gold price rise

7th Nov 2014 17:11

Miners and oil stocks led the London market modestly higher on Friday as gold and oil prices jumped on a weaker dollar and German trade data improved.Silver miner Fresnillo gleamed 34.5p to 734p and Randgold Resources glittered 58p to 4132p as gold prices rose about 2% and a barrel of US crude bounced back towards the $80 mark on weaker US data.BHP Billiton lifted 48p to 1676p, Anglo American gained 35.5p to 1364.5p and Rio Tinto climbed 71.5p to 3039p.Oil services group Petrofac was the oil industry's highest riser with a 30p increase to 1118p while Royal Dutch Shell B gushed 55p to 2326p and BP added 5.4p at 441.3p.The FTSE 100 Index closed 16.09 points to the good at 6567.24.In economic news, September German trade data improved with an increase in Berlin's current account balance to €22.3bn compared with €10.3bn in August.Exports grew 5.5% compared with a -5.8% fall last month as imports rose 5.4% compared with a -1.3% drop in August.But UK trade figures provided further evidence that the fragile economic recovery is stalling. The UK's seasonally adjusted deficit on trade in goods and services was estimated to have been £2.8bn in September 2014, compared with £1.8bn in August 2014, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Analysts had expected a shortfall of -£2.3bn.Back on the corporate front, insurers were in the doldrums after Admiral blamed a competitive market for an expected fall in profits at price comparison website Confused.com in the second half versus the first six months of the year.Admiral led the fallers lower with a 44p drop to 1215p and RSA Insurance was close behind with a 13.9p dip to 446.2p.Airlines and travel stocks flew lower as oil prices rose, with BA and Iberia owner IAG descending 11.4p to 402.6p and Easyjet off 18p at 1535p.House-builders and property groups were lower after a couple of firms in the sector said the autumn pick-up after the summer break was slower than last year. Persimmon fell 27p to 1410p, British Land subsided 10.5p to 727.5p and Land Securities slipped 17p to 1104p. Market MoverstechMARK 2,784.34 -0.39%FTSE 100 6,567.24 +0.25%FTSE 250 15,464.53 -0.33%FTSE 100 - RisersFresnillo (FRES) 734.00p +4.93%BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,676.00p +2.95%IMI (IMI) 1,227.00p +2.85%Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,118.00p +2.76%Anglo American (AAL) 1,364.50p +2.67%Intertek Group (ITRK) 2,757.00p +2.61%Capita (CPI) 1,103.00p +2.51%Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 2,326.00p +2.42%Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,039.00p +2.41%Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 2,230.50p +2.39%FTSE 100 - FallersAdmiral Group (ADM) 1,215.00p -3.49%RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 446.20p -3.02%International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 402.60p -2.75%Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 168.40p -2.38%Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 1,360.00p -2.37%Direct Line Insurance Group (DLG) 271.20p -2.09%ARM Holdings (ARM) 871.50p -2.08%Persimmon (PSN) 1,410.00p -1.88%Land Securities Group (LAND) 1,104.00p -1.52%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 374.90p -1.52%FTSE 250 - RisersAfren (AFR) 82.10p +12.70%Stock Spirits Group (STCK) 247.50p +10.00%Supergroup (SGP) 882.00p +7.69%Lonmin (LMI) 187.40p +7.64%Ted Baker (TED) 2,090.00p +7.12%Spire Healthcare Group (SPI) 317.50p +6.08%Zoopla Property Group (WI) (ZPLA) 206.70p +5.19%Hochschild Mining (HOC) 98.95p +4.99%Croda International (CRDA) 2,360.00p +4.61%Infinis Energy (INFI) 225.10p +4.16%FTSE 250 - FallersRentokil Initial (RTO) 116.00p -5.00%Interserve (IRV) 607.50p -3.88%Moneysupermarket.com Group (MONY) 196.20p -3.25%Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group (JLT) 840.50p -3.22%Galliford Try (GFRD) 1,177.00p -3.21%Fisher (James) & Sons (FSJ) 1,201.00p -3.15%esure Group (ESUR) 208.40p -3.07%Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 113.40p -2.99%Computacenter (CCC) 604.00p -2.97%Bovis Homes Group (BVS) 819.50p -2.85%FTSE TechMARK - RisersFiltronic (FTC) 23.00p +5.75%BATM Advanced Communications Ltd. (BVC) 16.00p +4.07%RM (RM.) 145.88p +2.01%XP Power Ltd. (DI) (XPP) 1,422.00p +1.21%Vectura Group (VEC) 123.75p +1.02%Oxford Biomedica (OXB) 4.01p +0.38%Anite (AIE) 85.50p +0.29%IShares Euro Gov Bond 7-10YR UCITS ETF (IEGM) € 196.55 +0.05%FTSE TechMARK - FallersConsort Medical (CSRT) 731.00p -2.47%Torotrak (TRK) 15.62p -1.57%Skyepharma (SKP) 328.75p -1.57%Puricore (PURI) 31.50p -1.56%SDL (SDL) 390.50p -1.14%Optos (OPTS) 207.00p -0.96%Promethean World (PRW) 26.75p -0.93%NCC Group (NCC) 195.25p -0.89%Dialight (DIA) 845.00p -0.82%KCOM Group (KCOM) 92.50p -0.80%