London midday: Aviva, miners help FTSE 100 snap losing streak

8th Aug 2013 11:53

Markets were on the advance on Thursday morning as well-received results from insurer Aviva and strong gains in the mining sector helped the FTSE 100 rebound after four straight days of losses.Miners in particular were boosted by better-than-expected trade figures from China, as stocks in the sector recovered after recent weakness. The General Administration of Customs said that Chinese exports jumped by an annual rate of 5.1% in July, better than the 2.0% rise expected, while imports surged 10.9% (forecast: +1.0%)."While there has been an awful lot of debate about the accuracy or otherwise of some of this trade data, some of the most recent measures by Chinese authorities to lower tax rates for small business could well be having a stimulative effect," said Senior Market Analyst Michael Hewson from CMC Markets. "To confirm this better picture tomorrow's industrial production number needs to confirm today's improvement."Rising copper prices were also lifting miners this morning, as the metal hit its highest value is nearly two months. Copper futures for three-month delivery on the London Metal Exchange were rose as much as 2.3% on the day to $7,170 a tonne earlier on, the highest price since June 17th.US jobless claims will again be in focus today as speculation continues to ramp up about whether the recovery in labour market is strong enough for the Federal Reserve to begin tapering stimulus. Some 335,000 people are expected to have filed for unemployment benefits last week, slightly higher than the five-and-a-half-year low of 326,000 reported the week before.Wall Street stocks fell last night after Sandra Pianalto, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, suggested that the Fed should start scaling back asset purchases "if the labour market remains on the stronger path that it has followed since last fall".FTSE 100: Aviva impresses with H1 reportAviva was providing a lift this morning with the share price surging after the insurer swung to a profit before tax (PBT) of £776m in the first half, compared with a £624m loss a year before. "In the first half we have taken a number of steps to deliver our investment thesis of cash flow and growth. These results show satisfactory progress in Aviva's turnaround," said Chief Executive Mark Wilson. Mining stocks were performing well this morning, recovering after bearing the brunt of recent falls in risk appetite as of late. Antofagasta, Anglo American, Glencore Xstrata and ENRC were all higher. Even Vedanta rose as it shrugged off a downgrade from Liberum Capital to 'hold'. Rio Tinto was also higher despite recording an 18% drop in underlying earnings in the first half due to lower market prices and a higher tax rate, partly offset by record iron ore shipments and cost savings. Leading the downside was Schroders as a 25% increase in first-half PBT wasn't enough to excite investors. The company said assets under management were up 21% to £235.7bn compared to a year earlier while net inflows jumped 67% to £4.5bn. Insurer Standard Life was also lower as investors gave a cool reaction to its own half-year report which saw operating PBT rise 6.0% to £304m. The company said it saw record long-term savings new business sales of £12.2bn during the period.FTSE 250: Ladbrokes lower after resultsBookmaker Ladbrokes was a heavy faller this morning after seeing operating profits fall in the first half due to increased costs and tax and the lack of a major football tournament. After an earlier slump, leased and tenanted pubs operator Enterprise Inns swung into positive territory after saying that trading improved in the fourth quarter following a tough year.FTSE 100 - RisersAviva (AV.) 394.40p +6.36%Antofagasta (ANTO) 877.50p +3.91%Old Mutual (OML) 205.80p +3.89%Anglo American (AAL) 1,443.50p +3.48%Glencore Xstrata (GLEN) 278.90p +3.12%BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,891.00p +2.52%ARM Holdings (ARM) 881.50p +2.44%International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 323.50p +1.99%Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,274.00p +1.76%Aggreko (AGK) 1,657.00p +1.59%FTSE 100 - FallersSchroders (SDR) 2,370.00p -5.24%BAE Systems (BA.) 439.60p -2.03%William Hill (WMH) 442.60p -1.60%Resolution Ltd. (RSL) 326.30p -1.30%Whitbread (WTB) 3,192.00p -0.90%Land Securities Group (LAND) 912.50p -0.87%Next (NXT) 4,984.00p -0.82%easyJet (EZJ) 1,375.00p -0.79%Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,298.00p -0.61%Hammerson (HMSO) 515.00p -0.58%FTSE 250 - RisersHochschild Mining (HOC) 188.50p +7.41%Polymetal International (POLY) 687.50p +5.36%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 260.10p +4.92%Enterprise Inns (ETI) 147.60p +4.90%Mondi (MNDI) 1,024.00p +3.91%Kenmare Resources (KMR) 29.41p +3.78%Kentz Corporation Ltd. (KENZ) 448.70p +3.63%Interserve (IRV) 525.50p +3.55%Ultra Electronics Holdings (ULE) 1,991.00p +3.21%FirstGroup (FGP) 108.10p +3.05%FTSE 250 - FallersAlent (ALNT) 344.00p -3.13%Ladbrokes (LAD) 201.80p -2.84%Carillion (CLLN) 292.10p -2.47%Henderson Group (HGG) 166.50p -2.06%Ferrexpo (FXPO) 182.30p -1.46%Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 344.10p -1.43%United Drug (UDG) 339.00p -1.37%Cobham (COB) 296.00p -1.17%Countrywide (CWD) 593.00p -1.00%Ashtead Group (AHT) 699.00p -0.92%BC