London midday: Miners gain on QE hopes, Randgold jumps

23rd Aug 2012 11:44

- QE hopes drive stocks early on- Gains pared after Eurozone data- Randgold leads miners higherThe Footsie was teetering around the 5,800 level by Thursday lunchtime as earlier optimism surrounding a potential policy easing in the US was tempered by some weak manufacturing data from the Eurozone."European financial markets are posting decent gains today in response to yesterday's dovish Fed meeting minutes, however we have seen a slight pullback since the market open as data from the Eurozone slapped investors back into a rather more sober mood," said market strategist Ishaq Siddiqi from ETX Capital.The minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting said that "many members judged that additional monetary accommodation would likely be warranted fairly soon unless incoming information pointed to a substantial and sustainable strengthening in the pace of the economic recovery" "Europe's political leaders in general, and Angela Merkel in particular, must be thankful for the cover provided by the Fed's latest conversion to QE as they enter yet another fraught set of negotiations with the Greeks," said chief strategist Michael Derks from FxPro.Eurogroup President Jean-Claude Juncker made clear that "the ball is in Greece's court" following his meeting with the country's Prime Minister Antonis Samaras yesterday. While the Greek PM requested a two-year extension on the deadline to implement austerity measures, the head of the Eurozone's finance ministers said that the Troika's visit to Athens in September will give the Hellenic Republic "one last chance" to meet its commitments. Germany's Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble was cited this morning as saying that giving Greece more time is tantamount to handing the country more money. In his opinion the Eurozone has gone to the limit on Greece.The Markit preliminary composite purchasing managers' index (PMI) for the Eurozone rose from 46.5 to 46.6 in August, showing that activity in the single-currency region had contracted for a seventh straight month. Meanwhile, the HSBC China manufacturing PMI fell from 49.3 to 47.8 in August, a nine-month low.FTSE 100: Randgold welcomes political progress in MaliRandgold was a high riser today after releasing a statement to welcome the appointment of a new interim government in Mali which "represents a further step towards the full normalisation of the country following the coup attempt earlier this year." Chief Executive Mark Bristow said: "We have often said that we have confidence in the ability of Mali's people to resolve their differences in a constructive manner and, while there is still some way to go, this confidence remains unshaken. In the meantime, we continue to stay in touch with all parties and to monitor the situation closely,"Miners on the whole were making gains today on the hopes that policy-makers in the US will boost the world's largest economy. Antofagasta, Fresnillo and Xstrata were in demand, while Anglo American was higher on reports that it is close to an agreement to end a 10-month dispute over a massive copper mine in Chile.Even Kazakhmys was in the blue despite announcing that both revenues and earnings dropped in the first half. Cash costs increased significantly during the period, leading the group to increase its cash cost guidance for the full year. Engineering group IMI fell after saying that the first-half revenue growth of 6% would likely slow in the second half mainly due to the weakening economic conditions in Europe. Sales and underlying earnings came in slightly ahead of market expectations at drinks brands leviathan Diageo, helping shares higher this morning. Sector peer SABMiller was lower after Nomura downgraded the stock from 'neutral' to 'reduce', saying that the shares are trading at a 9% premium to the "beer average".FTSE 250: WH Smith jumps after results upgrade, share buy-back; Petropavlovsk sinksNewsagent chain WH Smith jumped after saying it expects results for the year to the end of August will be at the top end of market expectations as the group's Travel business improves margins. The group also revealed a £50m share purchase programme for 2013.?Heading the other way was gold producer Petropavlovsk whose bottom line lost its lustre in the first half of the year as interest payments bit and the group took a bath on its gold option contracts. FTSE 100 - RisersRandgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 6,390.00p +3.99%Fresnillo (FRES) 1,567.00p +2.69%Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,150.00p +2.68%Wolseley (WOS) 2,570.00p +2.55%Tullow Oil (TLW) 1,410.00p +2.25%Anglo American (AAL) 1,951.50p +2.17%Xstrata (XTA) 936.30p +2.15%Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 2,392.00p +1.79%Evraz (EVR) 259.90p +1.72%Vedanta Resources (VED) 945.50p +1.50%FTSE 100 - FallersIMI (IMI) 854.00p -3.34%British Land Co (BLND) 539.00p -1.01%Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 276.30p -0.97%National Grid (NG.) 687.00p -0.94%Land Securities Group (LAND) 798.50p -0.81%SABMiller (SAB) 2,765.00p -0.72%Capita (CPI) 725.50p -0.68%Serco Group (SRP) 569.00p -0.52%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 234.40p -0.51%GKN (GKN) 224.10p -0.44%FTSE 250 - RisersAquarius Platinum Ltd. (AQP) 40.95p +5.00%WH Smith (SMWH) 609.50p +4.73%Ferrexpo (FXPO) 196.40p +3.86%SIG (SHI) 97.60p +3.66%Man Group (EMG) 79.35p +3.32%Soco International (SIA) 345.00p +2.68%Stobart Group Ltd. (STOB) 125.30p +2.62%Renishaw (RSW) 1,567.00p +2.15%Lonmin (LMI) 625.50p +2.04%Afren (AFR) 133.60p +1.98%FTSE 250 - FallersPetropavlovsk (POG) 392.00p -16.40%AZ Electronic Materials SA (DI) (AZEM) 295.60p -2.76%NMC Health (NMC) 191.00p -2.75%Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 50.60p -1.84%Chemring Group (CHG) 370.90p -1.77%FirstGroup (FGP) 241.00p -1.75%Home Retail Group (HOME) 93.70p -1.47%Wetherspoon (J.D.) (JDW) 460.20p -1.35%Kier Group (KIE) 1,304.00p -1.29%Bank of Georgia Holdings (BGEO) 1,166.00p -1.27%BC