London’s blue-chip stocks have had a mixed day, with lower travel stocks balanced by a buoyant mining sector.
The UK’s main index remained flat throughout the morning session and was just 2 points higher at lunch to 6,270.
Later today, the Federal Reserve will publish the minutes from the most recent meeting of its policy makers, which should give investors food for thought.
For now, however, Connor Campbell, at spread betting firm Spreadex, said: “The FTSE100, with a combination of an optimistic oil division, mixed mining stocks and a tense tourism sector, couldn’t really move.”
Up until mid-morning the mining sector had been weighing on the FTSE100.
“That was until a Goldman Sachs-inspired recovery began,” Alastair McCaig at IG said.
The US giant softened its stance somewhat on the beleaguered mining sector, suggesting certain stocks have fallen far enough.
The broker lifted its ‘sell’ rating on Antofagasta (LON:ANTO) to ‘neutral’, while initiating coverage on KAZ Minerals (LON:KAZ) with a ‘hold’ rating and a price target of 110p, some 20p higher than last night’s close.
Although quick to points it remains bearish on the price of copper, the slightly less dire outlook helped push the miners higher.
Antofagasta was the day’s big gainer, up 3.8%, or around 18p, to 490p, while fellow miner Glencore (LON:GLEN) gained 3.7% to 92p.
In the midcap space, KAZ Minerals nudged slightly higher to 89p.
The broker was also bullish on the oil sector, rating oil services company Hunting (LON:HTG) as a ‘conviction buy’ and upping its price target to 560p from 546p. Shares in the company jumped 5% or 15p to 330p.
At the bottom of the FTSE100 was British Airways owner International Consolidated Airlines (LON:IAG).
After a bomb scare forced the cancellation of a football international between Germany and the Netherlands last night, and the news that armed French police raided a flat in the north Paris suburb of Saint-Denis in an operation linked to Friday's atrocities, people are more likely to stay at home than travel abroad.
IAG, which lost 2.5%, or 15p, to 577p was joined by easyJet (LON:EZJ) which dropped 1.6%, or 28p, to 1,682p.
In the small cap space, DekelOil (LON:DKL) surged 18% to 1.24p after it confirmed its palm kernel crushing plant is now in commercial production and sales have begun.
Meanwhile, Agriterra (LON:AGTA) jumped some 24% to 0.6p as its Sierra Leone-based cocoa company Tropical Farms signed an agreement with a natural, specialty foods company.
Conversely, shares in troubled parcel courier UK Mail (LON:UKM) plunged after problems with a new distribution hub hit first-half profits.
The stock fell 40p, or 11%, to 324p after pre-tax profits before one-off items in the six months to September 30 dipped to £4.9mln from £11.2mln previously.