After a solid start to the week, London’s blue-chip stocks gave back some of its gains on Wednesday.
The FTSE100 rose around 60 points on Tuesday, but was 35 points lower this morning at around 6,278.
Russ Mould, AJ Bell investment director, said: “The headline index handed back most of yesterday’s gains early on as traders seized the chance for some profit-taking on house builders following their surge but volumes remained light the run up to the New Year break.”
It wasn’t just the UK’s main index that struggled, with the German DAX falling 50 points to10,807 while the French Cac40 lost 16 points to 4,684.
Connor Campbell at spread betting firm Spreadex, said: “Kicking off the day with a warning from Christine Lagarde that global growth in 2016 would be disappointing of course didn’t help matters.
“The IMF chief pointed to the US rate hike decision and the continued slowdown in China as potential destabilisers in the New Year, helping dismiss yesterday’s cheerful trading to set a rather glum tone for the markets this Wednesday.”
On the index, the miners rebounded after slumping earlier this week.
IG’s Angus Nicholson, said: “News of copper output cuts in China and expectations for oil inventories to decline in today’s EIA data have set the scene for strong gains for materials and energy stocks in the region, as well as commodity-related currencies.”
Antofagasta (LON:ANTO) led the risers, gaining almost 1% to 465p, while Fresnillo (LON:FRES) and Anglo American (LON:AAL) also made rare forays into the green.
Of the little corporate news, Shares in Mirada (LON:MIRA) rocketed this morning as it narrowed losses and boosted sales in its interims.
The company also said the contract roll-out with South American media group Televisa was ahead of schedule, sending shares jumping 27% to 5.9p.
PRE-OPEN
The UK’s main marker looks set for a flat start to the morning, according to spread betting firm IG.
After climbing 60 points by the end of Tuesday, the FTSE100 is expected to ease back around 10 points to 6,304.
Overnight, Asian stocks performed mostly well, with Japan’s Nikkei rising 52 points to 19,034, while the Shanghai Composite nudged a couple of points.
IG’s Angus Nicholson, said: “News of copper output cuts in China and expectations for oil inventories to decline in today’s EIA data have set the scene for strong gains for materials and energy stocks in the region, as well as commodity-related currencies.”
The miners could be on the rebound, after Anglo American (LON:AAL) slid 6.3% and index heavyweight BP (LON:BP.) shed 1.4% on Tuesday.
It comes after Wall Street posted another strong finish, with the Dow Jones rising 193 points or just over 1.1% to 17,721.
The S&P 500 added about 22 points, or 1%, on Tuesday to 2,078 while the Nasdaq rose 1.3% to 5,108.
There's little on the corporate front this morning, as, it would appear, companies continue to put their feet up for the holidays.