FTSE 100 shares closed lower after a rally flirted with the 7,000 level but petered out as investors eyed a drop by Wall Street tickers following on-going digestion of what a Donald Trump presidency means for corporates - and opted to book their profits from Wednesday.
The FTSE 100 index finished 1.2% lower at 6,827 after surging on Wednesday and at the start of trading on Thursday.
Gold-exposed miners, pharmaceutical and US rates-sensitive utilities all fell. Gold-focused miners Fresnillo (LON:FRES) and Randgold Resources (LON:RRS) plunged, as National Grid (LON:NG. down 6.1% to 944.04p after reporting mixed earnings, which led other utilities down. AstraZeneca (LON:AZN), down 3.7% to 4,405.16p, led beleaguered pharmas south.
One positive identified from Trump's victory was the prospect of more US infrastructure spending, which lifted commodity prices.
The price of copper hit a one-year high, and shares in copper miner Antofagasta (LON:ANTO) surged 11%. The miner ended as top riser, of 11.5% to 715p. Other miners gaining included Glencore (LON:GLEN) up 5.5% to 285p while Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) was up 2.6% to 3,147.5p.
But not all miners enjoyed the spoils of rising commodity prices. Second-biggest FTSE faller was Fresnillo (LON:FRES) down 11% to 1576p and right behind it Randgold Resources (LON:RRS) down 10.2% to 6,385p.
In the mid-cap FTSE 250, shares in Supergroup (LON:SGP) jumped 8.8% to 1574p after it reported a big rise in sales.
In the half-year to 29 October, like-for-like sales jumped 12.8%, which was well ahead of expectations.
But the top riser was miner Evraz plc (LON:EVR) up 11.1% to 248.9p, also basking in commodity price gains.
The overall mid-cap ticker rose too, up 0.4% to 17,659.
The FTSE AIM 100 Index was flat at 3833 and the FTSE AIM All-Share Index gained 0.3% to 801.
A total of 41% of London stocks gained and only 25% lost.
Mid-session
Dow Jones marks new highest close after election result
Asian stocks rally, Japan's Nikkei gained almost 7%
London's FTSE 100 turns lower, down 0.5% to 6,877
Copper miners come up trumps
Volatility seems to be the only certainty in the market right now, London’s FTSE 100 turned negative in the afternoon.
The FTSE 100 was down 24 points, 0.3%, at 6,886.
Mediclinic International Plc (LON:MDC) was down 13% to 800.5p was the biggest faller.
Nonetheless, miners, financial and industrial stocks were the notable risers.
City Index analyst Ken Odeluga described Thursday’s trading session as a “remarkable rebound of risk seeking”.
But, he also said: “brisk trade in market protection tells us that post-Trump calm masks lingering anxiety.”
12:00 - FTSE 100 driven higher by copper surge
The post-Trump commodity climb continued overnight and into Thursday morning, with several copper miners leading the London markets higher.
The copper price has risen in each of the past five sessions, and it is headed for a sixth with prices gaining more than 4% already today.
This morning’s price rally has sent shares in the likes of Antofagasta Plc (LON:ANTO), Glencore International (LON:GLEN) and KAZ Minerals PLC (LON:KAZ) higher.
Aussie bank Macquarie said: “Copper fundamentals are improving.
“The outlook for the copper market has improved significantly in recent weeks, in large part due to a weak set of third quarter production results from a host of operations and the attendant reduction in 2017 consensus volume forecasts.”
On top of this, Donald Trump’s speech yesterday in which he promised – in a much more conciliatory tone than usual – to improve and increase infrastructure in the US has also helped the price.
Traders have speculated that, should these plans materialise, demand for commodities such as copper will significantly increase.
Macquarie did warn that it’s difficult to work out what the demand from the US could be “until such a policy is more defined”.
11am - FTSE consolidates gains
The FTSE 100 has consolidated the gains it made earlier this morning, with trading stable over the past hour or so.
The blue chip index currently stands at 6,977, dragged higher by the likes of Antofagasta Plc (LON:ANTO) and Glencore International (LON:GLEN) as we mentioned earlier.
Sticking with the big stocks, J Sainsbury plc’s (LON:SBRY) descent over the past day or so has continued, with one analyst thinking that it could continue to add to these losses.
In the small caps, it was a good day for Starcom Plc (LON:STAR) which gained 20% in early trading after cargo transporter Amerijet Airlines approved Starcom’s GPS tracking technology for use aboard its planes.
It wasn’t quite so good for Mobile Streams Plc (LON:MOS). The stock was down by almost a third following a poor year of trading which saw it swing to a loss after revenues plummeted.
10am - FTSE 100 rises 1%
London’s FTSE 100 continued to trade in positive territory as the markets adjust to the election of Donald Trump.
The blue chip benchmark was up 1%, changing hands at 6,979.
After yesterday’s risers came on specific Trump friendly pics, the moves on Thursday are fairly broad based.
Antofagasta Plc (LON:ANTO) was the top riser, up 10% to 705p, while Glencore Plc (LON:GLEN) rose 5.3%. It was the stand-out among copper miners which also been rising, on expectations that the Trump administration will significantly increase spending on infrastructure development.
BHP Billiton plc (LON:BLT) gained 2.84% to £13.77 and Vedanta Plc (LON:VED) added 12.35% to 877p, and Evraz plc (LON:EVR) jumped 10% to 245.5p.
Defence and aerospace group BAE Systems Plc (LON:BA.) rose 7.6% to 629p.
Financial services group Prudential Plc (LON:PRU) gained 6.5% to £15.18, and house builder Travis Perkins Plc (LON:TPK) climbed 6.2% to £14.42.
Elsewhere the money was flowing back out of ‘safe haven’ precious metal stocks like Randgold Resources Plc (LON:RRL) and Fresnillo Plc (LON:FRES), losing 5.6% and 4.6% respectively.
8.40 - FTSE 100 gunning for 7,000 mark again as market worries ease
Struggling through the fug of the morning after the night before investors appear to be a little more upbeat on the outlook for the markets under the soon-to-be-anointed President Trump. Wall Street closed markedly higher overnight, while in Asia the markets there were a little more chipper too after Wednesday’s sharp sell-off. Japan’s Nikkei led the way with a 7% gain. In London the index of blue-chip shares took its cue from those movements as it advanced 73 points in the first 40 minutes of trade to 6,984.53. Could the Footsie now break back above 7,000 by the end of the week? Potentially, analysts and commentators reckon. “As it stands, the index is challenging October’s falling highs resistance, a proper break above which could open the door for a return to 7,000, even all-time highs circa 7,100,” said chart expert Mike van Dulken at Accendo markets. 6.50 - FTSE 100 set for positive start after Dow Jones closes volatile day at record high
America has made its bed, and now it is going to bounce on it.
Following very quickly after the initial shock and fear over the election of Donald Trump as the next president of the United States came efforts at reconciliation, so much so that buyers in the stock market pushed the Dow Jones to A NEW RECORD HIGH by the end of Wednesday’s trading.
The Dow Jones had added 256 points, 1.4%, to close at 18,589, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq both gained 1.1% to finish the day at 2,163 and 5,251 respectively.
“If a week is a long time in politics then 24 hours in markets is even longer, given the extent of the moves seen in the last day or so,” said Michael Hewson, analyst at CMC Markets.
“Having rallied hard on the prospect of a Clinton victory on Monday, stock markets then sold off sharply as the realisation of a Trump victory dawned.
“We then headed back higher again after Trumps acceptance speech showing that we do indeed live in strange times with the Dow closing at a new record high in the process, a simply astonishing thing to see given that at one point yesterday we were looking at the prospect of an 800 point decline.”
The rally carried through into Asia, most notably with Japan’s Nikkei rising more than 1,000 points, nearly 7%, to trade at 17,344.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 2% to 22,877 and the Shanghai Composite notched 1.3% higher to 3,169.
Australia’s ASX 200 gained 3.34% to 5,328.
London’s equities are predicted to start Thursday higher too, albeit so far not with the same fervour as elsewhere.
IG Markets sees the FTSE 100 up about 36 point this morning, calling the London’s blue chip benchmark at 6,940 to 6,944 about an hour before the start of trading.