LONDON (Alliance News) - Stocks in the UK started Thursday higher with miners the main force behind the blue-chip index's gains, while ex-dividend stocks were the main strain.
The FTSE 100 was up 0.2%, or 16.05 points, at 6,875.20. Miners dominated the biggest gainers in the index as the fall in the dollar following the release of the Federal Reserve minutes late Wednesday. Antofagasta traded up 1.8%, BHP Billiton was up 1.8% and Anglo American was up 1.8%.
Ex-dividend stocks such as education publisher Pearson, down 0.4%, British American Tobacco, down 0.2%, and paper and packaging company Mondi, down 0.1%, were amongst the handful of fallers.
The FTSE 250 was up 0.3% at 17,819.41 and the AIM All-Share was up 0.2% at 781.92.
In mainland Europe, the French CAC 40 and the German DAX 30 were both up 0.5%.
In Asia, the Nikkei 225 index closed down 1.6%, the Shanghai Composite ended down 0.2%, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong continues up 1.2%.
In line with the gains made by large-cap miners, KAZ Minerals was the best performer in the FTSE 250, up 8.6%. The company narrowed its full year production guidance for copper and gold and increased its target for silver in 2016 as the company said it delivered a material profit in the first half of the year.
The miner predominantly operates in Kazakhstan and said copper production over the whole of 2016 is now expected to 135,000 to 145,000 tonnes compared to its original guidance of 130,000 to 155,000 tonnes.
That adjustment was made after copper production rose 43% in the first half of the year to 52,600 tonnes from 36,700 tonnes last year, as the company looks to grow annual production by about 50% per year up until 2018.
Tullow Oil reached a landmark moment after it confirmed oil has started to be pumped out of its major TEN project offshore Ghana after three years of development work.
Shareholders have been waiting for the development to start up and will be pleased the project has been delivered on time and on budget. It will hopefully lead to a significant step up in production for the company. Tullow traded up 2.8%.
Steelmaker Evraz traded down 3.7% after it said its pretax profit plummeted by 60% in the first half of 2016 following a steep drop in revenue and tighter margins but said it continues to generate material free cash flow to help lower and refinance its debt.
The company said pretax profit in the first six months of the year dropped to USD48.0 million from USD120.0 million last year following a 28% decline in revenue to USD3.44 billion from USD4.78 billion.
Gross profit in the period declined to USD905.0 million from USD1.33 billion.
Mid-cap travel operator Thomas Cook Group, up 3.3%, said it has signed a hotel sourcing partnership with online digital travel services provider Webjet.
Under the agreement, Webjet's European online accommodation business Sunhotels will take responsibility for sourcing and contracting hotels that account for the majority of Thomas Cook's complementary business. No financial details on the agreement were disclosed.
Thomas Cook will transfer around 3,000 hotel contracts from across the group to Sunhotels, which will be added to Sunhotels' existing inventory of 75,000 hotels across the world. Those 75,000 hotels will also be offered to Thomas Cook as part of the agreement.
Thomas Cook already has a partnership with Sunhotels in its Nordic markets, and said the new deal will allow it to focus on growing its core differentiated holiday offering while providing customers with a wider range and choice of complementary hotels in a more efficient way.
In the economic calendar, July UK retail sales, which will measure the immediate impact of the Brexit vote, eurozone inflation are at 1000 BST, and the release of the European Central Bank's meeting minutes from its last policy meeting.
Elsewhere, eurozone current account is at 0900 BST, followed by eurozone inflation and construction output at 1000 BST. US initial and continuing jobless claims are at 1330 BST and Philadelphia Fed manufacturing survey is also at 1330 BST.
By Neil Thakrar; neilthakrar@alliancenews.com; @NeilThakrar1
Copyright 2016 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
