LONDON (ShareCast) – Mining (LSE: MIR.L – news) stocks were among the best performers on the FTSE 100 on Monday with precious metal producers Fresnillo (Other OTC: FNLPF – news) and Randgold rising strongly as gold and silver prices advanced.
Barclays (LSE: BARC.L – news) was making gains despite claims that confidential details of clients had been stolen and sold. Investors were also shrugging off a surprise statement from the bank this morning which said that adjusted pre-tax profits would total £5.2bn in 2013, below current consensus forecasts.
Banking peers Lloyds, RBS (LSE: RBS.L – news) and Standard Chartered (HKSE: 2888.HK – news) were also higher; though HSBC fell in afternoon trade.
Leading the fallers was British Gas owner Centrica (LSE: CNA.L – news) after the UK’s Energy Secretary, Ed Davey, raised concerns about profit margins at the country’s largest energy companies. He has urged Ofgem to start an investigation into the sector and made a number of suggestions, including “a break-up of any companies found to have monopoly power to the detriment of the consumer”.
Utilities provider SSE (LSE: SSE.L – news) was also feeling the impact, following Centrica lower.
Car insurance group Admiral was in the red after Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS-PB – news) downgraded the stock to ‘neutral’, saying that it sees “limited upside” after the stock’s recent outperformance.
Similarly, securities solutions firm G4S (LSE: GFS.L – news) was weighed down by a ratings cut by Panmure Gordon to ‘sell’, with the broker saying that the stock’s current high valuation is unwarranted given its growth outlook.
Meanwhile, oilfield services company Petrofac (Frankfurt: A0HF9Y – news) rose after HSBC upgraded the stock to ‘overweight’.
FTSE 100 – Risers
Fresnillo (Berlin: FNL.BE – news) (FRES) 839.50p +5.93%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,223.00p +2.34%
Melrose Industries (Other OTC: MLSPF – news) (MRO) 299.20p +2.08%
Amec (Munich: AQ4.MU – news) (AMEC (Other OTC: AMCBF – news) ) 1,061.00p +1.82%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 4,495.00p +1.60%
Barclays (Berlin: BCY.BE – news) (BARC) 276.00p +1.58%
ARM Holdings (LSE: ARM.L – news) (ARM) 907.00p +1.23%
Capita (Frankfurt: A0MZ15 – news) (CPI (Other OTC: CPICQ – news) ) 1,007.00p +1.16%
Burberry Group (LSE: BRBY.L – news) (BRBY) 1,490.00p +1.09%
AstraZeneca (EUREX: AZNF.EX – news) (AZN) 3,902.00p +1.09%
FTSE 100 – Fallers
Centrica (Frankfurt: CENB.F – news) (CNA (SES: E2:5GC.SI – news) ) 303.50p -3.41%
Hargreaves Lansdown (LSE: HL.L – news) (HL.) 1,315.00p -2.81%
G4S (Copenhagen: G4S.CO – news) (GFS) 229.60p -2.34%
RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 102.40p -1.73%
SSE (Berlin: SCT.BE – news) (SSE) 1,339.00p -1.33%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,708.00p -1.16%
Next (Dusseldorf: NXG.DU – news) (NXT) 6,240.00p -1.03%
Babcock International Group (BAB (Other OTC: BABB – news) ) 1,353.00p -1.02%
William Hill (Other OTC: WIMHF – news) (WMH) 343.70p -0.95%
Associated British Foods (LSE: ABF.L – news) (ABF) 2,824.00p -0.81%
BC