By Patrick Munnelly, Market Strategist, Tickmill
On Wednesday, the UK blue chip FTSE100 experienced an upward surge of 0.59%, primarily driven by a recovery in the mining sector.
The day saw a flurry of positive earnings reports, notably from Coca-Cola HBC, BP, and Glencore, contributing to the gains in the blue chip index.
FTSE 100 biggest movers
Beverage stocks exhibited a rise of 0.8%, with Coca-Cola HBC’s shares LON:CCH increasing by a little under 1% following the company’s upward revision of its annual revenue target.
Miners also enjoyed a climb of 0.8%, despite a series of less optimistic economic indicators emerging from China. This ascent was supported by a rise in metal prices, even against a backdrop of a weaker dollar. Among the mining entities, Glencore LON:GLEN, a significant player in the industry, claimed a high position on the leaderboard with a robust day-on-day return of 2.2%.
The banking sector mirrored this positive trend, witnessing a rise of 0.8% in their stock values. This rebound comes after a previous decline of 1.5% in the preceding session. The improved global sentiment was attributed to Italy’s government adopting a more accommodating stance toward a new banking levy. Barclays LON:BARC, in particular, achieved a 1.3% gain during the trading session.
However, not all sectors fared equally well. British water companies, including Severn Trent LON:SVT and United Utilities LON:UU., faced declines of 3.5% and 2.2% respectively. These drops were precipitated by news that six British water companies are confronting lawsuits valued at over £800 million ($1 billion).
However, leading the negative side of the ledger and sitting at the bottom of the table is Hiscox LON:HSX whose shares experienced a notable decline of nearly 7% during morning trading in response to the company’s recent earnings announcement, eventually closing the session at -5.8%. The report revealed a pre-tax profit of $264.8 million for the first half of the year.
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