London open: FTSE rallies as miners advance; Taylor Wimpey slumps

(Sharecast News) - London stocks rose in early trade on Wednesday, with miners pacing the gains amid firmer metals prices. At 0840 GMT, the FTSE 100 was 0.8% firmer at 10,832.78, while oil prices crept higher again, with Brent crude up 0.6% at $92.02 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate 0.3% higher at $86.29.

On Tuesday, the top-flight index gave back the day's gains to end lower after a hotter-than-expected US inflation print boosted expectations of a December rate hike from the Federal Reserve.

Susannah Streeter, chief investment strategist at Wealth Club, said: "The Footsie has opened on the front foot in early trade after a strong start by mining stocks following a rebound in silver prices in particular.

"Oil giants are also higher as Brent Crude ticks up again amid uncertainty around Middle East peace talks. Sentiment has had a lift globally with indices in Japan and South Korea turning positive as attention turns back to tech prospects."

In equity markets, heavily-weighted miners were the top performers on the FTSE 100 as copper prices advanced, with Antofagasta, Anglo American and Glencore all higher. BP and Shell were also in the black as oil prices rose.

Spirax Group rallied as it expressed confidence in achieving its full-year guidance and said group organic sales growth and adjusted operating profit margin for the 10 months to the end of October were in line with expectations and ahead of the first half.

On the downside, broadcaster ITV tumbled as it said group revenue dipped 1% in the nine months to September end, with advertising revenue down 8% in the third quarter. The company also cautioned total advertising revenue for its television and streaming business would fall between 5% and 10% in the fourth quarter and be down around 2% to 3% for the full year.

Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey slid as it flagged FY26 adjusted operating profit towards the bottom end of consensus after a softer autumn selling season and higher interest rates reducing mortgage affordability. Analysts are forecasting earnings of £262m to £299m, according to a company-compiled consensus.

FTSE 100 housebuilder Barratt Redrow was also under the cosh.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 10,832.78 0.76% FTSE 250 (MCX) 24,853.15 0.43% techMARK (TASX) 6,249.52 0.70%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Antofagasta (ANTO) 3,362.00p 4.17% Spirax Group (SPX) 7,600.00p 2.86% Anglo American (AAL) 3,919.00p 2.72% Computacenter (CCC) 4,872.00p 2.38% Standard Chartered (STAN) 2,227.00p 2.35% Fresnillo (FRES) 2,552.00p 2.27% ICG (ICG) 1,999.00p 2.15% Halma (HLMA) 3,530.00p 2.13% Glencore (GLEN) 517.20p 2.11% Weir (WEIR) 2,410.00p 2.03%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Barratt Redrow (BTRW) 324.30p -1.37% Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 350.70p -0.43% Diageo (DGE) 1,889.00p -0.29% Tesco (TSCO) 549.80p -0.25% Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (DI) (CCEP) 8,760.00p -0.23% JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 97.18p -0.23% GSK (GSK) 1,915.50p -0.21% Relx plc (REL) 2,971.00p -0.17% Experian (EXPN) 2,978.00p -0.17% Prudential (PRU) 956.20p -0.17%

FTSE 250 - Risers

ASOS (ASC) 459.00p 5.39% Raspberry PI Holdings (RPI) 543.25p 5.38% Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 2,664.00p 4.44% Avon Technologies (AVON) 2,420.00p 4.31% Ceres Power Holdings (CWR) 273.40p 3.41% Watches of Switzerland Group (WOSG) 773.00p 3.39% Volex (VLX) 557.00p 3.34% Discoverie Group (DSCV) 821.00p 3.28% Henderson Far East Income Ltd. (HFEL) 250.00p 3.09% Oxford Biomedica (OXB) 562.00p 2.93%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

ITV (ITV) 64.90p -4.34% Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 79.44p -4.25% THG (THG) 38.48p -2.54% SDCL Efficiency Income Trust (SEIT) 31.00p -2.52% North Atlantic Smaller Companies Inv Trust (NAS) 419.25p -2.50% Neuberger Private Equity Partners Limited (NBPE) 1,494.00p -1.97% Michael Page (PAGE) 205.80p -1.76% Hilton Food Group (HFG) 736.00p -1.67% Vietnam Enterprise Investments (DI) (VEIL) 717.00p -1.65% RTW Biotech Opportunities Ltd (RTW) 2.42p -1.63%