Mining sector pushes up FTSE in earning morning trading

- Stocks rose in Asia yesterday as the Nikkei closed at its highest level in four years, largely off the back of boosted figures from […]


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- Stocks rose in Asia yesterday as the Nikkei closed at its highest level in four years, largely off the back of boosted figures from Toyota and a weakened yen.

- In Europe, the FTSE 100 opened on a positive note at 6,282, showing some modest gains from this morning’s trading, most of which have been underpinned by a strong performance by mining companies and by Asset Manager Hargreaves Lansdown – who are leading the way, already up over 7%, owing to reports of H1 revenue up 24% and pre-tax profit up an impressive 30%.

- In the rest of Europe, the DAX is at 7,676, up eight points from yesterday’s close, and France’s CAC 40 has also shown a slight increase today, up 2.8% to just a fraction under the 3,700 level.

- In the US, the Dow Jones and S&P 500 closed at 13,979 and 1,511 respectively yesterday, with both showing small gains from the day’s trading.

- Elsewhere, commodities aren’t quite mirroring the same positive start we’re seeing for indices, with oil, gold and silver showing a slight dip in today’s trading thus far.

- Looking at the major forex pairs, sterling/dollar is currently at 1.5658, euro/dollar is down slightly for the day at 1.3531, and euro/sterling is hovering at the 0.8642 level.

- In other headlines, RBS are expected to receive a fine of up to £500 million for their part in the Libor fixing scandal – the second largest penalty imposed so far in the regulatory probe.

- In the steel sector, manufacturing giant Arcelor Mittal have reported their lowest quarterly profit in three years, suggesting that Europe’s debt crisis is eroding demand for steel, although these figures were anticipated to be worse.

- This has been your City Index Market update for Wednesday, 6th February with me, Warren Ruhomon. Thank you for listening.

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