LONDON MARKETS: FTSE 100 Loses Ground, Weighed By Housing Shares, Royal Mail
19 January 2017 - 8:39PM
Dow Jones News
By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
Miners mixed as metals prices fall
Stocks in the U.K. pulled lower Thursday, as home builder shares
fell after a lackluster update on house prices, while Royal Mail
PLC shares struggled following a trading update.
The FTSE 100 lost 0.2% to 7,235.40, with only the tech,
financial and consumer goods sector showing minor gains. On
Wednesday, the benchmark rose 0.4%
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ftse-100-in-recovery-mode-after-worst-selloff-in-six-months-2017-01-18).
A 4.3% drop dragged Royal Mail (RMG.LN) shares to the bottom of
the London benchmark. The delivery company reported U.K. sales
declined 2% in the nine months to Dec. 25
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/royal-mail-uk-sales-fall-2-holds-to-outlook-2017-01-19).
But trading was in line with expectations, it said, as strong
performance over the Christmas period helped counter those poor
figures.
Meanwhile, home builder stocks lost ground after a Royal
Institution of Chartered Surveyors survey found U.K. house price
growth slowed in December, for the first time since July.
Shares of Barratt Developments PLC (BDEV.LN) Taylor Wimpey
(TW.LN) and Persimmon PLC (PSN.LN) were each down 1%.
Miners on the move: Mining shares were putting in a mixed
performance as most metals prices fell, with gold down 0.8% and
silver down 1.6%. The moves for metals came as the dollar rose,
following Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen's comment
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/feds-yellen-says-she-expects-rates-to-rise-a-few-times-a-year-until-end-of-2019-2017-01-18)
that the central bank expects a few interest rate hikes a year
through the end of 2019. A strong buck may make dollar-denominated
metals more expensive for holders of other currencies.
Copper miner Fresnillo PLC (FRES.LN) gave up 1.4%, Randgold
Resources PLC (RRS.LN) fell 0.7%, and Anglo American PLC (AAL.LN)
shed 0.4%.
But Antofagasta PLC (ANTO.LN) was up 1.1%, and Glencore PLC
(GLEN.LN) notched a 0.7% gain.
Shares of BHP Billiton PLC (BLT.LN) (BHP.AU) (BHP.AU) rose 0.9%
after the mining heavyweight and its Samarco Mineracao SA joint
venture partner Vale SA (VALE5.BR) agreed a settlement plan with
federal prosecutors in Brazil
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/bhp-billiton-vale-jv-agree-dam-settlement-plan-2017-01-19).
The plan covers negotiations over a $47.5 billion civil claim
linked to a deadly dam failure.
The pound was buying $1.2314, compared with $1.2268 late
Wednesday.
Speeches ahead: British Prime Minister Theresa May is speaking
on Brexit at the World Economic Forum in Davos, at around 9:20 a.m.
London time, or 4:20 a.m. Eastern Time.
Investors will watch for the European Central Bank's policy
decision at 12:45 p.m. London time, or 7:45 a.m. Eastern Time.
The central bank is expected to hold its main refinancing rate
at a record low of 0.0% and the deposit rate at negative 0.4%. The
ECB in December said it's reducing the pace of monthly bond
purchases to EUR60 billion beginning in April.
Read:'The more boring, the better' -- what to watch from the ECB
today
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-more-boring-the-better-why-analysts-are-hoping-for-an-ecb-snoozer-2017-01-18)
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 19, 2017 04:24 ET (09:24 GMT)
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