Advertisement
UK markets closed

  • FTSE 100

    7,895.85
    +18.80 (+0.24%)
     

  • FTSE 250

    19,391.30
    -59.37 (-0.31%)
     

  • AIM

    745.67
    +0.38 (+0.05%)
     

  • GBP/EUR

    1.1613
    -0.0071 (-0.60%)
     

  • GBP/USD

    1.2373
    -0.0066 (-0.53%)
     

  • Bitcoin GBP

    52,005.55
    +784.30 (+1.53%)
     

  • CMC Crypto 200

    1,382.47
    +69.85 (+5.32%)
     

  • S&P 500

    4,965.73
    -45.39 (-0.91%)
     

  • DOW

    37,965.50
    +190.12 (+0.50%)
     

  • CRUDE OIL

    83.24
    +0.51 (+0.62%)
     

  • GOLD FUTURES

    2,408.80
    +10.80 (+0.45%)
     

  • NIKKEI 225

    37,068.35
    -1,011.35 (-2.66%)
     

  • HANG SENG

    16,224.14
    -161.73 (-0.99%)
     

  • DAX

    17,737.36
    -100.04 (-0.56%)
     

  • CAC 40

    8,022.41
    -0.85 (-0.01%)
     
Property:

11 beautiful homes with glorious garden rooms

Investing in a home with a garden room will enable you to enjoy your outside space whatever the weather

Sector movers: Miners in demand as weak China data lifts stimulus hopes

Sharecast

LONDON (ShareCast) - It was a case of bad data being good news for the mining sector on Thursday as stocks surged on hopes for further stimulus in China. A HSBC survey said the Chinese manufacturing purchasing managers' index fell from 49.6 to a one-year low of 49.2, surprising analysts who had expected no change.

Economist Chris Williamson from Markit (NasdaqGS: MRKT - news) said the soft data added to the chance of more policy measures from the world's top metals consumer to boost growth.

"The drop in the PMI in April clearly represents a disappointing start to the second quarter, raising the possibility of economic growth having lost further momentum compared to the already-weak rate seen in the opening quarter of the year," he said.

The People's Bank of China (HKSE: 3988-OL.HK - news) last week lowered its reserve requirement ratio by more than economists expected in an aggressive move to promote bank lending.

ADVERTISEMENT

Mining peers Antofagasta (Other OTC: ANFGF - news) , Anglo American (LSE: AAL.L - news) , Rio Tinto (Xetra: 855018 - news) , BHP Billiton (NYSE: BBL - news) and Fresnillo (Other OTC: FNLPF - news) were all rising around 3-4% in afternoon trade.

Anglo in particular was in demand after saying it delivered a "solid" production performance in the first quarter, in line with its expectations despite two of its three largest divisions experiencing declines in output.

The company held on to full-year production guidance for most of its commodity classes, except the diamond segment which was lowered "in light of current trading conditions".