FTSE 100 Moderately Higher As Mining Stocks Move Up

(RTTNews) - The U.K. market is up in positive territory Thursday morning, led by gains in the mining sector, even as stocks from the retail sector are reeling under selling pressure, despite several big name retailers reporting a surge in sales. A weak pound is contributing significantly to market's upmove.

The benchmark FTSE 100 was up 53.70 points or 0.65% at 8,304.73 a little while ago.

Antofagasta and Anglo American Plc are climbing 4.7% and 4.3%, respectively. Fresnillo is up 4% and Rio Tinto is gaining 2.5%. Endeavour Minig is advancing 2.3%, while Glencore is up nearly 1.5%.

DS Smith, Melrose Industries, Compass, Shell, Intercontinental Hotels, Airtel Africa, Severn Trent, Intertek, ICP, Unilever, BT, Weir Holdings, Smith & Nephew, Ashtead, BP and Pershing Square Holdings are among the other prominent gainers.

Despite a 3.5% rise in sales, B&M European Value Retail is plunging more than 12% as the company narrowed its profit guidance.

Marks & Spencer is down 6.1% despite reporting a 5.6% jump in sales in the third quarter.

Tesco has come off earlier lows, but still remains in negative territory, trailing its previous close by about 1.25%. The retailer said its Christmas sales grew 3.7%.

Land Securities, J Sainsbury, Admiral Group, Vistry Group, Taylor Wimpey, LondonMetric Property, Next, Associated British Foods, Persimmon, Berkeley Group Holdings and Kingfisher are down 2.5 to 4%.

On the economic front, UK permanent placements as well as vacancies declined at faster rates in December as companies evaluate the impact of tax hikes announced in the October budget, a report compiled by S&P Global showed.

Permanent placements declined the most since August 2023, the KPMG/REC Report on Jobs survey showed.