LONDON (Alliance News) - UK shares opened a half-day Christmas Eve session slightly higher, consolidating a positive session on Wednesday.
The flat open "comes as a wholly understandable pause following the apparent arrival of Santa on his oil-fuelled sled yesterday (we are of course in the 21st century now, reindeer technology being a thing of the past)," commented Augustin Eden of Accendo Markets.
The FTSE 100 was up 0.2% at 6,252.64 points. The index ended up 2.6% at 6,240.98 points Wednesday, its best one-day percentage gain since October 5, lifted by miners and oil stocks, amid a firming in crude prices.
The FTSE 250 was up 0.1% at 17,408.35 points and the AIM All-Share up 0.1% at 725.98.
The CAC 40 in Paris was down 0.2%. Frankfurt was closed for trading Thursday, while Paris is open for a half-day session.
The London Stock Exchange closes early for trading Thursday at 1230 GMT, while Wall Street shuts at 1800 GMT.
In Asia, the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong closed up 0.4%. The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo closed down 0.5%, having reopened after the Emperor's Birthday holiday on Wednesday.
Members of the Bank of Japan's monetary policy meeting noted that the country's economic recovery continues at a satisfactory pace, minutes from the central bank's November 18-19 meeting revealed on Thursday. The board said that weakness from commodity-exporting economies continue to be the primary downside risk.
Brent oil was quoted at USD37.62 a barrel early Thursday, steadily rising from USD36.92 a barrel at the equities close Wednesday and USD36.39 at the close Tuesday. West Texas Intermediate trades at USD37.72 a barrel, up from USD37.34 late Wednesday, having swung to premium to its fellow crude market benchmark.
The pound also continues to bounce back from its eight-month low against the dollar of USD1.4810, set on Tuesday. It is quoted early Thursday at USD1.4886, up slightly from USD1.4872 at the London equities close on Wednesday.
The highlight of a thin economic calendar Thursday are British Bankers' Association's mortgage approvals for November at 0930 GMT. In the US, initial and continuing jobless claims are at 1330 GMT, and EIA natural gas storage is at 1530 GMT.
Sirius Minerals said it has signed a Take or Pay offtake agreement in China with Huaken International for the purchase of polyhalite from its huge York potash project.
The agreement is for a period of seven years from first production and pricing is based on a formula linked to inputs that are consistent with a number of the company's other offtake agreements, Sirius said. The volumes called for in the contract ramp up to 500,000 tonnes in the seventh year.
WH Ireland said it believes the price Sirius is getting for its offtake agreements is in the USD150 per tonne range.
"This is further testament to the demand in the market place for multi-nutrient fertilizers of which polyhalite is a naturally occurring variant," WH Ireland analyst Paul Smith commented. "Sirius ends the year on a high note with some more assured contract tonnages which will certainly help during the critical period early next year when the company tries to tie down its first phase funding."
Sirius Mineral shares were up 3.9% at 14.54 pence early Thursday. WH Ireland has a Buy rating and and 50p price target on the stock.
FTSE 250-listed metals miner Polymetal said it has entered into a joint venture with OJCS Polyus Gold, under which the former will work on developing the Nezhdaninskoye gold deposit in Yakutia in Russia. Polymetal will acquire a 50% stake in the JSC South-Verkhoyansk Mining Co business, which holds the rights to the deposit. The stock was up 1.1% early Thursday.
Meanwhile, Paragon Diamonds said that, whilst it has been working to finalise funding for its operations in Lesotho, the delay in funding has meant that it has not been successful in its discussions with nominated advisers, and as a result its shares will be delisted next Tuesday.
Paragon Diamonds' broker and nominated adviser Northland Capital Partners resigned in November, and under AIM rules, the company was required to appoint a replacement nomad within a month to avoid its shares being delisted.
By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com; @thomaslwaite
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