LONDON MARKET OPEN: Stocks Open Higher On Asia Rebound, Airline Gains

LONDON (Alliance News) - Stock prices in London opened higher on Wednesday as Asian markets extended a global equity rebound, with airlines among the gainers.Meanwhile, miners Fresnillo and Antofagasta reported mixed results with the Mexican gold producer falling and the Chilean copper firm gaining.The FTSE 100 index of large-caps opened up 0.3% or 24.67 points higher at 6,979.88 on Wednesday, after it fell to its lowest level since late March on Tuesday.The mid-cap FTSE 250 index was up 0.4% early Wednesday, or 81.25 points, at 18,433.37. The AIM All-Share index was up 0.3% at 980.66.The Cboe UK 100 index was up 0.1% at 11,834.26. The Cboe 250 was up 0.2% at 16,669.42, and the Cboe Small Companies up 0.1% at 11,574.27.In mainland Europe, the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.5% while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt was 0.3% higher early Wednesday.Sterling was quoted at USD1.2962 early Wednesday, slightly lower compared to USD1.2982 at the London equities close on Tuesday.In Asia on Wednesday, the Japanese Nikkei 225 closed up 0.7%. In China, the Shanghai Composite closed up 0.3% but the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong closed 0.4% lower."Asian markets extended global equity rebound into positive territory, with energy [stocks] lagging," said Accendo Markets analysts Mike van Dulken and Artjom Hatsaturjants.The manufacturing sector in Japan continued to expand in October, and at a faster rate, the latest survey from Nikkei revealed on Wednesday with a preliminary reading of 53.1. That's up from 52.5 in September, and it moves farther above the line of 50 that separates expansion from contraction.In the UK company news, airlines were higher, with International Consolidated Airlines Group up 1.8% and easyJet up 1.5%. Deutsche Bank raised is rating on European Airlines sector to Overweight from Underweight. Miner Antofagasta was in the green, up 0.8%, after it said it expects further output gains in the final quarter after its third-quarter production improved markedly.For the three months ended September, copper production increased 15% to 188,300 tonnes from 163,200 tonnes the quarter prior. Gold production also rose 21% to 48,100 ounces from 39,700 ounces.For the nine months, however, copper production fell 4.0% to 505,500 tonnes from 526,500 tonnes the year ago. Gold production dropped 30% to 120,100 ounces from 171,800 ounces.For the full-year, the miner now expects to produce between 705,000 and 725,000 tonnes of copper. At the end of July, it anticipated copper output in a range of 705,000 to 740,000 tonnes.Barclays was up 0.6% despite a fall in profit in the nine months to September-end, as underlying profit rose and the lender raised its interim payout. The FTSE 100 bank's pretax profit decreased 9.6% to GBP3.12 billion, following a rise in exceptional charges to GBP2.15 billion from GBP824 million the year before. Excluding these, Barclays pretax profit increased 53% to GBP5.27 billion from GBP3.45 billion the year before.In addition, the bank proposed an increase in its interim dividend for the third quarter to 2.5 pence from 1.0p paid the year before. Barclays reiterated its intention to pay a total dividend of 6.5p for 2018.In the red of FTSE 100, Fresnillo was the worst performer, down 3.3%, as it revised its annual production guidance after having mixed results in the third quarter of 2018.The gold miner said gold production in the three months to the end of September 30 declined by 3.5% to 225,000 ounces, while silver production increased by 6.3% year-on-year to 15.5 million ounces. However, Fresnillo said third-quarter silver production was not as high as anticipated and reduced its annual guidance for silver output to between 62.0 million and 64.5 million ounces from 64.5 million to 67.5 million ounces estimated earlier. "Gold production continues to beat expectations, and we are once again revising our guidance upwards following another strong quarter," said Chief Executive Octavio Alvidrez.Fresnillo now expects to produce between 920,000 and 940,000 ounces of gold in the full year, up from 900,000 to 930,000 ounces guided previously.The economic events calendar on Wednesday has PMI readings from the eurozone and US at 0900 BST and 1445 BST. There also are UK mortgage approvals figures at 0930 BST, while the Bank of Canada announces its interest rate decision at 1500 BST.