London midday: Miners weigh as FTSE ekes out small gains

(ShareCast News) - London stocks were still in the black by midday on Tuesday, but gains were minimal as relief over the Senate agreement to end the three-day US government shutdown was offset by weakness in the mining sector.The FTSE 100 was up 0.1% to 7,719.85, failing to make much headway even as the pound fell back from Monday's post-Brexit high, trading down 0.3% versus the dollar at 1.3946 and 0.2% weaker against the euro at 1.1384."Global stocks are at record peaks, we have super high valuations and volatility is still low - what could possibly go wrong?" wondered Neil Wilson at ETX Capital. "The doom-mongers were predicting a collapse for all of last year but there may just be signs that the bullishness is a little over done and we are due a correction. We've not a proper corrective move in the Dow since Jan 16 and it may well be coming soon if bond yields start to stretch out.Miners kept a lid on the FTSE's gains however, with Antofagasta, Anglo American and Glencore all trading lower amid a mixed performance for metals.But a strong showing from EasyJet and its airline peers helped the top-flight index to keep its head above water, as the budget carrier reported a 14.4% increase in revenue for the first quarter of its financial year and said it had cut costs by 1.6%. It was also boosted by an upgrade to 'outperform' at RBC Capital Markets. IAG, despite missing out on an acquisition from the administrators of Air Berlin, and Wizz Air also gained.IG analyst Joshua Mahony said: "With bankruptcies at Monarch, Air Berlin and Alitalia, coupled with a Pilot strike at Ryanair, it comes as no surprise that easyJet's relative stability served to drive home an opportunistic improvement in business over the period."Wizz was also likely to be up on the back of chief executive Jozsef Varadi's interview with Italy's La Repubblica, in which he said the airline is interested in taking over Alitalia's short and medium-haul routes.Elsewhere, Sky advanced even as the competition regulator dealt a blow to 21st Century Fox and its planned takeover of the broadcaster. The Competition and Markets Authority said it has provisionally found that Fox taking full control of Sky "is not in the public interest" due to media plurality concerns, though it did offer some potential remedies.Computacenter rose after announcing plans to return up to £100m to shareholders through a tender offer.SSP advanced after the travel catering group posted a 13.5% jump in total revenue for the first quarter, while IG Group gained as it posted record half-year results and announced the launched of a new German subsidiary.Pets at Home surged as it reported a 9.6% increase in third-quarter sales to £223.3m, while Paragon Bank advanced as it said new lending rose 24% in the first quarter to £469.8m.Clothing retailer Superdry, formerly SuperGroup, rose as it said that chief financial officer Nick Wharton is planning to retire and will be succeeded by Ed Barker, the current director of group finance.On the downside, N Brown, the clothes retailer for plus-size shoppers, tumbled. Although it had a sturdy third quarter, with a strong surge in its Simply Be brand and a rebound in the USA, this was relatively subdued compared to previous months. Sales grew 3.2% over the extended 18-week period, which was slightly short of the average of City analyst forecasts at 3.6%.Brewer Marston's fizzed lower after saying it took a hit from the snowy and icy weather in early December and between Christmas and New Year, although its pubs saw record sales on Christmas day.National Grid was on the back foot as it hit out at regulator Ofgem over its proposals for the new Hinkley Point power station.In broker note action, Croda was lifted by an upgrade to 'buy' at Berenberg, but WPP was hit by a downgrade to 'neutral' at Credit Suisse, while Rentokil was lower after a downgrade to 'add' at Peel Hunt.Homeserve and Serco were also trading lower after downgrades by Peel Hunt.Data out earlier showed UK public borrowing in December was the lowest since 2000 thanks largely to one-off factors and is expected to deteriorate in 2018.Public sector net borrowing excluding public sector bank, known as PSNB ex, fell to £2.6bn last month from £5.1bn a year earlier and almost half the consensus forecast for £5.0bn.PSNB ex has shrunk to £50bn for the tax year so far, which is £6.6bn lower than the prior year and the lowest borrowing since 2007 as the government continues with its austerity policies.Tax receipts rose 3.3% year-on-year in December, below the 4.4% average of the previous eight months, with the falling deficit more to do with lower government spending and was boosted in December by a £1.2bn credit from the European Union due to the underperformance of the UK economy. This mean central government expenditure dropped £0.4bn or 0.8% year-over-year.At the end of December the public debt stood at £1.8trn, equating to 85.4% of gross domestic product, up £62.3bn since the end of December 2016.Meanwhile, the latest survey from the Confederation of British Industry showed manufacturing growth slowed in January. The CBI's total orders balance fell to +14 from +17 in December, although this was ahead of expectations for a balance of +12.Looking ahead to the rest of the day, investors will be keeping an eye out for any headlines from the World Economic Forum in Davos. Market MoversFTSE 100 (UKX) 7,719.85 0.06%FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,648.23 -0.03%techMARK (TASX) 3,525.49 0.15%FTSE 100 - RiserseasyJet (EZJ) 1,633.50p 4.48%NMC Health (NMC) 3,480.00p 3.57%Croda International (CRDA) 4,584.00p 2.57%Ashtead Group (AHT) 2,180.00p 2.40%Sky (SKY) 1,027.00p 2.39%International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 665.00p 2.28%CRH (CRH) 2,758.00p 1.55%Mediclinic International (MDC) 619.00p 1.54%Standard Chartered (STAN) 835.10p 1.37%GKN (GKN) 437.40p 1.30%FTSE 100 - FallersAntofagasta (ANTO) 960.40p -3.46%London stocks were still in the black by midday on Tuesday, but gains were minimal as relief that the Senate has agreed a temporary deal ending the three-day US government shutdown was offset by weakness in the heavily-weighted mining sector. Anglo American (AAL) 1,731.80p -3.37%Evraz (EVR) 384.70p -2.71%Glencore (GLEN) 391.65p -2.67%WPP (WPP) 1,328.00p -2.25%Bunzl (BNZL) 1,955.50p -1.76%Rentokil Initial (RTO) 301.60p -1.66%United Utilities Group (UU.) 756.20p -1.49%Direct Line Insurance Group (DLG) 368.10p -1.37%National Grid (NG.) 816.70p -1.36%FTSE 250 - RisersPets at Home Group (PETS) 195.00p 7.14%Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 3,682.00p 5.08%Dignity (DTY) 986.25p 3.11%Paragon Banking Group (PAG) 512.50p 2.91%Weir Group (WEIR) 2,217.00p 2.64%Tullow Oil (TLW) 222.10p 2.35%SSP Group (SSPG) 651.50p 2.28%Provident Financial (PFG) 717.85p 2.14%Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 572.80p 2.07%Cobham (COB) 134.20p 2.05%FTSE 250 - FallersBrown (N.) Group (BWNG) 235.39p -15.57%Just Group (JUST) 149.00p -5.87%Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 885.60p -4.24%Ferrexpo (FXPO) 298.11p -3.46%Mitie Group (MTO) 186.10p -3.43%Purecircle Limited (DI) (PURE) 409.00p -3.42%Ocado Group (OCDO) 508.80p -3.38%CLS Holdings (CLI) 236.00p -3.28%Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 6,110.00p -3.17%Homeserve (HSV) 798.00p -2.39%