Mining stocks give a post-Christmas lift to the FTSE 100 as the London market reopens following the festive break. Hochschild (HOC), BHP Billiton (BLT) and Ferrexpo (FXPO) lead the pack with gains of up to 6%.
The blue chip index advances 18 points or 0.3% to 7,086. Among the mid-caps, the FTSE 250 index rises 63 points or 0.4% to 17,973.
The biggest corporate news of the day is a profit warning from Bovis Homes (BVS), down 4.7% to 816p. The housebuilder has built and sold fewer homes than expected in December, prompting it to say that full year pre-tax profit will miss analyst forecasts.
Other housebuilders fall in sympathy as investors start to become worried (once more) about the sector. Crest Nicholson (CRST) is down 3.5%, Berkeley (BKG) slips 2.1% and Persimmon (PSN) retreats 1.1%.
Sports Direct (SPD) advances 2.4% to 278.85p in reaction to yesterday’s news it will sell the Dunlop brand to Sumitomo for $137.5m.
Boohoo.com (BOO:AIM) rises 2.1% to 135p as its reveals plans to buy assets from retailer Nasty Gal for $20m. The deal could potentially boost Boohoo.com’s position overseas, particularly in the US.
The takeover battle for Lavendon (LVD) rumbles on. Loxam has now increased its bid to 260p per share.
Investors continue to be excited by EVR Holdings (EVRH:AIM) which extends its pre-Christmas rally with another 9.6% gain to 4.55p. The virtual reality specialist signed a content and distribution deal with Warner Music on 22 December and launched a trial version of its app two days later.
TLA Worldwide (TLA:AIM) falls 8% to 34.5p after issuing a profit warning. It says earnings will be 15% below previous expectations as a result of a poor result from an Australian event and weak trading from its US sports marketing division.
Fairpoint (FRP) chief executive Chris Moat has lost his job following a major profit warning earlier this month. Its shares fall 1.8% to 14.49p.
