Markets: FTSE 100 up as miners climb

The FTSE 100 (UKX) shot up 87 points to 5382, as the mining sector went from strength-to-strength, with Lonmin (LMI) refusing to budge from the top spot. The mining giant posted gains close to 10%, closely followed by Antofagasta (ANTO) and Xstrata (XTA).

On the other side of the coin, British Airways (BAY) suffered the greatest loss of just over 1%.

Joshua Raymond, market strategist at City Index says: 'What we have seen today is investors come into the market this week demanding equities with full force on hopes that the global economy will continue to recover. There remains a high appetite for risk with investors moving money out of the safe havens of pharmaceuticals and tobacco, deciding instead to grow positions within the riskier miners and banks on the basis that these two sectors could benefit the most from a global recovery.'

16: 40 - Wall Street was on fine form, after retail sales for October smashed expectations and buoyed confidence in the market. 

The Commerce Department reported a 1.4% rise in retail sales for last month, sailing past analysts' forecasts of 0.8% growth. 

The Dow Jones shot up 141 points to 10411, while the Nasdaq climbed 31 points to 2199. S&P 500 also enjoyed gains of 17 points to 1111.

Prices rose to $1,414 an ounce, its highest level since September 2008.

16:24 - Trading in the third quarter remained "robust" at Moneysupermarket.com (MONY), the price comparison said today.

Internet revenue had fallen 15% year-on-year, but the company said it was 15% up on the first half of the year, while the opening weeks of the final quarter had been encouraging and were broadly in line with the third-quarter performance.

Peter Plumb, the group's chief executive, said Moneysupermarket had made steady progress through the year, adding "our focus on managing costs this year had paid off".

Today, the firm's FTSE 250-listed shares were up over 6% to 84.97p.

Around 21,500 people are eligible to lodge a claim with the FSCS, which could pay them up to 100% of the first £30,000 lost, and 90% of the next £20,000.

The firm went bust in June and PricewaterhouseCoopers are currently trying to sort through its finances.

The mining company has conditionally placed 151.2 million new ordinary shares at a price of 10p per share.

John Sisya, chief executive officer, commented: "The funds raised will assist us in delivering the strategy set out in the company's interim results to increase production levels at Sierra Rutile.

"We are focused on realising the significant value that exists in the Company given the infrastructure currently in place and the world class nature of the Sierra Rutile deposit."

The company is on track to achieve targeted production of 65,000 tonnes of rutile and 8,000 tonnes of zircon concentrate for 2009.

Titanium Resources' shares slumped almost 12% to 11.12p.

The FTSE 100 (UKX) was up 96 points to 5392, with no company yet able to shake Lonmin (LMI) from its place atop the pile with gains touching 10%.

Fellow miners Xstrata (XTA), Antofagasta (ANTO) and Rio Tinto (RIO) were also notching up the gains, with private equity firm 3i Group (III) making its way onto the leaderboard.

The Dow Jones was 98 points to the good at 10369, while the Nasdaq climbed 24 points to 2192 and the S&P 500 added 13 to 1107.

Doumnov's decision will allow him to devote more time to his recent appointment as a director of a substantial Moscow-based private bank.

Oleg Bagirov, who stepped down as chief executive officer at the AIM-listed company last month, has agreed to take the reins until a replacement for Doumnov is found.

The Russian mining company's shares were static at 33p.

13:58 - Rolls Royce (RR-) has clinched deals with Air China and Ethiopian Airlines, the aircraft engine maker reported over the weekend.

The combined deals will bring in just shy of $2 billion, with Air China spending $1.5 billion on Trent 700 engines for its 20 A330 jets. Meanwhile, Ethiopian Airlines will spend $480 million on Trent XWB engines, to be used in Airbus A350 planes it has on order.

Shares in Rolls Royce were up over 2% to 482.70p.

13:32 - Gold was on glittering form, smashing through its recent run of highs to hit a record $1,132 an ounce.

A fall in the value of the dollar continued to spur investor appetite for the precious metal.

Gold's surge propelled the mining sector forward. Lonmin (LMI) was leading the way with gains over 8%, closely followed by Xstrata (XTA).

13:05 - London's top share index continued to go from strength to strength on Monday, as miners helped the Footsie to a fresh 14-month high.

The FTSE 100 (UKX) was 64 points to the good at 5360, with platinum miner Lonmin (LMI) still holding on to top spot with gains over 8% as it left fellow miners Xstrata (XTA), Rio Tinto (RIO), Randgold Resources (RRS) and Antofagasta (ANTO) in its wake.

For an alternative investment view, see what the City without a suit makes of some members of the sector in our mining archive.

On the fallers' board, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and RSA Insurance (RSA) were nursing the biggest losses after buy-out vehicle Resolution (RSL) pared back its earlier falls.

The dollar lost close to 0.5% against a basket of currencies, helping spur interest in the commodities market.

Crude oil climbed to $77.33 a barrel, while London Brent was a touch lower at $77.26 a barrel.

The Africa and former Soviet Union focused group can now apply for a 35-year exploration licence, following its success at the Well La-105 in Douala.

It encountered approximately 90 feet of gross sandstone at a depths between 6,030 and 6,120 feet with a unit pressure of approximately 4,000.

Following the news, the company's share price jumped over 7% to 5.90p.

The performance of its underwriting and investment operations buoyed the firm, while its acquisition of Fortis Corporate Insurance - renamed Amlin Corporate Insurance - has given better-than-expected returns.

Charles Philipps, Amlin's chief executive, noted: "We have had an outstanding quarter's performance and expect the full-year result to be an excellent one."

Shares in the FTSE 250 firm were up over 1% to 381.25p.

The AIM-listed company is placing a total of 128 million ordinary shares of 0.01p each at a placing price of 0.5p after it struck a farm-out deal with London-listed Aminex (AEX) for a share in the well.

The placing is being done in two stages; the first intends to issue 224.7 million new ordinary shares on 23 November. Following the first placing, Solo will issue a further 1.055 billion new shares, which is expected to take place on 11 December after the company's annual general meeting.

For the full story, read: Fundraising sends Solo Oil's shares south.

The FTSE 100 (UKX) was up 64 points to 5360, as platinum miner Lonmin (LMI) led the way ahead of a raft of sector rivals.

On the other side of the coin, it was proving a tougher day for buy-out vehicle Resolution (RSL) and insurer Legal & General (LGEN), as both fell over 2%.

Sales were up 47% to £96.5 million during the period with the growth continuing in the seven weeks to 15 November.

Chief executive Nick Robertson said: "Our outlook for the second half remains cautiously optimistic. Stock and costs have been controlled well, so our performance in the second half should be significantly ahead year on year, providing sales continue to grow in line with expectations."

Its shares were down over 1% to 406.5p.

Results of the ballot are expected on 14 December with any industrial action likely to take place the following week.

From today, BA, which last week announced merger plans with Iberia, is reducing the number of staff on long-haul flights meaning that some of the more senior crew will have to carry out menial tasks.

Its shares were up just shy of 1% at 218.75p.

The world's second biggest economy expanded by 1.2% in the third quarter after emerging from its worst recession since World War II in the second quarter.

Economists have, however, warned that growth is likely to remain sluggish for years to come.

The 153-strong chain said its move to a minimum purchase of six bottles rather than 12 had received an "encouraging" response from consumers.

The interim dividend was maintained at 2.8p.

Its shares were up 2% to 250p.

For an alternative investment view on Majestic Wine, watch our iBall TV episode on the firm.

The FTSE 100 (UKX) stood up 47 points at 5343 with miners on the front foot. Randgold Resources (RRS) was the biggest riser, up almost 4.5% followed by Rio Tinto (RIO).

Brian Myers, analyst at ODL Markets, says: "A bullish start to trading hints that confidence levels may be rising. Whilst there continues to be an underlying sense of nervousness, the move to the upside on the global exchanges simply can't be ignored.

"The stellar run we have seen is the truest measure that we are seeing confidence return to the markets, having tended their previously burnt fingers."

Japan's Nikkei crawled forward on Monday as gains from retailers helped to outweigh losses from the banks. Data showing that Japan's economy expanded at its fastest pace for two years between July and September also gave investors a brief boost before jittery shareholders gave back profits. Japan's leading index closed up 21 points at 9791.

Miner Lonmin (LMI) reported a pre-tax loss of $272 million for the year to end-September, with the South African firm severely hit by the declining price of platinum.

The full-year loss was in stark contrast to the $779 million profit the firm notched up in the previous 12 months, but was impacted by revenues more than halving to $1,062 million.

Lonmin revealed it sold 682,955 ounces of platinum in the period - falling 2% short of its initial guidance.

The firm also said it would not be issuing a dividend for the year.

Its shares were up over 3% despite the news to 1,651p.

Signs of a recovery in the housing market has helped housebuilder Persimmon (PSN) meet its sales target for 2009, the firm said today.

Improved trading in the third quarter, helped by upbeat comments and data on the state of the sector, has seen the UK's largest housebuilder clinch around £500 million worth of sales for 2010 - up around 50% from the previous year.

Persimmon says it expects to complete approximately 9,000 homes for the 12 months to 31 December and said continued good visitor levels and low cancellation rates had improved its position.

Shares in the housebuilder were up marginally to 846.25p.

For the full story, read: Persimmon stokes housing market hopes.