William Hill, MJ Gleeson and Arian Silver

“The FTSE100 continued its bull-run into the second trading week of 2017 with miners Anglo American, Glencore and Antofagasta and BHP Billiton all prominent despite a report in Australia about falling iron ore prices. Traders are looking to Halifax's house-price index later this morning, with German industrial production and trade balance also in the spotlight, along with eurozone investor confidence and its unemployment rate,” says AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould.

“Bookmaker William Hill’s shares were down in early trading after it warned that full-year operating profits would be at the bottom end of its guidance at around £260m. The bookie’s gross win margins have been below expectations due to unfavourable football and horseracing results in December. The ‘customer-friendly’ results have reduced profits by about £20m. Importantly, improvements in wagering in online and Australia in the second half have continued in recent weeks and key underlying trends continue to be positive. William Hill’s shares were down by more than 2.4%.

“Urban regeneration and strategic land specialist MJ Gleeson has maintained its full-year guidance after a good first half. Gleeson Homes completed the sale of 451 units in the first six months compared with 400 a year ago and expects strong demand across its 50-plus active sites.

“Arian Silver Corporation’s shares rose following high-grade silver results from surface sampling and geological mapping at its wholly-owned San Celso project in Mexico. The results show that San Celso contains several largely unexploited high-grade veins and include promising lead and zinc grades. The focus over the coming months will be focussing on further evaluation of San Celso and nearby mining concessions with the intention of identifying additional areas of mineralisation. Arian Silver’s shares were up by 4% in early trading.”

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