Anglo American, Crest Nicholson and Genel Energy
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“The FTSE100 was up in lunchtime trading despite the UK Supreme Court ruling that the government must get parliament’s approval before Article 50 is triggered to leave the European Union. The decision was widely expected and investors were relieved the judges decided that devolved administrations in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales do not need to be consulted. Miners rallied on stronger commodities while banking stocks rebounded from Monday's falls,” says AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould.

“Mining giant Anglo American sparkled at the top of the blue-chip board after its De Beers unit brought in $720m from its first diamond sale of 2017. This compares with $422m for the last sale of 2016 and $545m a year ago. This is the period when rough diamond demand is traditionally at its strongest and De Beers saw good demand across the majority of its assortment. Anglo American’s shares were up by over 5.3%.

“House-builder Crest Nicholson’s pre-tax profits rose by 27% to £195.0m in the year to the end of October with sales hitting their £1bn target. The group has moved to a higher average selling price threshold over the past three years but future revenue growth will be led by increased sales with the aim of hitting £1.4bn in sales and 4000 homes by 2019. Crest Nicholson saw a temporary impact on sales around the time of the EU referendum but generally market remains robust, underpinned by strong demand for new homes, a benign land market and government policies to improve access to housing.

“Genel Energy was a double-digit faller after it revealed that output this year will be substantially below last year’s average of 53,000 barrels of oil per day. Production this year is forecast at 35,000 to 43,000 barrels but this is based on it completing a programme to halt the decline at the Taq Taq field which in turn depends on it receiving regular and predictable export payments from the Kurdistan Regional Government. Genel’s shares were down by more than 10.1% in lunchtime trading.”

These articles are for information purposes only and are not a personal recommendation or advice.

The daily market update is written by Russ Mould, AJ Bell’s Investment Director and his team. The article highlights the movement in the main index, winners and losers on the day and any macro-economic announcements.