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Glencore shares lower, “buy” note boosts Hargreaves Lansdown
Robust production figures by Glencore did little for its shares today as investors continue to fret over China’s faltering economic recovery.
The Swiss commodities giant said lower output of key assets in copper, zinc and coal was no worse than expected as it gears up for a recovery over the rest of 2023.
It also forecast annual earnings still well above the long-term average, even though its marketing arm has seen price volatility subside.
Glencore shares drifted 4.3p to 468.2p and are down by around 14% this year as the demand outlook is clouded by the disappointing pace of China’s economy.
Other miners including Rio Tinto also fell 1%, having benefited yesterday from a stronger-than-expected production update by Anglo American.
The mixed performance has come in a better week for London shares, with the FTSE 100 index up 3% thanks in part to sterling weakness after UK inflation’s downside surprise.
Today’s session saw the top flight add 8.74 points to 7654.79, led by a gain of 14p to 924p for Hargreaves Lansdown as US bank Jefferies gave the investment platform a “buy” recommendation and 1015p target price.
On the fallers board, Thursday’s poor session for US growth stocks meant the FanDuel sports betting business Flutter Entertainment dropped 1.5% or 220p to 15,200p.
Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust also weakened 6.4p to 690p after the value of its portfolio companies Netflix and Tesla slid in yesterday’s Wall Street session.
The FTSE 250 index fell 20.18 points to 19,291.55 but that’s still 4% higher over the week as investors welcomed signs that interest rates may not rise as far as feared.
One of the best performing mid-cap stocks has been Babcock International after the defence support services firm’s annual results showed strong turnaround progress.
With the company poised to resume dividend payments after a three-and-a-half-year gap, shares rose another 12.2p on top of yesterday’s 15% rise to stand at 373.8p.
Other FTSE 250 risers included bus and rail operator FirstGroup, which added 2p to 147.3p after telling its London AGM that trading had been in line with expectations.
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