FTSE 100 jumps as oil and mining stocks rise, tech stocks drag Asian markets, Sensex opens in red

British house prices in June fell in monthly terms for the first time since January

London listed shares advanced as oil and mining stocks lead (PA)

London’s FTSE 100 jumped higher on Wednesday helped by oil majors and mining stocks, while data showed UK’s house prices fell for the first time since January.

The blue-chip index closed up by 50 points or 0.7 per cent, boosted by Royal Dutch Shell which advanced over 2 per cent after announcing plans to hike payouts to shareholders later this month. Meanwhile the domestically focused FTSE 250 advanced 0.3 per cent.

The rally in FTSE 100 was also led by led by base metal stocks with miners including Rio Tinto, Glencore, Anglo American and BHP, which were up between 2 per cent and 3.1 per cent.

British house prices in June fell in monthly terms for the first time since January as the government prepared to scale back its tax break for home-buyers, mortgage lender Halifax said. However, they rose 8.8 per cent in annual terms.

In the rest of Europe, France’s CAC was up 0.2 per cent and the German DAX rose 1.1 per cent.

Meanwhile, across the pond, the S&P 500 rose to another record on Wednesday as mega-cap technology stocks advanced despite concerns from China. The index jumped 0.3 per cent to an all-time high of 4,358. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 104 points to 34,682, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite closed flat at 14,665 despite hitting an intraday record in the early hours.

Chinese company Didi, which recently became part of the New York stock exchange, dropped 5 per cent more after a 20 per cent crash on its debut on Tuesday, following a data probe by Chinese regulators.

Meanwhile, Asian stocks slipped on Thursday as pressure on tech stocks continued amidst virus-related concerns rise. Japan’s Nikkei crashed by 200 points in the first half, Hang Seng 2 per cent down, and Shanghai Composite is half a per cent down by noon.

Indian indices also opened deep in the red, tracking Asian peers as Sensex held the level above 53,000 while the 50-stock NSE was below 15,900.

Additional reporting by agencies