FTSE 100 watch: Blue-chip miners lend support to Footsie

The UK benchmark index has climbed higher this Friday, with hopes for a US-China trade deal lending support to blue-chip miners. Consumer goods groups Unilever (LON:ULVR) and Reckitt Benckiser (LON:RB) meanwhile are underperforming the FTSE 100 following Kraft Heinz’s results.

Footsie trades higher

As of 12:39 GMT, the FTSE 100 had given up 41.70 points to stand 0.58 percent lower at 7,209.09p. The Footsie has found support in mining shares, which have tracked copper prices higher amid hopes for progress in the trade talks between Washington and Beijing. Evraz (LON:EVR) is currently leading the sector higher, having added 4.25 percent to 554.00p, followed by Glencore (LON:GLEN), whose shares are 2.95 percent up at 309.35p.

“All eyes are on the US as we close out the week, with another round of trade talks set to conclude today,” Joshua Mahony at IG commented, as quoted by Proactive Investors. “With European markets trading in the green, there is a certain degree of optimism which centres around the growing feeling that we are closing in on some form of resolution in talks between the US and China.”

Blue-chip movers

Reuters meanwhile reports that Unilever and Reckitt Benckiser have fallen after Kraft Heinz posted a quarterly loss and highlighted the tough environment for the packaged food industry. Unilever’s share price is 1.02 percent worse off at 4,212.06p, while Reckitt Benckiser is 1.19 percent down at 5,898.00p.

In individual movers, Pearson (LON:PSON) is 0.38 percent up at 886.80p, having traded more than one percent lower earlier in the session, after reporting a drop in full-year sales, while noting that it expects sales to stabilise this year.

The FTSE 100 was 0.71 percent up at 7,218.52 points as of 13:03 GMT on Friday, 22 February 2019.