THE TIPSTER METALS’ SHINE BOOSTS THE FTSE MINERS
RISING commodity prices have put the mining sector in the spotlight and sent their stock prices soaring. But will the bottom line support the rising share price? Miner Rio Tinto reports on Wednesday and it has made considerable ground since the credit crunch and since rival BHP Billiton declined to acquire them. The focus is now on whether they can keep ever rising costs under control to turn revenue into profit. Capital Spreads has a price of 2,828.1p-2,837.9p.
Barrick Gold, the world’s largest gold producer, has also been back in favour, with its share price adding around 10 per cent since the start of September. It has a massive 138m ounces of gold in reserve so continued precious metal price rises will keep the company in demand. It is dual-listed in both Toronto and New York. IG Index is quoting $39.47-$39.55 on the stock.
A big mover last week was hospitality group Whitbread, which jumped more than 4 per cent and briefly peaked above 1,300p on the back of upbeat earnings from US hotel group Marriott.
So will there be further good news when the company issues a trading update tomorrow? Barclays Capital certainly thinks so, with its recommendation upgrade adding to the positive sentiment around Whitbread. ShortsandLongs.com has a rolling spread of 1,266.7p-1,271.3p.
J Sainsbury shares have been declining since the turn of the month and its announcement that it had attracted 8,000 new customers last week did nothing to offset the worse-than-expected figures.
As a result the grocer was still hovering around the 313p level on Friday. There have been plenty of buys from spread betters though, who believe the firm has plenty of potential to return towards the 350p level touched in May. Spreadex has a December-based spread of 309.2p-311.3p.