- Stocks rebound after Sandy-related falls
- BP and Imperial gain after results
- BoJ expands stimulus

Stocks opened strongly on Tuesday morning with mining stocks making gains and oil giant BP providing a lift after raising its quarterly dividend, as markets rebounded following a subdued day yesterday on the back of Hurricane Sandy hitting the east coast of America.

Corporate earnings in Europe lifted sentiment this morning also, with German heavy hitters Deutsche Bank and Bayer beating expectations and insurance giant Allianz hiking its full-year guidance.

Market analyst Craig Erlam from Alpari said that today is "likely to be another quiet day in the markets as the US stock exchanges close for a second day due to Hurricane Sandy."

Following moderate declines seen across European equity markets yesterday, Erlam said that volumes could pick up this morning with some key economic data out (such as German jobless figures), an Italian bond auction and a press conference with European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi in Frankfurt.

The Bank of Japan has expanded its asset-purchase programme for the second consecutive month. Markus Huber, the head of German HNW trading at ETX Capital, said this morning that the news was "less well-received as many had hoped for much more aggressive easing to counteract renewed weakness seen in the Japanese economy."

FTSE 100: BP impressive with Q3 figures, divi


Integrated oil giant BP is worming its way back into the affections of UK pension fund managers after raising its divi on the back of forecast-beating third-quarter results. Shares jumped 4% early on.

The quarterly dividend has been hiked to nine cents from eight cents in the second quarter. The group's dividend payment used to be a mainstay of UK pension funds before it was suspended in the wake of the Gulf of Mexico oil well disaster, but the group resumed dividend payments at the beginning of last year.

Mining stocks such as Rio Tinto, Kazakhmys, EVRAZ and ENRC were performing well this morning as metals prices advanced.

Profit growth at Imperial Tobacco was broadly in line with expectations in the year to the end of September, helping the firm to raise its payout ratio and increase its full-year dividend by over a tenth. Shares gained in the opening hour.

Babcock International and Rolls-Royce gained after signing preliminary contracts with Hitachi - which has bought the UK nuclear project Horizon - to plan and deliver the new nuclear reactors at Wylfa and Oldbury in Gloucestershire.

Among the fallers was emerging markets-focused lender Standard Chartered despite seeing good momentum across its businesses and geographies in the third quarter.






FTSE 100 - Risers
BP (BP.) 441.70p +3.93%
Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 2,386.00p +2.32%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,138.00p +1.88%
Aggreko (AGK) 2,134.00p +1.57%
BG Group (BG.) 1,333.50p +1.37%
Kazakhmys (KAZ) 721.00p +1.19%
Xstrata (XTA) 980.00p +1.18%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 840.50p +1.14%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,140.00p +1.06%
Evraz (EVR) 238.70p +0.97%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,484.00p -0.90%
National Grid (NG.) 703.50p -0.64%
Polymetal International (POLY) 1,112.00p -0.63%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 711.50p -0.35%
Compass Group (CPG) 679.00p -0.29%
Schroders (SDR) 1,523.00p -0.26%
Pennon Group (PNN) 726.00p -0.21%
Bunzl (BNZL) 1,026.00p -0.19%
ITV (ITV) 85.50p -0.18%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 610.10p -0.13%

FTSE 250 - Risers
New World Resources A Shares (NWR) 292.90p +4.76%
Petra Diamonds Ltd.(DI) (PDL) 103.90p +2.87%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 768.00p +2.40%
Jupiter Fund Management (JUP) 264.40p +2.05%
Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 2,920.00p +2.03%
Man Group (EMG) 79.95p +1.91%
Premier Oil (PMO) 356.40p +1.71%
Rank Group (RNK) 149.90p +1.63%
Menzies(John) (MNZS) 626.00p +1.54%
SVG Capital (SVI) 266.80p +1.52%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 74.80p -24.29%
Restaurant Group (RTN) 374.90p -1.86%
Talvivaara Mining Company (TALV) 132.00p -1.57%
Devro (DVO) 326.80p -0.97%
Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 77.50p -0.90%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 489.90p -0.87%
Rathbone Brothers (RAT) 1,291.00p -0.84%
Law Debenture Corp. (LWDB) 402.00p -0.81%
IP Group (IPO) 118.05p -0.80%
Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 782.50p -0.76%

BC

Related share prices
BP (BP.) share price
Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) share price
Rio Tinto (RIO) share price
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) share price
Standard Chartered (STAN) share price
Babcock International Group (BAB) share price
Kazakhmys (KAZ) share price
Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) share price
Evraz (EVR) share price