Gold miners shine as bruised FTSE recovers

By Tricia Wright

LONDON | Mon Aug 22, 2011 10:15am BST

Miners helped the bruised FTSE 100 stage a recovery on Monday, with Randgold Resources boosted by bullish gold prices and broker comment, and Anglo American up as it considered a bid for Australia's Macarthur Coal.

Randgold (RRS.L) climbed 3.3 percent as spot gold hit yet another record on Monday, with the bullion boosted by a flight to safety.

A target price hike from Citigroup also helped, with the broker lifting its gold price forecasts to accommodate the impact global financial tension is having on gold.

"(Randgold) traded at a valuation parity with Fresnillo 12 months ago, but the Ivory Coast problems saw it move to a 35 percent discount. The Ivory Coast issues have been resolved, but it still trades at a 25 percent discount," Citi said in a note.

On the second line, Petropavlovsk (POG.L), which Citi upgraded to "buy," climbed 5.5 percent, while African Barrick Gold (ABGL.L) and Centamin Egypt (CEY.L) rose 2.2 percent and 3.4 percent after the broker hiked their target prices.

Anglo American (AAL.L), up 2 percent, outperformed other specialty miners as newspaper reports said it was considering a bid for Macarthur Coal (MCC.AX) to rival an earlier offer from U.S. coal company Peabody Energy (BTU.N).

The FTSE 100 .FTSE had climbed 69.6 points, or 1.4 percent, to 5,110.36 by 9:18 a.m., after a torrid week in which it sank 5.2 percent on concerns the global economy could be heading back into recession.

"We're just seeing a muted amount of bargain hunting. But I think you need to keep an eye out for any rally to be fairly choppy in nature. The FTSE really needs to break above 5,445 as an upside target," said Joshua Raymond, chief market strategist at City Index.

Energy stocks .FTNMX0530 provided the main spur for the FTSE 100's gains, bouncing back after hefty recent falls.

Oil services firm Petrofac (PFC.L) jumped 4.4 percent to top the blue-chip leader board after posting a 6.6 percent rise in profits in the first-half of the year, beating a consensus forecast and putting the company on track to deliver its 2011 earnings growth target.

Essar Energy (ESSR.L), the India-focussed refiner and power generator, dropped 4.1 percent after reporting its results.

While its earnings rose 49 percent in the first half of the year on the back of higher refinery margins, the company said it continued to battle delays to regulatory approvals.

With global growth at the forefront of investors' minds, the meeting of central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, on Friday will be keenly awaited.

It was at the same meeting last year that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke first hinted at a second round of quantitative easing to help spur the U.S. economy, though it is considered unlikely that he will announce further quantitative easing this time.

"Nervous week ahead in Europe, with people focussing on Bernanke speaking on Friday in Jackson Hole, where he might announce more quantitative easing, something which I really doubt will happen," said Lex van Dam, hedge fund manager at Hampstead Capital, which has about $500 million (303 million pounds) of assets under management.

"The continued high volatility is normally a bearish sign and not a buying opportunity, so staying on the sidelines continues to be the prudent strategy."