FTSE firm, led by commodities and banks

(Reuters) - Britain's leading share index kicked off Tuesday's trading session in firm territory, as healthy oil and copper prices bolstered commodity stocks and banks bounced back.

Among miners, Kazakhmys added 2.4 percent and Rio Tinto gained 1.7 percent, while Xstrata, Anglo American and BHP Billiton were also standout gainers, after copper futures hit a three-month high.


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BHP Billiton, Anglo lead S.Africa bourse recovery

South African shares jumped on a global markets recovery with blue chips rising more than one percent on Tuesday, but investors continued to fret about global growth prospects and the risk of renewed selling.

Index heavyweights BHP Billiton and Anglo American led a cross-market rally ignited as Japan's Nikkei rose from five days of heavy selling and the gold price came off a six-week low. Firmer U.S. stocks ensured the market ended up.

The Johannesburg Top-40 index of blue-chip stocks gained 1.27 percent to 22,701.37 points off its lowest level in six weeks, which it struck on Monday. The wider All-share index added 1.24 percent to 25,228.11 points.

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Anglo American profit up 46 pct, to return $3 bln

Anglo American Plc, the world's third-largest miner, said on Wednesday it would return $3 billion to investors as it posted a 46 percent rise in annual net profit, at the bottom end of forecasts.
Anglo said in a statement it made a net profit of $5.47 billion in 2006, on revenue up 12 percent at $38.6 billion. The final dividend was raised 21 percent to 75 cents.

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Anglo American bids for Mitsui stake in Sesa - paper

Mining giant Anglo American Plc has joined the race to bid for Japan's Mitsui & Co's 51 percent stake in Indian iron ore exporter Sesa Goa Ltd., the Business Standard reported on Tuesday.

Anglo American may emerge as a front runner as it had an existing partnership with Mitsui, Japan's second-biggest trading firm, the newspaper said, quoting unidentified banking sources

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Anglo American boosts S.African stock market

South African shares closed slightly higher on Monday, boosted by a rally in Anglo American, the bourse's most heavily weighted stock.

"Today was mainly a resources day, with industrials and financials flat," African Harvest portfolio manager Rajay Ambekar said.

The Johannesburg Top-40 index of blue-chip stocks traded 0.45 percent stronger to 24,029.73 points, while the All-share index gained 0.42 percent to 26,623.23 points.

Diversified mining group Anglo American was among the leading blue chips, up 1.80 percent to 361.73 rand. Rival miner BHP Billiton was 0.43 percent stronger, at 152.35 rand.

Steel manufacturer Mittal Steel, which is due to report results this week, was up 3.37 percent to 120.01 rand. Apart from expectations of solid results, Ambekar said the stock was further boosted by consolidation of the global steel market.

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FTSE at 6-year high, boosted by miners, Sainsbury

Britain's FTSE 100 index rose to a six-year high by midday on Monday, led by mining stocks on a bullish outlook for copper, talk of a buyback from Anglo American and bid speculation around Sainsbury.

Anglo American surged 2.6 percent after the Financial Times reported the miner was expected to announce this week a further share buy-back plan that would return up to $4 billion to shareholders on the back of the boom in metal prices. JPMorgan lifted its price target for the stock.

Other miners were also buoyed by expectations that copper prices were set to rise as China replenished its stocks next week after the Chinese New Year holidays.
Lonmin climbed 2 percent, Kazakhmys gained 1.9 percent, BHP Billiton added 0.7 percent and Rio Tinto put on 1 percent.

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Tongaat-Hulett profit up 51%

South African sugar and aluminium producer Tongaat-Hulett Group Ltd posted a 51% rise in headline earnings on Monday, in line with its own forecast, and said it expects profits to increase in the year ahead.

The firm, majority owned by mining group Anglo American plc, said headline earnings rose to R703m during the year to December 31 from R466m the previous year.

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FTSE up as commodities and broker upgrades boost

The FTSE 100 of Britain's leading shares was up 0.5 percent on Friday buoyed by commodities and a flurry of broker upgrades following a busy day of results in the previous session.

U.S. crude oil prices rallied above $60 a barrel for the first time in a month, extending a $2 gain a day earlier, on signs of falling crude exports from producer group OPEC and an outage at a U.S. oilfield. Oil heavyweights BP added 1 percent and rival Royal Dutch Shell tacked on 0.6 percent.

Oil explorer Cairn Energy was up 0.7 percent after it said Cairn India had won an interest in two new offshore exploration blocks in India.

In other commodity stocks, base and precious metal prices remained firm helping to push mining stocks higher. BHP Billiton added 1.1 percent, Anglo American climbed 1.2 percent and Xstrata was up 1.3 percent.

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Anglo forms new R7bn coal group

Anglo American plc has formed a new South African coal group, Anglo Inyosi Coal, worth R7bn and 27% held by black investors, the mining group said on Thursday.

Anglo said the new company will incorporate selected key coal projects in South Africa and the Kriel colliery and will have a 4.1 billion tonnes coal resource base with an estimated annual production of 48.5 million tonnes.

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FTSE flat ahead of BoE rate decision, miners up

Britain's FTSE 100 index was flat by mid-session on Wednesday as gains in mining stocks, buoyed by BHP Billiton's results, were offset by concerns over interest rates ahead of a key Bank of England meeting.

BHP Billiton, the world's biggest miner, was the biggest gainer, up 4.1 percent after it announced a 41 percent jump in first-half profit and earmarked an extra $10 billion for share buybacks.

Fellow miners also rose, with Vedanta Resources up 2.3 percent, Kazakhmys tacking on 0.5 percent, Anglo American rising 1 percent and Xstrata adding 0.5 percent.

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European stocks at new 6-yr high, FTSE index leads

European shares hit their highest levels in six years on Thursday, boosted by gains in oil firms and pharmaceuticals which helped the FTSE 100 index outperform, while global equities also rose on U.S. rate cut expectations.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index rose 1.4 percent to 1,535.6, taking the year's gains so far to 3.5 percent after last year's 16 percent rally. U.S. stocks were also trading higher.


BHP Billiton added 3.5 percent and Anglo American rose 2.7 percent. AstraZeneca advanced 3.4 percent as it unveiled plans to cut 4.6 percent of its global workforce and the pharmaceutical firm also met 2006 forecasts.

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Anglo commited to SA

Anglo American plc chief executive officer-designate, Cynthia Carroll, has pledged to continue working closely with the South African government in the transformation of the country, a statement from Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka's office said on Thursday.

The statement reported Carroll as saying this during a courtesy visit to the deputy president on Wednesday - at the Union Buildings in Pretoria.

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European stocks flat in early trade, miners fall

European shares were flat to slightly lower in morning trade on Tuesday after a muted performance on Wall Street, while miners including BHP and Anglo American tracked losses in copper prices.

Shares in bid target Corus extended their ascent and rose 0.6 percent to a new seven-year high of 563 pence, ahead of a proposed auction for the Anglo-Dutch steelmaker, with both India's Tata Steel and Brazil's CSN interested suitors.

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Angloplat failing on black empowerment - Minister

ANGLO Platinum has not shown enough commitment to SA’s black empowerment programme, Minerals and Energy Affairs Minister Buyelwa Sonjica said today. The minister said she raised the issue during talks with incoming Anglo American CE Cynthia Carroll.

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Anglo American seeks Philippine mining permits

Anglo American Plc, the world's third biggest mining group, has joined the rush to discover new Philippine mines by seeking permits to explore in a dozen areas in the country, a source close to the firm said on Friday.

Anglo, which has a joint venture with local firm Philex Mining Corp. in the Boyongan copper project in the southern Philippines, is also in joint venture talks with Manila Mining Corp. to explore an adjacent property called Bayugo.

The company is also set to start exploration of its Manmanok copper-gold project in the northern Philippines next month, the source, who asked not to be identified, said

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