Hunting soars despite trade nerves

A couple of weeks ago, Antofagasta warned investors of the “considerable market uncertainty” brought on by rising trade war rhetoric. The Chilean copper miner’s shares promptly dived. So when Hunting (HTG) used its interim results to flag headwinds linked to steel tariffs and “the continuing volatile geopolitical environment”, one might have expected equal carnage. Not so. Despite expectations that second-half trading will flatline in the buoyant US onshore market, and “suppress the rate of recovery” internationally, shares in the oil and gas services group leapt 15 per cent.