London’s top index jumped slightly higher on Thursday as the City’s mining sector pushed firmly into the green.
Although pushed off the top spot by gambling firm Entain, copper miner Antofagasta made good strides during the day, up 3.9%. It was followed shortly after that by Anglo American and Fresnillo.
Entain’s share price spike came on the day it announced that chairman Barry Gibson would retire after just four years with the Ladbrokes and Coral owner.
The company is still on the hunt for a permanent chief executive after its former boss resigned in December. Jette Nygaard-Andersen’s departure came weeks after the gambling giant reached a legal settlement with HMRC.
“Today’s action on the FTSE 100 has been driven by a combination of mining stocks and yield plays,” said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at online trading platform IG.
“While the commodity rally might be taking a breather today, mining stocks like Fresnillo and Anglo American have been firm favourites of late, and there’s no sign of that move slowing down.
“Meanwhile, investors continue to snap up yield stocks, as expectations of lower rates later in the year dominate.”
By the end of the day, the FTSE 100 had gained 38.45 points, or 0.48%, closing at 7,975.89.
In Europe, Frankfurt’s Dax rose 0.14% while the Paris-based Cac 40 ended the day down 0.02%.
Shortly after European markets closed, New York’s S&P 500 had gained 0.76% while the Dow Jones was 0.50% higher.
On currency markets, the pound had gained 0.11% against the dollar at 1.2666 and had dropped 0.15% against the euro at 1.1659.
In company news, International Paper said it expects that if it pushes ahead with a takeover of London packaging giant DS Smith it might rack up synergies of around half a billion dollars (£407 million) per year.
The business has been eyeing a potential £5.7 billion bid for the company, which would muscle in on a potential takeover by Mondi.
DS Smith shares rose 2.04% on the day while Mondi’s jumped 3.42%, putting it in the top five risers on the FTSE.
The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Entain, up 38.2p to 797.4p, Antofagasta, up 98p to 2,198p, Mondi, up 47p to 1,420.5p, Fresnillo, up 16.5p to 540.5p, and Anglo American, up 62.5p to 2,110.5p.
The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Ocado, down 22.1p to 417.2p, St James’s Place, down 11p to 448.6p, Admiral Group, down 57p to 2,637p, Intercontinental Hotels Group, down 154p to 7,954p, and Croda, down 75p to 4,671p.