FTSE 100 climbs as Glencore digs itself out of hole – London Report
Britain’s top share index rose nearly three per cent yesterday, with a surge in Glencore after a volatile week leading mining companies higher.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 index jumped 168.94 points, or 2.8 per cent, to 6,298.92 points, with every stock in positive territory.
The FTSE 100 is still down over 11 per cent from an all-time high in April, and has taken its biggest quarterly fall since 2011.
Much of the falls have been due to concerns about China, the world’s biggest consumer of metals.
However, the FTSE 100 is up seven per cent from lows last week, with some believing that the recent falls were overdone.
“This is a case of hypochondria. The developed world in particular is pretty well inoculated against any contagion that might spread to the markets from an ailing Chinese economy,” Alan Higgins, UK chief investment officer at Coutts, said in a note.
Glencore shares jumped as much as 20 per cent in London, following a 25 per cent leap on the Hong Kong market, on hopes the company would sell some assets to cut its debt. The shares closed up 21.1 per cent and have now recouped last week’s losses.
The stock dropped around 30 per cent last Monday, before rallying towards the end of the week.
Reuters reported on Friday that Glencore was in talks with a Saudi Arabian sovereign wealth fund and China’s state-backed grain trader Cofco, along with Canadian pension funds, to sell a stake in its agricultural assets.
Analysts also cited a Telegraph report that Glencore would listen to offers for the entire company, but the paper said its management doubted it could find buyers willing to pay a fair value for the business in the current market. “Glencore is tracking a spike in its Hong Kong shares and after the Telegraph report,” said Mike van Dulken, head of research at Accendo Markets.
Oil stocks also rallied, with Royal Dutch Shell and BP each up around five per cent. The price of Brent crude rose, while the United States announced a more than $20bn (£13.2bn) settlement of federal and state claims against BP over its deadly Gulf of Mexico oil spill five years ago.
Outsourcing company Xchanging soared around 50 per cent, after saying it had received separate takeover proposals in recent months from British peer Capita and US-based private equity firm Apollo Global. Management