Investors bet on global commodity boom continuing as miners lift London markets

A rally among travel and industrial stocks lifted London markets yesterday as investors bet on betting on commodity prices still having room to climb.

The capital’s premier FTSE 100 index added 0.33 per cent to close at 7,310.37 points, while the mid-cap FTSE 250 group of shares finished 0.49 per cent to 23,279.96 points.

International mining firms led the blue-chip index higher during the first couple hours of trading yesterday, but some of their gains petered out.

The likes of Polymetal International, Antofagasta and Rio Tinto rose more than 0.80 per cent collectively. 

Commodity prices have surged off the back of countries around the world eating up resources as they push to get their economies back to pre-pandemic strength.

Stocks focused on domestic UK travel also fared well yesterday. Premier Inn owner Whitbread was the second best performer on the FTSE 100 yesterday, closing 2.78 per cent higher. 

On the FTSE 250, All Bar One and Harvester owner Mitchells and Butlers was a bright spot, adding 3.56 per cent despite warning that rising costs may hit its margins.

Hochschild Mining was another big winner on the mid-cap index, sky rocketing over 24 per cent at one point in the day after the Peruvian government announced this week it could continue to operate in the country.

However, the surge was not enough to fully offset this week’s heavy losses.

The pound was broadly flat against the greenback, dipping 0.02 per cent to $1.3323.