FTSE 100 ends at new closing high
And finally…
After a strong day’s trading in London, the FTSE 100 share index has ended the day at a new closing high.
The blue-chip share index has closed up 108.64 points, or 1.23%, at a new end-of-day peak of 8975.66 points.
Earlier in the session, the Footsie pushed its new intraday high record even higher, to 8979 points.
Mining stocks led the rally, with Glencore (+39%), Rio Tinto (+3.9%) and Anglo American (+3.7%) at the top of the list of risers, along with equipment rental firm Ashtead (+3.8%).
“It’s hard to think it was only last year that London’s blue-chip index climbed above the psychologically important 8,000 mark and stayed there. It had managed to briefly scale that peak a year earlier but quickly fell back, so watching the FTSE 100 creep closer and closer to 9,000 feels a little surreal,” says AJ Bell head of financial analysis Danni Hewson.
She adds:
“London based mining stocks have surged today, helping to bolster an index which has been on the front foot for most of the year, if you excuse its post Liberation Day rout. Investors have had a chance to digest Donald Trump’s copper tariffs and the surge in prices has certainly created opportunities, at least in the short term.
“It’s going to take years for the US to increase its copper mining and smelting capacity, and considering how vital it is in manufacturing EVs and mobile phones, not to mention its importance in the power grid, US demand is unlikely to fall back in any measurable way. That means copper importers are stuck between a rock and a hard place, and it will be the US consumer who will ultimately pay the price.
“But the current price surge reflects shifting policy. The sector had been anticipating tariffs on copper – even if they have come in much higher than expected – and stockpiles have been built up, so the price premium is expected to fall back in the near term.
“What is unknown is where prices will settle once they’ve had a bit of time to bed in, and how that will affect global trade, especially if economic growth slows across the world as it’s predicted to because of all the uncertainty.
“Generally, investors seem to have been rather dismissive of Donald Trump’s latest tariff tangos, believing that ultimately the US president will back off if negotiations don’t go his way. The crunch point is likely to be if a US-EU deal can’t get over the line, but even then the assumption seems to be that the new deadline, just like the last, is soft.”
And on that note, goodnight! GW
JPMorgan CEO Dimon warns of complacency in financial markets
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon has warned that markets are complacent, in the wake of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff announcements, Reuters reports.
Dimon told an event at Ireland’s foreign ministry:
“Unfortunately I think there is complacency in markets”
