London Report: Miners lead way as second half kicks off with a jump
LONDON’S leading shares yester-day kicked off the month and the second half of the year on a positive note, as investors looked to a mixed bag of global manufacturing surveys.
The FTSE 100 ended up 0.87 per cent at 6,802.92. The FTSE 100 is still 1.3 percent off its 2014 peak of 6,894.88 in May, which marked its highest since December 1999.
Miners led the way as the latest data from China suggested continuing strong demand from the country.
Rio Tinto rose 94p to 3,202.5p, Anglo American added 57p to £14.87, BHP Billiton was 55p better at 1,944.5p and Fresnillo was up 26.5p at 898.5p. African Barrick Gold was the biggest mid-cap riser, up 14.9p at 220.6p.
Morrisons was the top FTSE faller, down 1.7 per cent, as data by Kantar Worldpanel showed sales at the supermarket fell 3.8 per cent in the 12 weeks to 22 June. Tesco, whose sales fell 1.9 per cent, saw its shares end flat.
Outside of the top index, online grocer Ocado slipped 4.4 per cent, in spite of moving closer to the first annual profit in its history yesterday.