FTSE 100 starts December with a mining-fuelled spring in its step

Shares across Europe closed in the green on Friday.

December brought green to the FTSE 100 on Friday (Victoria Jones/PA) (PA Wire)

London’s top share index started December in a buoyant mood, as upgrades from UBS put a spring in the step of some of the index’s miners.

The FTSE 100 rose 75.6 points, or 1.01%, to end the day at 7529.35.

It came as Anglo American, Antofagasta, Rio Tinto and Glencore all crowded towards the top of the index.

“European markets have got off to a solid start to the month with Anglo American and Antofagasta leading the FTSE 100 higher after being upgraded to buy by UBS who argued that 2024 was likely to be a better year for copper prices and as such these two miners should benefit the most from that from a valuation point of view,” said CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson.

“Today’s upgrade has also helped lift the rest of the sector as well, with Rio Tinto and Glencore also gaining.”

He added: “The resilience in the mining sector hasn’t been affected by poor manufacturing PMI numbers out of Europe, which pointed to weak demand, falling prices and the prospect of another quarter of negative growth for the bloc.

“On the downside, Tesco shares have slipped after being on the receiving end of a downgrade from JPMorgan with a price target of 230p, with Ocado and Sainsbury also sliding back.”

It came amid rises across Europe, and even US markets were trading slightly in the green.

At the end of the day in Europe, Frankfurt’s Dax index rose 1.12%, while the Cac 40 in Paris had closed up 0.48%.

In New York a little while after markets had closed in Europe, the S&P 500 had gained 0.42%, while the Dow Jones was 0.54% higher.

On currency markets, the pound had gained 0.4% against the dollar at 1.2678 and had dropped 0.6% against the euro at 1.1659.

There was little news on Friday from London-listed companies.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Anglo American, up 169p to 2,311p, Antofagasta, up 87p to 1,495.5p, Rio Tinto, up 200p to 5,599p, Glencore, up 15.9p to 457.7p, and Intercontinental Hotels Group, up 188p to 6,304p.

The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Tesco, down 6.2p to 279.6p, Pearson, down 17.6p to 919.6p, Ocado, down 5.8p to 594.2p, Hargreaves Lansdown, down 6.2p to 712.2p, and Legal & General, down 1.8p to 227.5p.