Market Report: Glencore one of the biggest risers in FTSE 100

The mining industry scrambled to the top of the FTSE 100 tree yesterday, with commodities giant Glencore one of the biggest risers. It surged 8.65p or 7.02 per cent to 131.8p after its announcement of a $10bn (£6.6bn) package of debt-reduction measures.

Oliver O’Donnell, an equity analyst at VSA Capital, said: “Financial leverage has been a key concern for investors and it is positive that Glencore is addressing the issue as its shares have fallen 60 per cent since the start of May.”

Like other miners, Glencore has suffered as a result of the collapse in the price of commodities, but a number in the sector saw gains, helped by higher prices for major industrial metals yesterday.

Antofagasta was up 42.5p to 607p and Anglo American 9.2p to 677.7p. Rio Tinto and Fresnillo were also higher.

Not so much joy for Royal Mail Group on the blue-chip index, though. The City did not light up on hearing it had bought a stake in Market Engine Global, an Australian e-commerce technology start-up. The shares fell 0.24p to 461.8p.

The FTSE 100 dipped at the end of last week after US jobs data suggested a Federal Reserve interest rate rise might still be possible this month. But the benchmark index bounced back from Friday’s losses and ended 31.6 points higher at 6,074.52.

On the FTSE 250, property investor Redefine International was among the worst performers after it announced a £437.2m purchase update. The company said it has agreed to snap up a number of buildings from the Aegon UK Property Fund. Shareholders were unimpressed, with the shares dropping 1.25p, more than 2 per cent, to 53.5p.

On AIM, the podcast provider Audioboom climbed 0.62p to 5.12p after a series of updates. 7digital Group has sold the remainder of its investment in the firm for £1.9m, and separately, Candy Ventures, in which Audioboom director and property guru Nick Candy is a director and majority shareholder, bought 16 million shares in the company at 3p a share last Friday. This takes Mr Candy’s interest in the company to 7.62 per cent.