FTSE 100 closes at a new 2016 high after commodities rally
The FTSE 100 caught the Friday feeling today, closing at a high for the year after bouncing off some upbeat commodities stocks.
The bluechip index clocked out for the week at 6,204, up 1.1 per cent and its highest close since jolly New Year's Eve traders-cum-revellers saw it hit 6,242 on the final day of last year.
We had miners to thank for the surge, as they picked up in late afternoon trading. Anglo American entered the weekend on a high, up 8.1 per cent to 547p. It had BHP Billiton, Royal Dutch Shell, Rio Tinto, Glencore and BP for company – all up by more than three per cent – as London’s biggest commodities firms partied as one today.
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Even those who weren’t singing to the same tune didn’t have much to complain about. The biggest faller was credit checker, Experian, down just 1.3 per cent.
AstraZeneca and Shire, two of the day’s other fallers, started their weekends even earlier – buoyed by the collapse of a Pfizer-Alegran marriage on Wednesday after President Obama lodged his disapproval – they are both up on the week.