FTSE finishes the week higher after Brent crude, WTI oil and commodities prices rally
The FTSE 100 finished the week comfortably above the 6,000 mark, after a week in which the price of oil surged.
The FTSE finished at 6,199 points – 1.1 per cent higher. That brought its total rise for the week to 1.7 per cent.
The rally came after the price of oil surged every day this week, with Brent crude jumping 4.1 per cent today, to hit $38.58.
Meanwhile, WTI crude, the US benchmark, rose 3.6 per cent, to $35.80.
As other commodities, including gold, silver and copper, rallied, miners pushed up the FTSE. Anglo American rose 11 per cent to 592p, while Glencore jumped 10.8 per cent and BHP Billiton rose 9.1 per cent. Antofagasta rose 7.7 per cent, to 550.5p, while Rio Tinto rose 5.9 per cent, to 2,130p.
At the other end of the scale was Schroders, whose shares fell 4.2 per cent to 2,624p a day after its chief executive announced plans to step down. Travis Perkins fell 3.6 per cent to 1,783p.
"Shares in Europe added to early gains after the US employment report eased concerns of a slowdown in the US economy without increasing chances of a faster pace of rate increases by the Federal Reserve," said Jasper Lawler, market analyst at CMC Markets.
"The strength in equities is largely thanks to oil prices being back close to where they started the year but today’s gains were reinforced by the biggest rise in the fix for the Chinese yuan in three weeks.
"The stabilisation of the Chinese currency as well as efforts this week by authorities in China to bring down excess capacity in its commodities industries helped miners lead gains on the FTSE 100. Anglo American led the UK index with near double-digit daily gains in hot pursuit from sector-peers BHP Billiton, Glencore and Antofagasta as industrial and precious metals benefitted from a slide in the US dollar."
[stockChart code="UKX" date="2016-03-04 17:00"]