Glencore to join FTSE 100 in full trading launch
COMMODITIES giant Glencore will claim its place in the blue-chip FTSE 100 index as it begins full market trading on the London Stock Exchange today.
Glencore is expected to join the FTSE 100 immediately due to its more than £30bn market value, pushingsoftware maker Invensys into the FTSE 250. But in signs that investors may be worried it is overvalued, it has seen its share price fall by 16p since its launch last Thursday and has traded at below its offer price since Friday.
Glencore began conditional trading, where shares are traded unofficially on screens without actually being delivered, on 19 May at 530p per share. But it closed down 1.9 per cent yesterday after most stocks were hammered by fears over Eurozone debt levels and a strong US dollar.
Broad concerns over the health of the commodities market remain and declining investor risk appetite caused metal and energy prices to suffer steep falls yesterday.
Brent crude oil futures fell 2.2 per cent or $2.50 to $109.89 per barrel while copper, nickel and tin fell between 2.6 and 4.7 per cent. The declines hurt the FTSE’s large mining stocks, with Anglo American down 4.1 per cent at the market’s close.