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FTSE 100 higher as mining rally continues | |
(about 3 hours later) | |
(Noon): Mining companies helped to pull the London market higher as the recent rally in commodity prices continued. | |
By midday, the FTSE 100 was up 59.74 points, almost 1%, at 6,190.20. | |
Mining firms dominated the leaders' board, with Antofagasta up more than 7%, and BHP Billiton, Glencore and Anglo American all more than 5% higher. | |
The mining sector has been helped by a rally in the price of metals, with the copper price on track for its biggest weekly rise in six months. | The mining sector has been helped by a rally in the price of metals, with the copper price on track for its biggest weekly rise in six months. |
The price of oil continued to edge higher. Brent crude added 19 cents to $37.26 a barrel, while US crude rose 13 cents to $34.70 a barrel. | |
Cuts in US oil production were helping prices, said Ben Le Brun, market analyst at OptionsXpress in Sydney, but investors were awaiting February US unemployment figures at 13:30 GMT for further direction. | |
"A lot of traders are keeping their powder dry in front of non-farm payroll data," he said. | "A lot of traders are keeping their powder dry in front of non-farm payroll data," he said. |
Costa coffee owner Whitbread fell a further 1.9% to £37.29, following a 6.2% slide on Thursday after the company revealed a weak fourth quarter. | |
On the FTSE 250, Cineworld was the biggest faller, down 4.8% at 506.5p, after UBS gave its shares a "sell" rating. | |
On the currency markets, the pound fell 0.2% against the dollar to $1.4151 and dropped 0.4% against the euro to €1.2885. |