FTSE 100 Gains Led By Miners And Banks
(RTTNews) - U.K. stocks rose sharply on Thursday, as falling commodity prices and better-than-expected earnings guidance from Samsung Electronics for the second quarter helped assuage investor concerns about rising inflation.
Investors were also reacting to unconfirmed reports that Prime Minister Boris Johnson will resign today, following an unprecedented wave of resignations from his government over the past two days.
The benchmark FTSE 100 jumped 82 points, or 1.2 percent, to 7,190 after rising 1.2 percent on Wednesday.
Miners were on the rise, tracking gains in Chinese iron ore futures. Anglo American surged 7.4 percent, Antofagasta jumped 6.4 percent and Glencore added 7.3 percent. Banks advanced, with HSBC Holdings, Lloyds Banking Group and NatWest Group rising 2-3 percent.
Shell gained 2.2 percent after the energy giant said surging margins from fuel production could have added more than $1bn (€980m) to the earnings of its refining business last quarter.
Housebuilder Persimmon plunged 5 percent after it warned of a downturn in the volume of new houses delivered in the first half of the year.
Electronics retailer Currys soared 7 percent after reporting better-than-expected annual pre-tax profit.
In economic releases, U.K. house prices rose at the fastest annual pace since late 2004 in June, survey data from the Llyods Bank subsidiary Halifax showed.
The house price index climbed 13.0 percent year-over-year in June, faster than the 10.7 percent rise in May. The latest annual price increase was the fastest since late 2004.
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