London shares eye weekly gains as miners spark rally

Editorial & Advertiser disclosure

Global Banking and Finance Review is an online platform offering news, analysis, and opinion on the latest trends, developments, and innovations in the banking and finance industry worldwide. The platform covers a diverse range of topics, including banking, insurance, investment, wealth management, fintech, and regulatory issues. The website publishes news, press releases, opinion and advertorials on various financial organizations, products and services which are commissioned from various Companies, Organizations, PR agencies, Bloggers etc. These commissioned articles are commercial in nature. This is not to be considered as financial advice and should be considered only for information purposes. It does not reflect the views or opinion of our website and is not to be considered an endorsement or a recommendation. We cannot guarantee the accuracy or applicability of any information provided with respect to your individual or personal circumstances. Please seek Professional advice from a qualified professional before making any financial decisions. We link to various third-party websites, affiliate sales networks, and to our advertising partners websites. When you view or click on certain links available on our articles, our partners may compensate us for displaying the content to you or make a purchase or fill a form. This will not incur any additional charges to you. To make things simpler for you to identity or distinguish advertised or sponsored articles or links, you may consider all articles or links hosted on our site as a commercial article placement. We will not be responsible for any loss you may suffer as a result of any omission or inaccuracy on the website.

Top Stories

Posted By Wanda Rich

Posted on April 12, 2024

London shares eye weekly gains as miners spark rally

By Pranav Kashyap and Khushi Singh

(Reuters) -British equities rose on Friday and were set for weekly gains, led by metal miners, while data showed that the economy grew for a second straight month in February, on course to exit a shallow recession.

The exporter-heavy FTSE 100 was up 1% as of 0811 GMT, and the mid-cap FTSE 250 index rose nearly 0.9%. Both indexes are on track to notch weekly gains.

Industrial metal miners advanced 3%, tracking higher metal prices in Shanghai as funds pumped money into commodities, including metals to hedge against rising inflation. [MET/L]

Precious metal miners led sectoral gains with a 3.3% rise, with gold prices hitting a historic peak. [GOL/]

The index is also set to become the top performing sector for the week, adding 4.7%.

Britain’s GDP grew 0.1% in February, in line with a Reuters poll of economists. January’s reading was revised higher, pointing to an exit from recession in early 2024.

UK GDP data will allow the Bank of England (BoE) to feel comfortable about cutting rates in the second half of 2024 as it’s looking for an economy that’s strong enough to see growth holding up but not too strong to see inflation reaccelerate, said Hugh Gimber, global market strategist at J.P. Morgan Asset Management.

Currently, traders expect the BoE to ease rates in August.

Meanwhile, the U.S. earnings season will kick off later in the day with Citi, Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase and BlackRock due to report first-quarter results.

Among individual stocks, BP gained 2.3% after United Arab Emirates’ state-owned oil company Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) recently considered buying the energy giant, according to sources, but deliberations did not progress beyond preliminary discussions.

R&Q Insurance’s shares hit a record low, losing 45.4% after the Bermuda-based non-life global specialty insurance firm said it anticipates significant annual pre-tax loss due to higher costs on the sale of a business unit.

(Reporting by Pranav Kashyap, Khushi Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Sohini Goswami and Sonia Cheema)

Recommended for you