Copper and oil gains aid FTSE 100 after lacklustre opening

The FTSE 100 closed higher on Wednesday, supported by gains in miners and oil majors – while suggestions of more rate cuts ahead by Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey put sterling on the back foot.

The FTSE 100 index closed up 27.11 points, 0.3%, at 9,250.43. It had earlier traded as low as 9,177.09.

The FTSE 250 ended just 4.83 points lower at 21,690.52, and the AIM All-Share closed up 1.17 points, 0.2%, at 782.42.

On the FTSE 100, a spike in the copper price saw miners Antofagasta, Anglo American and Glencore climb 9.3%, 4.7% and 3.0% respectively.

US competitor Freeport-McMoRan said that the suspension of its giant Indonesian copper mine will lead to lower output of the metal and of gold.

The price of copper firmed 2.7% to around 4.70 dollars per pound, the latest commodity to find favour.

Meanwhile, comments from Mr Bailey put the pound under pressure.

In an interview, Mr Bailey told West Midlands Life that there is “still some further journey down in rates”, but “exactly when that will be and and how much it will be will depend on the path of inflation going down”.

On inflation, Mr Bailey expects it to rise a “little bit” in the next reading, but “come down from there”.

He also talked of some softening in the labour market, with people “finding it probably harder to find jobs at the moment”.

The pound was quoted lower at 1.3452 dollars at the time of the London equity market close on Wednesday, compared to 1.3509 on Tuesday. The euro stood at 1.1740 dollars, lower against 1.1792.

In European equities on Wednesday, the Cac 40 in Paris closed down 0.6%, while the Dax 40 in Frankfurt ended 0.2% higher.

Stocks in New York were slightly lower at the time of the London close. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500 index and the Nasdaq Composite were all down 0.1%.

The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was quoted at 4.14%, unchanged from Tuesday. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury was also flat at 4.76%.

Geopolitical concerns boosted the oil price after threats of more sanctions on Russian oil.

US president Donald Trump said that Europe and other countries need to cut their energy purchases from Moscow.

Brent oil was quoted higher at 68.94 dollars a barrel on Wednesday, from 67.98 late on Tuesday. The gains supported index heavyweights BP, up 1.5% and Shell, up 1.1%.

JD Sports Fashion fell 0.7% after chief executive Regis Schultz talked of a “tough trading environment” and “an environment of strained consumer finances”.

Mr Schultz said JD remains “cautious” on the trading environment for the second half, but expects “limited” impact from US tariffs this financial year.

Broker Shore Capital remains optimistic despite accepting that the athleisure market, particularly in footwear, continues to be “challenging”.

“The strength of the brand, good margins and capacity for further growth feed into positive prospects for JD in the medium-term, while in the interim, the high cash generation allows for good shareholder returns,” Shore Capital commented.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Antofagasta, up 224.00 pence to 2,642.00p, Anglo American, up 120.00p at 2,671.00p, Babcock International, up 51.00p at 1,230.00p, Glencore, up 9.45p at 330.25p, and BAE Systems, up 42.50p at 1,993.50p.

The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Ashtead Group, down 122.00p at 5,104.00p, IMI, down 46.00p at 2,250.00p ConvaTec, down 4.40p at 234.40p, Fresnillo, down 42.00p at 2,302.00p, and Burberry, down 19.50p at 1,123.50p.

Thursday’s global economic calendar has US GDP, durable goods orders and weekly jobless claims data, plus quarterly personal consumption expenditures figures, and an interest rate decision in Switzerland.

Thursday’s UK corporate calendar has a trading statement from safety equipment company Halma, and media firm STV.