he UK’s FTSE 100 has seen its rally last another day as buoyant mining stocks gave the top index a boost.
It followed a surge in the fortunes of housebuilding stocks on Wednesday after a bigger-than-expected fall in UK inflation led financial markets to trim their bets on where interest rates could peak.
Mining giants including Anglo American, Antofagasta, and Glencore flew to the top of the blue-chip index on Thursday.
Experts said investors could be hopeful about expected stimulus to give China’s economy a boost, with miners likely to be key beneficiaries.
It follows data earlier in the week which showed worse-than-expected economic growth over the nation’s second quarter.
Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “The expectation that levers will be pulled to boost domestic demand across the world’s second largest economy has helped push up commodity stocks, which are among the biggest gainers on the FTSE 100.”
The FTSE 100 closed 57.85 points higher, or 0.76%, at 7,646.05.
European markets performed in a similarly positive fashion due to easing rate expectations, with the German Dax up 0.59% and Cac 40 0.79% higher.
It was a mixed start to trading over in the US. The S&P 500 was down 0.25% but Dow Jones was up 0.8% when European markets closed.
The pound continued its downturn against the US dollar. It was down 0.7% against the currency to 1.285 when markets closed, and was about 0.1% lower against the euro to 1.1538.
The price of Brent crude oil inched 0.14% lower to finish at 79.28 dollars a barrel at the London close.
In company news, shares in easyJet slid after the airline told investors it was expecting a challenging summer of airport strike action.
The company said it was forecasting record earnings over its peak season after swinging to a profit in the third quarter.
But it stressed it was “absolutely focused” on mitigating the impact of airport disruptions which resulted in big delays and cancellations for travellers last year. Shares in easyJet were 3.9% lower at close.
Meanwhile, shares in Premier Foods lifted after the company raised hopes that cost inflation was becoming less painful for supplier.
The Mr Kipling and Super Noodles owner said its trading profits for the full year were set to be at the top end of market expectations after pushing through price rises in recent months.
The retail giant also confirmed it has no plans to hike prices for the rest of the year as inflation begins to cool. Its shares closed 1.9% higher.
The owner of Royal Mail, International Distributions Services, also drummed up some optimism among investors after announcing the appointment of its next boss.
Martin Seidenberg, who currently runs its fast-growing Dutch subsidiary, is set to become chief executive of the group.
Shares in the delivery business were up 2.1% at close.
The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Glencore, up 19.05p at 472.5p, Anglo American, up 77p at 2,380p, M&G, up 5.55p at 204.9p, Antofagasta, up 39.5p at 1,526p, and Abrdn, up 5.6p at 236.7p.
The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust, down 15.4p at 696.4p, Rightmove, down 12p at 556.2p, Entain, down 24.5p at 1,258.5p, Flutter, down 275p at 15,420p, and IAG, down 2.5p at 154.7p.