Mining stocks lead an advance of the Footsie

Metal and mining stocks were in demand as the dollar slid back and the price of copper, aluminium and nickel strengthened, in tandem with european equity markets.

the Footsie advance was led by Chilean copper group Antofagasta, up 6.4pc, or 25.2p at 419.7p while

Anglo American was 5.3pc higher, or 31.5p at 631p, BHP Billiton was 4.1pc, or 32.3p firmer at 822p and

Rio Tinto gained 3.9pc, or 74p to 1969.5p. Commodity trading behemoth

Glencore was the top riser, advancing by more than 6.5pc, or 8.35p to 136.5p following positive comments on its debt reduction programme made at RBC’s mining conference. Glencore said it has reached $3.2bn of its $4-5bn divestment target for the year.

all eyes were on the US Federal Reserve as it held interest rates once again following disappointing jobs figures and increased market volatility.

anticipation of such a move soothed the Footsie which has been frazzled by a five-day losing streak as the spectre of Brexit looms ever closer. the index of leading shares closed up 43.27 points, or 0.73pc at 5966.80, while over on Wall Street the Dow Jones spent much of the day in positive territory before giving up its gains.

‘a rare glimmer of sunlight broke through the clouds today, as fears of an increasingly likely Brexit were put on the backburner and traders instead focused on a Fed meeting that seemed a foregone conclusion,’ said IG’s Joshua Mahony.

leading the charge against Brexit, Saxo Bank emphasised the importance of the City of london to the UK economy by pointing out that 12pc of UK GDP comes from financial services.

london is the world’s leading financial centre, with a 40pc market share of currency trading and almost 50pc market share of inter- est-rate derivatives according to Peter Garnry, head of equity strategy at Saxo. Brexit could spark ‘an exodus of foreign banks’ he believes, and pave the way for Paris and Frankfurt to lure the finance industry instead.

Shares in blue-chip housebuilders Taylor Wimpey and Berkeley

Group illustrated the point further, both succumbing to a sell-off after the latter warned that sales of new homes fell by 20pc in the five months to May.

‘Global macro uncertainty and the impending EU referendum have had a dampening effect on investment levels across all businesses,’ Berkeley said, as it unveiled better- than- expected results for the full year. Still, Berkeley shares closed down 1.2pc, or 36p at 2954p and taylor Wimpey ended the session 1.4pc lower, or 2.4p at 170.7p.

On the FTSE 250, Indivior was up over 6.3pc, or 13.5p at 227.4p after Morgan Stanley upgraded its recommendation to ‘overweight’ from ‘equalweight’ and lifted the price target to 280p from 190p.

the pharma group, which was spun out of Reckitt Benckiser in December 2014, specialises in treatments for addiction and mental health disorders. It recently won a patent battle in the US regarding its main suboxone film, prompting the upgrade.

But Lonmin bucked the positive mining sector trend after analysts at UBS downgraded the stock to an outright ‘sell’ from ‘neutral’, sending the shares sliding by 0.3pc or 0.5p to 175.5p. ‘lonmin achieved good cost performance in Q2,’ UBS said. ‘ However we do not believe this level of performance is sustainable,’ especially as production declines and costs increase by 810pc per year. among Small cap stocks, Serve

lec plunged by more than 30pc as a raft of analysts took their red pens to estimates after the technology and software group warned that operating profits will fall short of forecasts – and below last year’s levels.

On the upside, Severfield was well bid after the specialist structural steelwork group reported a 19pc jump in full-year revenue to £239.4m. Investors flocked to the stock, sending the shares 10.5pc higher, or 5p to 52.5p.