FTSE 100 boosted by strong day in mining, oil and building sectors

The top index in London notched up a strong performance yesterday, helped by good sentiment in Europe and the US.

The FTSE 100 was lifted in part by its mining and oil companies while builders also performed well off the back of new house price tracking.

By the end of the day, the index had gained 123.46 points, or 1.7%, ending at 7,513.44.

“The FTSE 100 has continued to stand out as far as European markets are concerned, consolidating its position as a more defensive index,” said CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson.

He said Germany’s “Dax also got a boost after European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde indicated rate rises would start in July, helping to lift the share prices of German and European banks, and help push the euro to its highest level in nearly four weeks against the US dollar”.

The Dax index closed up 1.4% while France’s Cac 40 rose 1.2%. On Wall Street shortly after the European markets had closed, the S&P 500 had gained 1.8% and the Dow Jones was up 2.1%.

“Basic resources are doing well, along with the telecoms sector, with Vodafone posting its second successive day of strong gains after last week’s news that Etisalat had built a stake in the business,” Mr Hewson said.

“Housebuilders have edged higher after the latest Rightmove house price index for May showed a better-thanexpected gain on both the monthly and annual measure.”

On currency markets the pound rose 0.01% to 1.2572 dollars and fell 0.01% to 1.1783 euros.

The price of a barrel of Brent crude oil rose 0.6% to 113.17 dollars.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Royal Mail, up 16.6p to 332p, M&G, up 9.9p to 216.7p, Intermediate Capital Group, up 66p to 1462p, Aviva, up 17.1p to 429.2p, and Vodafone, up 5p to 336.6p.

The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Intertek, down 193p to 4706p, Harbour Energy, down 4.7p to 446.8p, Segro, down 11.5p to 1,105p, Rolls-Royce, down 0.17p to 83.14p, and United Utilities, down 0.5p to 1,129.5p.

Basic resources are doing well along with telecoms