London stock indices finish the year at record highs

THE FTSE 100 ended 2017 at a record closing high, on a shortened final day of trading before the New Year break. The benchmark index of blue-chip shares was boosted once again by strong mining stocks, and closed at 12.30pm, up 0.9pc to a new closing high of 7,687.77 points.

Earlier it reached a new intraday record of 7,697.62.

The blue-chip index has risen 3.9pc since the beginning of December, and is up 7.6pc over the year. Its mid-cap peer, the

FTSE 250 – which is mainly comprised of Uk-focused companies – rallied 0.41pc to close at an all-time high of 20,726.26, a 14.7pc rise over the year.

On a day of thin trading, the biggest blue-chip faller was Kingfisher, down 6.8p at 337.7p after announcing a plan to buy back up to £20m of shares.

Gold miners Fresnillo and Randgold were among the biggest risers, up 39p to £14.29 and 150p to £74.10 respectively, after the precious metal broke the $1,300 an ounce mark for the first time since October.

Newly promoted takeaway firm Just Eat climbed 21p to 781p on positive sentiment that its sales could surge higher in 2018.

Hospital operator NMC

Health, which with an 87pc gain in 2017 was the best-performing stock on the FTSE 100 across the year as a whole, ended up 46p at £28.85, while Worldpay rose 3.2p on the day to 426p, taking its annual gain to 58pc. The payment services company last month agreed a £9.3bn tie-up with US rival Vantiv that will result in the combined group being dual listed in New York and London.

Among small caps,

Stanley Gibbons tumbled 29pc, or 1.6p, to 3.9p as the venerable stamp and coin specialist reported a 4pc fall in sales over the six months to the end of September.

Underlying trading losses at the collectibles dealer, which is currently in default on its bank debt, narrowed to £3.5m from £3.9m the year before. Its shares are down 67pc on the year.

Utilities ranked among the biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 over 2017, and British Gas owner Centrica closed off 0.7p at 137.3p yesterday, leaving it down 41pc on the year.

BT meanwhile added 4.4p to 271.7p, down 27pc over 2017. Its shares have struggled after accounting errors at its Italian business prompted it to cut its 2017 and 2018 outlook earlier in the year.