Traders buoyed by news on Fed support

Traders were in good spirits following the much-anticipated Jackson Hole speech by US Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell.

The central bank boss trod a fine line between caution and optimism, and investors saw this as a sign to take on some risks.

They piled into miners and oil firms, which make up the bulk of the FTSE 100, sending the UK’s leading index of companies up 23.03 points, or 0.32%, to 7148.01.

Michael Hewson, chief markets analyst at CMC Markets UK, pointed out that the key issue helping traders were Mr Powell’s comments that the end of US Fed support – tapering – is still some way off.

In London, the news sent shares in Anglo American, Antofagasta, Glencore, BHP, BP and Rio Tinto into the top 10 biggest risers.

In company news, Just Eat Takeaway shareholders took a shock, with shares closing down 7.5%, a fall of 519p to 6,407p.

The fall followed a decision by officials in New York that food delivery platforms can only charge a maximum of 15% commission for every food order.

The group behind the Daily Mail was a step closer to being taken private by its largest shareholder, Lord Rothermere, following the successful flotation of used-car business Cazoo in the US.

It was one of the conditions of a possible bid for the group by the business tycoon.

UK-listed Air Partner revealed the ultra-rich in the US have been hiring private jets to go away on their holidays at a rate high enough to offset the firm’s drop in business travellers.

Lender Amigo admitted the future remains uncertain despite managing to increase profit 10-fold.