Miners lift FTSE after Rio Tinto boss steps down

Traders went into the weekend on a high as they looked to the US for leadership on an uneventful day in Europe.

Miners Anglo American, Rio Tinto and Glencore helped push the FTSE 100 higher, even after Rio’s boss was forced to step down following a scandal in Australia.

The index closed up 28.77 points at 6,032.09, a rise of just under half a per cent.

“Trading has been subdued in Europe as there has been an absence of major news. In the past week, traders in this part of the world took their cues from the US, in particular the tech sector, and seeing as that has calmed down, things have cooled off here too,” said CMC Markets analyst David Madden.

Elsewhere in Europe, the Dax index in Frankfurt was more or less flat, while Paris’s Cac 40 ended the day up 0.2%.

Mr Madden said: “Broadly speaking it has been a positive week for European indices, but then again the FTSE was starting from a low base, and the DAX 30 hasn’t retested the highs of last week.

“Traders are still monitoring the health crisis. Uncertainty in relation to the UK-EU trade relationship has increased and US lawmakers have yet to reach an agreement on the relief package.”

New York’s S&P 500 was up 0.4%, while the Dow Jones traded 0.8% up shortly after markets closed in Europe.

The FTSE was helped to outperform its European rivals by a falling pound, amid uncertainty over Brexit.

Sterling dropped 1.6% against the dollar to 1.2793, and 1.9% compared with the euro, at 1.0806.

This helped companies that rely on exports or have much of their business abroad to top the index, including the three miners.

Rio’s boss, Jean-Sebastien Jacques, stepped down overnight amid the fallout over the miner’s destruction of ancient indigenous heritage sites in Australia. Mr Jacques will leave the company in March. Investors reacted to the news by sending Rio’s shares up 4.4%.

In other company news, fund manager Ashmore said that market turmoil had weighed upon its business, leading to a 9% drop in its assets in the last year. Its shares closed down 3.6%.

Shares in Dixons Carphone lost 1.6% after having traded up earlier in the day, after an announcement in the afternoon that EE plans to cut ties with the retailer.

The cost of a barrel of Brent crude oil rose by nearly 0.5% to 40.24 dollars.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Aviva, up 14.5p to 303.2p, Anglo American, up 83p to 1,945.6p, Rio Tinto, up 208p to 4,992p, Glencore, up 7.22p to 182p, and Burberry, up 55.5p to 1,550p.

The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were JD Sports, down 31.2p to 787.2p, IAG, down 6.2p to 194.2p, Morrisons, down 5.7p to 180.3p, Taylor Wimpey, down 2.95p to 111.15p, and M&;G, down 3.95p to 152.75p.