U.K. stocks closed modestly higher on Monday, with sector strength in Mining, Industrial Metals & Mining and Electrical companies supporting the advance.
At the London close, the United Kingdom 100 index rose 0.06%.
Top performers
- Fresnillo PLC (LON:FRES) led gains, climbing 6.72% or 280.00 points to finish at 4,448.00.
- Antofagasta PLC (LON:ANTO) added 5.33% or 191.00 points to close at 3,775.00.
- Smurfit WestRock PLC (LON:SWR) was up 5.14% or 157.00 points to end the session at 3,211.00.
Lagging names
- 3I Group PLC (LON:III) was the weakest large-cap performer, falling 5.14% or 169.00 points to 3,120.00.
- Auto Trader Group Plc (LON:AUTOA) declined 3.41% or 19.40 points to close at 549.00.
- Experian PLC (LON:EXPN) slipped 3.20% or 97.00 points to end at 2,932.00.
On the trading day, advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the London Stock Exchange by 1,022 to 772, while 505 stocks finished unchanged.
Notable price milestones were recorded in the session. Shares of Fresnillo (LON:FRES) rose to all-time highs, closing up 6.72% at 4,448.00. Antofagasta (LON:ANTO) also reached all-time highs, advancing 5.33% to 3,775.00. On the downside, Auto Trader Group (LON:AUTOA) moved to three-year lows after falling 3.41% to 549.00, and Experian (LON:EXPN) dropped to 52-week lows, declining 3.20% to 2,932.00.
Commodities and currencies
Metal and energy markets showed mixed moves. Gold futures for April delivery rose 2.17% or 108.76 to $5,125.76 a troy ounce.
In crude markets, the March delivery contract fell 0.41% or 0.25 to $60.82 a barrel, while the April Brent oil contract decreased 0.25% or 0.16 to trade at $64.91 a barrel.
On the foreign exchange front, GBP/USD moved higher by 0.37% to 1.37. EUR/GBP was effectively unchanged, moving 0.12% to 0.87. The US Dollar Index Futures declined 0.64%, settling at 96.78.
Market breadth, commodity prices and currency moves underpinned the modest overall advance in U.K. equities, with mining and industrial metals names producing the largest single-stock gains in the session.