By Patrick Munnelly, Market Analyst, Tickmill
The FTSE 100 opened the new week with a seventh straight session of gains briefly topping the 7900 handle, before reversing to test bids back towards 7875. The index closed up 7 points at 7879.51.
Initial strength found support from industrial miners and energy names like BP LON:BP. with Rio Tinto LON:RIO and Anglo American LON:AAL both trading up over 2% out of the gate. Mining stocks were boosted to two month highs on reports of a potential ban on mining in major iron ore producer Myanmar.
International Consolidated Airlines LON:IAG ended the day at the top of the board, up 2.97%.
FTSE-100 is Europe’s standout performer
The FTSE continues to be a standout performer amongst European bourses printing four back to back weeks of gains as the commodity rich index continues to benefit from gains in commodity and energy associated names which investors believe may shelter them from increasing recession risk along with consumer staples and pharmaceuticals all of which are weighted to the FTSE’s benefit.
On the negative side of the ledger today, banking heavyweight Barclays LON:BARC has been under pressure, retreating over 2.2% on the session as reports regarding further cost cutting alerted investors to lingering pressure from a lack of deal flow within the broader sector. This announcement sees Barclays layoff another 100 employees from its corporate deal making unit. This headcount reduction comes after the firm reduced the same unit by 200 staff in November.
