After Christmas shopping boost, FTSE 100 sees a rise in mining and retail stocks

The FTSE 100 received a boost from large retail stocks as investors took advantage post-Christmas shopping and as China prepares for Covid restrictions on inbound travellers starting January 8.

JD Sports Fashion and Next, Kingfisher, Burberry, and mining stocks Antofagasta & Fresnillo were some of the top performers on Wednesday’s London leading index.

Last week, investor optimism waned, and the FTSE 100 closed just before Christmas relatively flat, despite expectations for a “Santa Claus rebound”, a term that refers to stock prices rising in the run-up and into the New Year.

China, which is the second-largest country in the world and has a significant influence on indices like the FTSE 100, has boosted investors’ hopes that it will reopen the economy fully next year.

Victoria Scholar, chief investment officer at Interactive Investor, said on Wednesday: “UK markets reopened on the upswing, playing catch-up after the FTSE 100 was closed for a public holiday on Tuesday.

Despite the pressures on global equity markets from rising interest rates and inflation, the UK index could still end the year in positive territory.

“BAE Systems, Shell and BP are some of the best performing stocks on the FTSE 100 so far this year, driven by the war in Ukraine.”

The FTSE 100 closed at 7,497.19, up 24.18 points or 0.32 percent.

It was a less optimistic day for markets in Europe. The DAX in Germany fell 0.5 percent, while the CAC in France fell 0.61 percent.

The day started flat for the major US markets, with the S&P 500 falling 0.96 percent and Dow Jones falling 0.83 percent respectively at the close of European markets.

The pound gained slightly against the US Dollar, only 0.02 percent to 1.2027 and just 0.2 percent at 1.1325 against euro.

According to company news, Domino’s Russian arm is considering whether to sell its pizza chain after considering the effects of sanctions.

DP Eurasia, one of the Russian companies that has been doing business in Russia after the invasion of Ukraine, said it was “establishing itself” in the country. This could be a sign that it is exiting operations.

Domino’s shares rose by 2.16 percent

Fresnillo, the mining giant, saw its share price soar after it announced that major testing had been completed on a significant project at Juanicipio’s Juanicipio silver-and-gold mine in Mexico.

Its share price rose 2.18% on Wednesday due to the “major Growth Project” which is expected to have an increasing impact on FTSE 100’s operations.

The FTSE 100 had the biggest gains: Antofagasta up 42.5 to 1586.5 pixels, Fresnillo up 19 to 891.6 pixels, JD Sports up 2.6p to 122.15px and Kingfisher up up to 4px at 236.1px. Persimmon was up 20.5p to 1258px.

The biggest losers in FTSE 100 were Scottish Mortgage Investment Banking, down 31.6p, 690p, Airtel Africa, and IAG, down 1.96p to 126.22p. IAG, down 1.96px to 126.22p. Tesco, down 3.2px, 223.5p., and Flutter Entertainment down 120p, to 11,380p.

Press Association