Britain's FTSE 100 closes record, boosted by miners

Investors ignored the latest U.S. threats of tariffs and focused on negotiations, resulting in a record-breaking FTSE 100 closing on Thursday.

The commodity-heavy FTSE 100 climbed 1.2% to 8,975.66, exceeding its previous intraday high hit in March.

Susannah Streeter is the head of money markets and Hargreaves Lansdown. She said: "There are a number of private equity firms that have been hovering over UK assets, indicating to investors how UK assets still represent a good value."

The fact that the UK was among the first countries to sign an agreement with the United States also helped boost sentiment.

The FTSE 100 has risen 9.8% this year. This is higher than the STOXX 600, a pan-European index that gained 8.9% and the S&P 500, a benchmark in America.

The UK Industrial Metal Mining Stocks Index rose by 3.7% as iron ore prices reached multi-month highs and metals such as aluminium and nickel also increased. Gold prices rose on a weaker dollar, which also benefited precious metal miners.

Investors grew more optimistic about healthcare stocks as they ignored the threat of a 200% tariff on pharmaceuticals by the United States. AstraZeneca gained 2.6% while GSK gained 2.1%.

In addition, both sides reported that they had made good progress on the framework. A deal could even be reached within days.

The domestically oriented FTSE 250, which is relatively insulated from tariff disputes because of its low international exposure has risen by 0.6%.

WPP, a single stock, climbed 1.1% after a Wednesday slump of nearly 19%. On Thursday, Cindy Rose was named CEO of the company.

Jupiter

jumped by 10.7% following the announcement that the money manager would purchase smaller rival CCLA Investment Manager as part of a larger consolidation wave in the fund industry. (Reporting and editing by Amanda Cooper and Tasim Zahid; Richard Chang, Amanda Cooper and Danilo Masoni)

(source: Reuters)