The FTSE 100 inched higher on Wednesday, outperforming most major European indices as robust gains in mining and energy shares drove the market. Gold producers Fresnillo and Endeavour Mining jumped more than 7%, supported by a surge of over 3% in gold prices after the US Treasury announced plans to expand buybacks of longer-dated government debt.
Among diversified miners, Glencore and Anglo American advanced nearly 5%, Antofagasta climbed about 4%, and Rio Tinto gained 3.5%. Oil majors Shell and BP rose roughly 0.9% each, tracking the continued rise in crude prices. AstraZeneca added more than 2%, benefiting from broad strength across the pharmaceutical sector.
On the downside, Smith & Nephew slid 3.8% after Chief Financial Officer John Rogers announced he would leave the company for a role in the United States.
In macroeconomic news, UK inflation accelerated to 2.9% in July from 2.6% in June, in line with economists’ forecasts. The figures prompted traders to slightly pare back expectations of a Bank of England interest rate rise later this year.
