Business

Miner leads the London market surge

stocks rise: ‘The Gherkin’ and Canary Wharf at sunrise in London. The London market surged yesterday led by reports that commodity giant Glencore is in talks to sell its agriculture business
stocks rise: ‘The Gherkin’ and Canary Wharf at sunrise in London. The London market surged yesterday led by reports that commodity giant Glencore is in talks to sell its agriculture business stocks rise: ‘The Gherkin’ and Canary Wharf at sunrise in London. The London market surged yesterday led by reports that commodity giant Glencore is in talks to sell its agriculture business

THE London market surged yesterday led by reports that commodity giant Glencore is in talks to sell its agriculture business.

The FTSE 100 Index was 169 points higher at 6299, in a market with no fallers, as the global equity volatility seen in recent weeks showed little sign of abating.

France's Cac 40 and Germany's DAX lifted by around 3 per cent. In New York the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up almost 200 points in early trading.

Under pressure trader and miner Glencore was up 21 per cent or 20p, to 115p, after strong gains in Asia overnight sparked by reports that it was in talks to sell its agriculture unit, valued at around US$10 billion (£6.6bn).

But in London the firm said it was "not aware of any reasons for these price and volume movements".

The London-listed Swiss-based firm, which has lost around two-thirds of its value this year, recently pledged to investors to make disposals and cut its US$30bn (£20bn) debt mountain by a third.

Traders were not fazed by the UK's weak service sector data, which slowed to a two-and-a-half-year low last month. This was accompanied by disappointing service sector surveys across the Eurozone.

The pound was little changed against the US dollar at just under 1.52, and against the euro at 1.35.

Lloyds Banking Group was up 0.7p to 77.3p after Chancellor George Osborne said the government would sell £2 billion worth of shares to retail investors at a 5 per cent.discount to the market price in the spring.

Mr Osborne said small investors would be given "a chance to get something back having put all that money in under the last Labour government".

The Treasury said the share sale would be backed by a nationwide TV, print and digital information campaign.

The government has so far recouped £15bn of the £20.5bn it spent rescuing Lloyds, and at present owns just under 12 per cent of the bank.

Barclays was 7.7p higher to 256.2p and Royal Bank of Scotland was up 8p to 328.8p, as the market welcomed the steady reduction in the state's holdings in the banking sector.

The oil sector was also up on a rise of over 2 per cent for Brent Crude to over US$49.

BP lifted almost 5 per cent, or 16.6p, to 368p, while Royal Dutch Shell was also 5per cent higher, or 84p, to 1706p.

Shares in ITV rose 4.4p to 252.2p, despite England being knocked out early from the Rugby World Cup, which ITV broadcasts exclusively.

A note from broker Liberum said there would be little financial impact on the broadcaster because "TV advertising slots tend to be booked four to six weeks in advance, so virtually all the slots for October would already have been booked".

The biggest risers in the FTSE 100 Index were Glencore, Standard Chartered up 42.3p at 709p, Antofagasta up 28p at 537.5p, and Aberdeen Asset Management up 16.3p at 322.8p.

There were no fallers.