The mining and resources sector continued moving ahead on Thursday after posting a small rally on Wednesday. Antofagasta (ANTO), Vedanta Resources (VED) and Eurasian Natural Resources (ENRC) were the top three gainers on the FTSE 100.
A surge in mining shares helped the benchmark index inch up by 9 points, or 0.2%, to close the trading day at 5,901. The FTSE 250 index, which tracks UK mid-cap companies, also made some gains, rising by 0.4% to close at 12,149.
StanChart Getting Out of Hot Water; Rolls-Royce Dipping In
Shares in Standard Chartered (STAN) also popped up by nearly 1% after the bank put a number on their settlement with US regulators over their dealings with Iran. Standard Chartered says it expects to pay a total of $670 million to US regulators to settle allegations that is collaborated with the Iranian government and hid financial transactions. Shares in the global bank plummeted in August when the allegations were made public.
Meanwhile, one of the main losers on the FTSE 100 was Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.). Shares took a steep plunge this morning after it announced that the Serious Fraud Office is investigating possible corruption and bribery at the firm.
"A big issue for investors right now is the credibility of UK-listed companies," said Will Hedden, a trader at IG. "It is hard enough to decide where to allocate capital, without the added worry that our biggest names are constantly releasing past skeletons into the open – so many have done so in the past year or two that one wonders when this trend will stop."
Monetary Policy in the UK and Europe
On the monetary policy front, both the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) and the European Central Bank's (ECB) Governing Council opted to leave policy unchanged.
"The MPC maintained the stance of policy, but doubts over the momentum of the recovery suggest there will still be some serious discussions over whether to sanction further asset purchases," said Investec's Philip Shaw.
The ECB also opted to hold its policy stance steady. "Whilst the decision was to sit tight on policy, a rate cut was discussed," said Investec's Victoria Clarke.