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The FTSE 100 closed higher on Tuesday after Anglo American announced a deal to combine with Canada’s Teck Resources, while the price of oil has risen following Israeli strikes on Hamas leaders in Qatar. The FTSE 100 index closed up 21.09 points, 0.2%, at 9,242.53. The FTSE 250 ended 87.74 points lower, 0.4%, at 21,596.71 and the AIM All-Share finished down 1.43 points, 0.2%, at 768.30. The Cboe UK 100 ended up 0.1% at 926.58, the Cboe UK 250 closed 0.3% lower at 18,926.89 and the Cboe Small Companies finished down 0.5% at 17,109.68. Anglo American rose 9.1%. The miner has agreed a deal to combine with Teck Resources, creating a ‘critical minerals champion and top five global copper producer’. The ‘merger of equals’ will see Anglo issue 1.3301 ordinary shares to Teck shareholders, in exchange for each outstanding Teck class A common share and class B subordinate voting share. The enlarged firm is expected to have stock market listings in London, Johannesburg, Toronto and New York, the latter through American depositary receipts. ‘We see the merger proposition as compelling for Anglo, enhancing its copper exposure, while further strengthening the growth proposition over the next decade,’ said Citi analyst Ephrem Ravi. The M&A impetus in the mining sector also lifted shares in Glencore and Antofagasta, which were up 5.3% and 2.0% respectively. Teck was up 14% in New York. Elsewhere, the oil price spiked in afternoon trade as Israel confirmed it had carried out air strikes on Doha in an operation targeting senior leaders of Palestinian militant group Hamas. A barrel of Brent traded at $66.91 late Tuesday afternoon, up from $66.31 on Monday, on fears the strike will reignite tensions within the region. Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman slammed the attack, calling it a ‘criminal act’. Israel notified the US before it carried out the strikes, a White House official said. In Europe, the CAC 40 in Paris ended up 0.2%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt closed 0.4% lower. French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou was set to submit his resignation to President Emmanuel Macron after parliament ousted the government on Monday, with the French leader rushing to find a successor in a deepening political crisis. On Monday, Bayrou suffered a crushing loss in the confidence vote he had himself called, plunging France into fresh uncertainty and leaving Macron with the task of finding the seventh premier of his mandate. In a parting shot before the vote, Bayrou told lawmakers: ‘You have the power to topple the government, but you don’t have the power to erase reality,’ referring to France’s debt mountain. The French president’s office said in a statement that Macron ‘took note’ of the outcome and would name a new premier ‘in the next days’, ending any remaining speculation that the president could instead call snap elections. The political uncertainty comes days before the next European Central Bank decision, at which it is widely expected to lave interest rates unchanged. In New York, at the time of the London equities market close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.3%, the S&P 500 rose 0.1%, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.1%. Figures from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics showed it had overestimated total nonfarm employment by 911,000 jobs, or 0.6%, in the 12 months through March 2025, according to its preliminary benchmark revision. The annual revision is part of the agency’s routine reconciliation between survey-based employment estimates and more complete counts derived from state unemployment insurance records. The downward revision far exceeds the 10-year average revision of 0.2%. The pound eased to $1.3531 late on Tuesday afternoon in London, compared to $1.3545 at the equities close on Monday. The euro dipped to $1.1724, against $1.1749. Against the yen, the dollar was trading lower at JP¥147.20 compared to JP¥147.60. The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was quoted at 4.08%, stretched from 4.05% on Monday. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury was quoted at 4.73%, widened from 4.71%. On London’s FTSE 250, Diversified Energy rose 5.5% as it announced a move to acquire Canvas Energy for $550 million. ‘The acquisition adds complementary operated producing properties and acreage positions in Oklahoma, concentrated in Major, Kingfisher, and Canadian Counties,’ it explained. ‘Included in the acquisition are approximately 23 high quality wells that have been turned to sales in the last 12 months.’ But homeware provider Dunelm was out of favour, tumbling 10%, as it highlighted lacklustre consumer confidence alongside in line results. Russ Mould, analyst at AJ Bell commented: ‘Dunelm is holding its head above water in a tricky retail environment, yet investors clearly want more judging by the negative market response to its latest results.’ The Leicestershire, England-based company said pretax profit rose 2.7% to £211.0 million in the 52 weeks to June 28 from £205.4 million the year prior. Diluted earnings per share increased 3.2% to 76.8 pence from 74.4p. Revenue climbed 3.8% to £1.77 billion from £1.71 billion, as its market share of the combined homewares and furniture market rose to 7.9% from 7.7%. ‘A solid enough update from Dunelm, albeit with no obvious new news,’ commented Grace Gilberg, an analyst at Jefferies. ‘After a good recovery in the shares since April, and no definite signal of an improving consumer, this update could temper near-term enthusiasm. The shares trade on [around] 15x PE, and we retain our neutral stance,’ she continued. Gold ebbed to $3,640.80 an ounce on Tuesday against $3,644.14 on Monday. The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Anglo American, up 207.00 pence at 2,490.00p, Glencore, up 15.15p at 301.65p, Airtel Africa, up 8.00p at 223.60p, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, up 150.00p at 6,730.00p and NatWest, up 10.20p at 522.20p. The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were London Stock Exchange, down 434.00p at 8,826.00p, Howden Joinery, down 25.00p at 830.50p, JD Sports, down 2.08p at 93.40p, Ashtead Group, down 118.00p at 5,474.00p and Fresnillo, down 42.00p at 2,136.00p. Wednesday’s local corporate calendar has a trading statement from Primark owner Associated British Foods, and half year results from housebuilder Vistry. The global economic calendar on Wednesday has a Chinese inflation print overnight, plus US producer price inflation figures. Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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