London’s FTSE 100 rose 0.5% to near 9,700 on Monday, in line with other European peers, as investors focused on a busy week of economic data, alongside policy decisions from central banks including the Bank of England, which is expected to cut rates. Precious metals miners and retailers led the gains. Endeavour Mining and Fresnillo were at the top of the index, up 3.8% and 3.7% respectively, tracking higher prices of gold. Other miners such as Antofagasta and Glencore also advanced, each adding 1.5%, benefiting from rising prices of copper. Marks and Spencer Group and Burberry Group rose 1.6% and 1.5%, respectively. On the downside, St James’s Place (-2.3%) and AB Foods (-1.3%) were the biggest laggards. Shares of Hikma Pharmaceuticals slipped more than 1% following the announcement that its chief executive is stepping down, coming just over a month after a profit warning.
