LONDON MARKETS: U.K. Stocks Rise For 2nd Day, Boosted By Copper Rally And Pound Pullback

Sterling slips to $1.4125

U.K. stocks rose for a second straight day on Monday, with miners leading the charge higher as copper prices rallied and Anglo American advanced after a project sale.

A drop in the pound also helped prop up the internationally-exposed London benchmark.

What are markets doing?

The FTSE 100 index inched 0.1% higher to 7,672.44, building on a 0.7% gain from Friday (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/uk-stocks-rebound-from-1-month-low-as-astrazeneca-rises-after-trial-results-2018-01-26).

The pound dropped to $1.4125, down from $1.4160 late Friday in New York. Sterling last week jumped above $1.43 for the first time since the U.K.'s EU referendum in June 2016, boosted by hopes Brussels and London will agree on a Brexit deal and by a sharp selloff in the dollar.

What's driving the market?

The pound pullback helped the FTSE advance on Monday, as it can boost the earnings of the London benchmark's many internationally exposed companies. About 75% of the FTSE's revenue is generated overseas, making the index particularly sensitive to pound swings, as weakness in the currency may boost revenue of multinationals.

Miners were also driving the market higher, with shares of Anglo American PLC (AAL.LN) among the biggest advancers. The company said it has sold the New Largo thermal-coal project (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/anglo-american-sells-new-largo-project-2018-01-29) and Old New Largo closed colliery in South Africa for 850 million rand ($71.5 million) in cash.

The mining sector also tracked a 0.9% rally in copper prices on Monday.

Which stocks are moving?

Shares of Anglo American gained 1.4% after the project sale, while Glencore PLC (GLEN.LN) added 1.8% and Rio Tinto PLC (RIO) (RIO) (RIO) put on 1.4%.

Shares of AstraZeneca PLC (AZN.LN) (AZN.LN) fell 0.6%, paring back after a 1% gain on Friday that came after the drugmaker released positive results for its PT010 therapy (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/astrazeneca-sees-positive-lung-treatment-results-2018-01-26) for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 29, 2018 04:15 ET (09:15 GMT)