London’s blue-chip index pushed higher on Monday as resources stocks raced ahead on the back of rising commodity prices.
The FTSE 100 Index closed up 20.23 points to 7,531.94, with Anglo American leading the charge after iron ore prices rallied in China in response to falling inventories and rising demand.
Shares in Anglo rose more than 3%, or 39.5p to 1,310p, while Glencore climbed 8.8p to 346.6p and Rio Tinto was 91p higher at 3,637p.
Connor Campbell, financial analyst at Spreadex, said: “After flagging around lunchtime the FTSE stole a bit of buzz from the US open to climb 0.2%, re-hitting 7530 in the process.
“The UK index isn’t too far off its own all-time high, though with such a dreary week on the cards it may need another sharp drop from the pound to propel it back to those levels.”
On the oil markets, Brent crude gave up early morning gains, sinking 1.7% to 51.54 US dollars a barrel at the time of the London market close.