FTSE 100 movers: Miners gain as copper prises rise; retailers slump

(Sharecast News) - London's FTSE 100 was flat at 9,297.83 in afternoon trade on Friday. Heavily-weighted miners Glencore, Antofagasta and Anglo American all rose as copper prices rallied.

Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, said "copper is the new gold".

"The price of copper has once again breached $10,000 a tonne," she noted.

"This is significant, the copper price is often considered a proxy for global growth, and it has only ever breached this level a handful of times, most recently in March. The question now is, will the price be able to stay at this level, and what does it mean for other asset classes.

"The break above this psychological level in copper comes at the same time as Anglo American announced a deal with Teck Resources earlier this week, which will make one of the world's largest copper producers. This timing of this deal is not accidental, it suggests that the world is going crazy for copper, and they want a (big) slice of the pie."

Elsewhere, insurers Beazley and Hiscox also advanced.

On the downside, retailers JD Sports, Marks & Spencer and Sainsbury's all fell.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, noted the weakness in retail stocks and pointed to the uninspiring UK GDP data released earlier, which showed the economy flatlined in July. He highlighted that retailers "depend on the consumer feeling happy to splash the cash".