FTSE 100 Gains as Commodity Stocks Rally

2026-08-19 16:15 By Agna Gabriel 1 min. read

The FTSE 100 edged higher on Wednesday, outperforming other European markets as strong gains in mining and energy stocks supported the index.

Gold miners Fresnillo and Endeavour Mining surged more than 7% as gold prices jumped over 3%, boosted by the US Treasury’s decision to expand buybacks of longer-dated government debt.

Mining giants Glencore and Anglo American gained almost 5%, while Antofagasta rose around 4% and Rio Tinto added 3.5%.

Oil majors Shell and BP also advanced about 0.9% as crude prices continued to climb.

AstraZeneca gained more than 2%, tracking strength across the pharmaceutical sector.

In contrast, Smith & Nephew fell 3.8% after CFO John Rogers announced his departure for a US-based position.

On the data front, UK inflation accelerated to 2.9% in July from 2.6% in June, matching expectations.

The data led traders to modestly scale back expectations for a Bank of England rate increase this year.



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