FTSE 100 Doing The Most

London’s FTSE 100 climbed by 0.2 percent on Thursday to reach its highest level since February last year, boosted by gains in mining and banking stocks.

‘The blue-chip index was fired up by stocks including Anglo American, whose 1.5 percent rise came after the company said it would spin off its thermal coal assets in South Africa.

The FTSE 100 has logged strong gains so far this year on the back of speedy vaccine rollouts and renewed economic optimism.

British firms sharply stepped up hiring and offered higher pay to new staff last month as confidence grew in the country’s Covid recovery.

Meanwhile, the mid-cap FTSE 250 slipped 0.02 percent after scaling a record high in the previous session.

The morning’s biggest winner was takeaway giant Just Eat, which rose 4.8 percent, closely followed by Johnson Matthey, up by 3.2 percent.

Electricity firm National Grid and Sage also rose 2.4 percent and 2.3 percent respectively.

Insurance provider Aviva was the morning’s biggest faller, dropping by 3.3 percent, followed by Prudential’s 2.8 percent hit.

Meanwhile, British Land and vaccine maker Smurfit Kappa both dipped by two percent and 2.4 percent respectively.