Mining stocks topped the FTSE 100 on Friday as precious metals prices extended their gains, while the pound slipped after U.K. economic growth flatlined in July.
As of 11:20 GMT, the blue-chip index FTSE 100 rose 0.4% and the British GBP/USD fell 0.1% against the dollar to 1.35. DAX index in Germany fell 0.1%, the CAC 40 in France dropped 0.5%.
Mining stocks advance in London as precious metals rally
Fresnillo PLC (LON:FRES) led the gains with shares rising about 2.2%. Other miners also performed strongly, with Glencore PLC (LON:GLEN) advancing roughly 2.3%, Endeavour Mining Corp (LON:EDV) climbing 1.7%, and Anglo American PLC (LON:AAL) increasing 0.6%.
The mining sector’s strong performance aligned with rising precious metals prices. Gold was up 0.3% at $3,644.1 per ounce, while silver rose 1.6% to $42.2 an ounce.
The rally in precious metals comes amid signs of a cooling U.S. labor market, which has strengthened expectations for an interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve at its meeting next week, despite recent inflation data coming in slightly above forecasts.
Ocado tumbles after Kroger scales back warehouse expansion plans
In other market news, U.K.-based Ocado Group PLC (LON:OCDO) saw its shares fall more than 10% after Kroger, its largest technology partner, indicated caution on new automated warehouse investments.
This came even as Kroger reported that online delivery sales from its customer fulfillment centers overtook its pickup service for the first time in the period ended August 16.
NVIDIA, OpenAI reportedly plan multi-billion dollar U.K. data center investment
Meanwhile, the CEOs of NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) and OpenAI are planning to pledge billions of dollars to build U.K. data centers during their visit to the country next week, coinciding with U.S. President Donald Trump’s trip, according to Bloomberg and the Financial Times.
The two companies will reportedly partner with London-based data center firm Nscale Global Holdings Ltd. on the project.
Under the plan, the U.K. government is expected to provide energy, OpenAI will offer access to its artificial intelligence tools, and NVIDIA will supply advanced chips for the facilities.
Source :
https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/ftse-100-today-mining-stocks-lead-index--economy-stalls-in-july-4236914
