The FTSE 100 rose 91.5 points, or 1.4 per cent, on Thursday to close at 6,724.5, just eight points shy of the seven-year high reached on June 15 and 206 points away from its record closing high of 6,930.2 recorded at the height of the dotcom bubble. The FTSE 250 meanwhile, was up 110.8 points, or 1 per cent, to 11,622.9. Trading was heavy, with almost 4bn shares changing hands. Mining shares led the rally. Antofagasta rise 4.2 per cent to a record high of 871½p, Xstrata add 4 per cent to £35.92 and Vedanta Resources move up 5.8 per cent to a record £23.17. Takeover rumours in the oil industry also spurred growth. BG Group was one of the biggest risers (4.7 per cent at 883p) after rumours that Brazilian Petrobras and Royal Dutch Shell were interested in a takeover.

This entry was posted by Sam Jones on Friday, October 12th, 2007 at 5:19 and is filed under Capital markets. Tagged with antofagasta, bg group, petrobras, Royal Dutch Shell, vedanta, xstrata. Edit this entry.