Stronger oil and commodity prices boost the bourse

The Market Report with Katie Pilbeam.

FTSE 100 opened well up supported by the COVID-19 vaccine rollout as well as stronger oil and commodity prices. London’s leading index rose 34 points to 6,790 in early trading.

BHP () raised its interim dividend by 55% after hitting record production levels in Australia and Chile. The miner benefitted from the surge in the price of copper and iron ore.

Conversely, lower coal prices hit competitor Glencore (), which posted a 34% decline in full-year revenues to US$142bn. Earnings were flat at US$11bn.

In the retail sector, Dunelm’s () deputy chairman Will Adderley cashed in £192mln after selling 15mln shares, representing 7.4% of the issued share capital. The son of founders Bill and Jean Adderley retains a 17.8% stake.

Elsewhere, Pan African Resources () boosted gold production 5.9% to 98,386 ounces in the six months to December 2020. It leaves the company on track to produce 190,000 ounces of gold this year.

Pelatro () said its flagship product has gone fully live at its largest customer in Asia. The telecom customer engagement hub software specialist won this five-year managed services contract at the end of 2019.

The new listing flurry continued in London today with three new entries on the books. Cannabis group Kanabo has a standard listing, Cornish Metals has joined AIM and Cordiant Digital is in the specialist funds segment.