Britain's top share index rallied for a fourth straight session on Wednesday as appetite grew for underperformers in the mining sector, led by a surge in miner Glencore. The FTSE 100 was up 2.9 percent at 6,030.32 points at its close, taking gains over the last four sessions to almost 9 percent. Commodities and mining firm Glencore soared 16.6 percent, touching its highest level since November, although the volatile stock has lost around two-thirds of its value since May.
Traders said the firm's early refinancing of some of its debt was supporting the stock. The debt had been under close watch as falling commodity prices put a strain on balance sheets. "One of the main reasons for the relative underperformance in the mining sector and Glencore was ... high debt levels and risks of more credit downgrades," Atif Latif, director at Guardian Stockbrokers, said.
"We are pleased to see this news allowing some de-risking on the share price as balance sheet concerns have eased." Anglo American surged 17.6 percent, extending a rise from the previous session. Deutsche Bank raised its target price on the stock, saying that the plan to sell certain assets was "designed to navigate Anglo to a more manageable gearing level".
"We could not have asked for a bigger or more detailed plan, but now we move to timely execution," analysts at Deutsche Bank said in a note. The UK mining sector is up around 38 percent since mid-January, when it hit 12-1/2 year lows. Retailer Sainsbury rose 4.8 percent, also benefiting from a target price upgrade. Exane BNP Paribas lifted the grocer to "outperform" from "neutral", saying that the market under-appreciated the potential benefits from its recently agreed deal to buy Home Retail. AstraZeneca rose 2.3 percent after the US Food and Drug Administration granted breakthrough therapy designation to its biggest new drug hope durvalumab as a treatment for bladder cancer.