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Shares of gold mining companies rose as the price of the precious metal hit an all-time high.
Fresnillo rose 5.7 percent, or 30.5 pence, to 572.5 pence, Centamin rose 1.3 percent, or 2 pence, to 156 pence and Hochschild Mining added 4 percent, or 7 pence, to 182.4 pence.
The rally came amid a weaker dollar and growing hopes for U.S. interest rate cuts next week, sending gold prices above $2,560 an ounce, meaning the precious metal has risen by almost a quarter this year.
Endeavour Mining, which also benefited from the rally, said it had started commercial production at two mines in Senegal and the Ivory Coast. Shares gained 10.5 percent, or 175 pence, to 1,836 pence.
Record high: A weaker dollar and rising hopes for U.S. interest rate cuts next week sent gold prices above $2,560 an ounce.
There was also interest in cryptocurrencies. The price of bitcoin will reach an all-time high regardless of who wins the US election, one analyst predicted.
Geoffrey Kendrick of Standard Chartered believes the digital currency will hit $125,000 if former President Donald Trump is re-elected in November.
And a victory for her rival, Vice President Kamala Harris, would push the price of bitcoin to $75,000. It is trading above $58,000 after peaking above $73,000 in March.
Kendrick added that progress in relaxing regulations on banks
Digital asset holdings are likely to continue into next year, regardless of who ends up in the White House.
The FTSE 100 rose 0.4 per cent, or 32.12 points, to 8,273.09 and the FTSE 250 added 1 per cent, or 199.6 points, to 20,895.37.
AstraZeneca has been downgraded by a stockbroker. The pharmaceutical giant, which last month became the first British company to reach a valuation of £200bn, sank after Deutsche Bank Research advised its clients to sell their shares.
Observatory of actions – I will return
Volvere reported a solid first half for its main investment.
The investment group, which focuses on food manufacturing, said Shire Foods’ sales rose 16 per cent to a record £22.2m in the six months to June 30.
The Leamington Spa-based cake maker also saw profits rise from £440,000 to £2.17m.
Volvere owns 80 percent of Shire, which has been in operation for more than 40 years.
The shares rose 6.4 percent, or 90 pence, to 1,500 pence.
Analysts said they had accepted the reality that the Dato-DXd treatment “was not going to be the next breakthrough in lung cancer that we were hoping for last summer.”
This week, AstraZeneca revealed that its experimental precision drug did little to improve overall survival among lung cancer patients.
The group also faced a recent setback in China after a handful of employees were arrested for possible privacy law violations and for distributing a liver cancer drug that has not yet been approved.
Shares fell 1 percent, or 122 pence, to 11,928 pence, taking losses to more than 10 percent in less than two weeks.
Rival GSK released its fourth drug-related update this week. The group said China’s health authority will speed up development of its treatment for a common blood cancer that is considered treatable but not curable.
Results from clinical trials showed that Blenrep combined with another drug improved progression-free survival rates in patients with multiple myeloma. The shares fell 0.3 percent, or 5 pence, to 1,633.5 pence.
Unilever will buy up to £675m of shares from investors between now and mid-December.
The consumer goods group, which owns brands including Lynx, Magnum and Dove, bought more than 13 million shares worth £591 million between May and August. Shares rose 0.3 per cent, or 13p, to 4,939p.
Trainline extended gains a day after revealing its business had been boosted by fewer rail strikes and more customers switching to digital tickets. Shares added 0.4 percent, or 1.2 pence, to 329 pence.
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