The FTSE 100 closed in the green on Friday helped higher by stronger commodities as the UK entered a period of mourning following the death of Queen Elizabeth on Thursday at the age of 96.
As the nation mourns the monarch’s death for a 10 day period, the Bank of England has postponed their next meeting and the London Stock Exchange may close for a time as part of the official grieving procedure.
“The only implications could be that they may be closing the London Stock market for a few days,” said Plurimi Wealth chief investment officer Patrick Armstrong.
“If there are days where the market is closed, that may lead to some weakness where people don’t want to hold positions into an extended period, especially given the volatility with the Federal Reserve coming up with their next hike in a couple of weeks.”
The FTSE 100 closed 1.2% higher on Friday at 7,351, and climbed 0.9% in the last week.
Miners pull FTSE 100 higher
Miners were the big performers of the day, with commodities firms topping the blue chip index as copper prices climbed on a weaker dollar and Chinese inflation came in below expectations.
Anglo American shares soared 5% to 2,935.7p, Antofagasta gained 4.2% to 1,199.7p, Croda climbed 2.7% to 6,837p, Endeavor increased 1.7% to 1,757p, Glencore rose 3.7% to 488.7p and Rio Tinto gained 2.9% to 4,863.7p.
BP and Shell shares recovered some ground after oil prices rose on supply fears, with shares increasing 2% to 452p and 1.4% to 2,303.7p, respectively. The price of benchmark Brent crude reached $91 per barrel after dropping below the $90 level earlier in the week.
Bank of England postpones interest rates decision
The Bank of England announced a postponement to its interest rates decision due to the Queen’s death.
The Bank moved its report to 22 September from its originally scheduled date on 15 September.
“In light of the period of national mourning now being observed in the United Kingdom, the September 2022 meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee has been postponed for a period of one week,” said the Bank of England in a statement.
“The Committee’s decision will be announced at 12pm on 22 September.”
Analysts are currently expecting a rates hike to 2.25% from its current level of 1.75%, which would mark the highest interest rates for the UK since December 2008.
The institution currently faces soaring inflation rates at 10.1%, with projections of 13% inflation in October this year.
Experts currently expect more aggressive rate hikes as the Bank attempts to wrestle spiking prices closer to its mandated target of 2%.