Mining Stocks Drive London Index Higher as Copper Hits Fresh Peak

The London stock market's blue-chip index rose last week due in part to mining stocks, with diversified miners leading the way. Rio Tinto was among the top performers, closing out the session before a long weekend as one of the sector's heavy hitters.

Copper prices have been driving the market's momentum, reaching a fresh peak and staying near it by the end of the week. This has led to a re-rating of exposure rather than earnings for miners with a growing copper presence, such as Rio Tinto. The company is not a pure copper play but benefits from its copper arm attached to a bulk commodity base.

Alongside copper, precious metals also saw significant gains, particularly silver, which outpaced gold and reached record territory. This unusual configuration of industrial and defensive metals advancing together removed the usual argument about which type of demand is driving the market.