The FTSE 100 jumped more than 1% on Wednesday as strong gains in the heavyweight mining and oil sectors powered the UK benchmark to a new record high.
Big price increases for crude, gold, silver, copper and platinum propped up resource stocks in London, with the Footsie more than recovering after political uncertainty in Westminster limited upside on the index earlier in the week.
The FTSE 100 settled 1.14% higher at 10,472.11, topping an earlier all-time closing high of 10,402.34 reached on 4 February, and extending its year-to-date gain to 5.24%.
"The FTSE 100 has managed to outperform its European peers, with its exposure to the commodity space helping lift the index amid gains for the price of oil and a weakening US dollar," said Joshua Mahony, chief market analyst at Scope Markets.
Stocks also held on to gains after a hotly anticipated US employment report, which showed private sector employers added 130,000 jobs in January, up from 48,000 in December and well above consensus estimates of 55,000. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate edged down from 4.4% to 4.3%, beating forecasts for no change.
"One conundrum about the US economy in 2025 was the weak labour market combined with strong economic growth. However, it seems like the US labour market turned a corner at the end of 2025, and since the labour market is a lagging economic indicator, we could see further strength in the jobs data as the labour market plays catch up with the real economy," said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB.
Miners rally, St James's Place slides
FTSE 100-listed miners Antofagasta, Anglo American and Rio Tinto all rallied, along with precious metals miner Fresnillo and oil giant BP, as commodity prices rose across the board.
On the downside, wealth manager St James's Place tumbled 13% after US wealth platform Altruist unveiled a new AI tax planning tool, raising competition concerns.
Relx, Sage Group, Experian and Pearson also fell again as worries about the impact of AI on the software sector resurfaced.
Housebuilders were in focus after Barratt Redrow underwhelmed the market with "resilient [results] in a subdued market". Fiscal first-half completions were up 4.7% on the previous year. The stock erased most of its earlier heavy losses by the close, while sector peers Taylor Wimpey, Persimmon and Berkeley all rose.