Rio Tinto's announcement it is to pay $38.1bn in cash for Canadian aluminium producer Alcan led to major increases in mining stocks today - pushing the FTSE 100 up 82.6 points, or 1.25%, to 6697.7.
The mining giant’s share price suffered though; Rio closed down 183 points, or 4.58%, to 3810. But Vedanta Resources, Antofagasta and Xstrata fared much better. Vedanta finished up 109 points, or 6.45%, to 1800; Antofagasta was up 43 points, or 6.39%, to 715.5; while Xstrata closed up 153 points, or 4.67%, to 3427. British Airways was the best non-mining performer; BA soared to end the day up 22 points, or 5.26%, to 440.5. In New York, the Dow Jones is surging to new record highs this morning, as investors welcome the multi-billion dollar M&A news. The index is up 161.36 points, or 1.1...
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