Precious metal mining company, Polymetal International, has joined the FTSE 100 following the index’s latest quarterly review.
The Russian precious metal producer joined the index in the first FTSE reshuffle since the EU referendum. Its share price has seen a great deal of volatility over the last five years, but has received a boost as the referendum result helped increase the price of gold – often viewed by investors as a safe haven during times of uncertainty.
The FTSE 100 has remained relatively resilient since the ‘leave’ vote, as the globally-focused companies that dominate the index have benefitted from the fall in the Pound. That said, the Pound this week rose more than a Cent against the Dollar after the UK purchasing managers’ index, which measures manufacturing activity, rose to a 10-month high of 53.3 during August. Any measure above 50 indicates growth, whilst the previous month’s figure of 48.3 showed a decline.
However, there was bad news for Berkeley Group, which now drops into the FTSE 250. The Surrey-based group was amongst housebuilders seeing a fall in their share price after the vote to leave the EU. Property groups have been amongst the hardest-hit since the referendum, with concerns over the impact of a weaker economic climate on the demand for housing. The demotion of the group, which builds homes in south-east England, comes only 12 months after it joined the index.
Gambling company, GVC Holdings, has now entered the FTSE 250, along with Hunting, an energy services provider to oil and gas companies.
Pendragon, a multinational operator of franchised car dealerships in the UK, drops out of the FTSE 250, as does biopharmaceutical company, Circassia Pharmeuticals, which focuses on the development of immunotherapy products for the treatment of allergies.
Changes to the indices will come into effect from Monday 19th September 2016.
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