British stocks jump as mining shares track surge in silver prices

British shares rose on Monday, led by gains in mining stocks as silver prices jumped on strong retail demand, while fashion retailer ASOS gained on a deal to buy rival brands and JD Sports surged following its second acquisition in the United States.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 index gained 0.8%, recovering from its worst session in three months, with miners and construction stocks gaining the most. The mid-cap index added 0.6%.

Silver prices surged to an eight-year high, silver-mining stocks leapt and bullion dealers were scrambling as small-time investors piled in to the metal, the latest target of a retail-trading frenzy that has set financial markets on edge.

"Silver has knock-on effects compared to GameStop because it has links to miners, and then the miners themselves have an impact on how the FTSE 100 performs," said Connor Campbell, a financial analyst at SpreadEx.

"If you start pushing silver higher, that is going to have effects on other industrious and other markets and that is clearly what happened."

Miners BHP Group, Glencore and Anglo American were the top boosts to the index.

The FTSE 100 has recovered nearly 30% from its March 2020 lows and is 15% away from its highest point last year, led by stimulus support and re-opening optimism, but a recent surge in coronavirus infections and fresh lockdowns capped further gains.

Shares of ASOS gained 3.9% after buying Topshop, Topman, Miss Selfridge and HIIT brands from the administrators of Philip Green's collapsed Arcadia group for 265 million pounds ($364 million).

Britain's biggest sportswear retailer JD Sports jumped 6.3% on a takeover deal to buy DTLR Villa, its second acquisition in the United States, as the retailer expands its business in the West Coast.

Hargreaves Lansdown dropped 1.7% even after the company raised its dividend and posted a 10% jump in profit for the first half of its fiscal year.