Britain’s blue-chip share index has closed at a new all-time high for a second day running.
The FTSE 100 jumped to close at 7,120.26 on Thursday night,14 points above the previous record set on Wednesday.
Precious metal miners such as Randgold Resources and Fresnillo climbed more than 4 per cent, pushing the index into record territory.
The rally was spurred by the price of gold, which rose 1.3 per cent to $1,156.90 an ounce.
Engineering firms Ashtead and Rolls-Royce were the biggest fallers, dropping 2.4 per cent to 1,569p and 1.75 per cent to 674p respectively.
It comes after the FTSE 100 hit a record high close on Wednesday, beating the 7,103.98 point mark set in April 2015, boosted in part by the collapse in the value of the pound since the Brexit vote.
The pound is down about 10 per cent against the euro since the EU referendum in June, and is 17 per cent weaker against the US dollar.
Sterling’s post referendum slump has boosted the FTSE 100 as many companies make a significant proportion of their profits abroad.
This means these companies make more money when sterling is weak.
David Cheetham, market analyst at online trading group XTB, said: “Observers of the markets have for many years noticed a strong propensity for stocks to rise in the period between Christmas and the New Year and this phenomenon appears to be playing out once more.”
