As Donald Trump Jr flew to Greenland, Amaroq Minerals was higher than ever.
The president-elect’s eldest son landed in the capital Nuuk on a ‘personal day-trip’ hours after his father repeated his wish for the US to take control of the autonomous Danish territory.
Trump, who takes office later this month, is unhappy that about 90 per cent of the world’s supply of certain minerals critical to the manufacture of electric car batteries rests in the hands of Russia and China.
He sees Greenland’s reserves as key to redressing that imbalance, pledging to ‘make Greenland great again’.
Mining group Amaroq, backed by Louis Bacon, the billionaire founder of hedge fund Moore Capital, owns strategic mineral reserves as well as gold projects in Greenland.
Its shares, already 38.5 per cent higher last year, making it one of Aim’s best-performing miners, advanced a further 3.4 per cent, or 3.5p, to a record 107p, valuing Amaroq at more than £410million.
Donald Trump Jr landed in Greenland on a ‘personal day-trip’ hours after his father repeated his wish for the US to take control of the autonomous Danish territory.
But other miners were unsettled by Trump, who poured cold water on a report that his tariff plans could be scaled back. Rio Tinto slipped 1 per cent, or 48p, to 4665.5p on another lacklustre day in London.
Concern that stiffer US tariffs could exacerbate stubborn inflationary pressures continued to drive up bond yields, diminishing the relative attraction of equities.
The FTSE 100 inched down 0.1 per cent, or 4.38 points, to 8245.28 and the FTSE 250 eased 1.3 per cent, or 262.28 points, to 20,350.37.
Cautious investors preferred to take their lead from research notes. Housebuilder Vistry, which delivered its third profit warning in as many months in the run up to Christmas, fell 4.4 per cent, or 25p, to 547p after UBS cut its target price for the shares from 605p to 495p and again urged clients to sell them.
Rapidly falling profits and rising debts raise concerns about Vistry’s ability to recover, UBS said.
Emily Biddulph, Barclays’ housebuilding analyst, remained positive about the sector this year, but downgraded her rating on Taylor Wimpey, largely on valuation grounds, sending the shares down 4.5 per cent, or 5.35p, to 114.6p.
Banks, like housebuilders, are a proxy for the health of the economy. And like housebuilders, they were friendless. NatWest fell 3.5 per cent, or 14.5p, to 395.2p and Barclays slid 2.6 per cent, or 7.1p, to 265.7p.
Among the mid-caps, Raspberry Pi extended Monday’s sharp fall, losing a further 6.1 per cent, or 37p, to 571p after HSBC downgraded its rating.
The DIY computer maker ripped higher in December after it was revealed that America’s SW Investment Management had amassed a 3.59 per cent stake.
Bank of America reinstated retailer JD Sports (up 3.6 per cent, or 3.56p, to 101.5p) as a ‘buy’, while Citi told clients to sell broker AJ Bell (down 6.6 per cent, or 30p, to 422p).
On Aim, Worcester-based carpet maker Victoria jumped 13.6 per cent, or 13.5p, to 112.8p on further consideration of recent share buying by its directors and the sale of its Turkish tiles business.
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