Glencore

The FTSE 100 has risen almost 1% this morning to retake the 7,000 level, as all sectors except materials enjoy gains.

JO Hambro Capital Management's Clive Beagles has blamed an underweight in defensive stocks for the underperformance of the £2.7bn UK Equity Income fund last year but said he refuses to invest in "bond lookalikes".

Natural resources

Mining giant Rio Tinto has rebuffed a takeover bid from rival Glencore in August which would have created the world's largest listed mining group.

The FTSE 100 had a "historic" day yesterday after global mining giant Glencore appointed its first female director.

Former BP chief executive Tony Hayward will become interim chairman of merged commodities giant Glencore Xstrata, after shareholders ousted Xstrata incumbent Sir John Bond.

The merger of Glencore and Xstrata to form the world's largest mining company has finally been approved by shareholders, but has claimed the job of Xstrata chairman Sir John Bond in a row over pay.

Standard Life Investments (SLI), one of Xstrata's top ten shareholders, has vowed to vote against the proposed executive pay deal Xstrata board members are due to receive after merging with Glencore.

The planned merger of Glencore and Xstrata has been given the green light by Xstrata's independent board members, who have backed Glencore's revised $33bn bid for the company.

Glencore has revised the terms of its proposed merger with Xstrata again, following a backlash from shareholders on Friday over the terms of the deal.