London, May 16, 2026, 23:01 (BST)
Antofagasta plc closed out the London week with a sharp break lower, falling 10.71% to 3,810p on Friday as UK stocks sold off and miners bore the brunt. The FTSE 100, the benchmark index of large UK-listed companies, fell 1.7% to 10,195.37, its biggest one-day drop in more than eight weeks.
The move matters because the stock had been one of the cleaner London trades on copper strength. With the London Stock Exchange shut for the weekend — normal trading runs Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. London time — investors are left to mark the shares against Friday’s close rather than a live market.
The week was not a straight slide. Antofagasta rose to 4,299p on Wednesday before dropping to 3,810p by Friday, leaving the shares down about 2.2% from the previous Friday’s 3,897.5p close despite the mid-week surge.
Copper set the tone. On Wednesday, copper futures touched $14,191 a tonne intraday, and Antofagasta rose 3.67%; peers Anglo American, Rio Tinto and Glencore also gained as the mining trade firmed across London. By Friday, that momentum had gone stale.
The broader market backdrop turned rough. Reuters reported that UK equities, bonds and sterling fell on Friday as investors weighed domestic political risk, higher oil prices and inflation worries tied to the Middle East conflict. Neil Wilson, investor strategist at Saxo UK, said markets would not like the idea of a more left-leaning prime minister with looser fiscal views.
There was little relief elsewhere. “There’s a downbeat feel around at the end of the week,” said Susannah Streeter, chief investment strategist at Wealth Club, adding that “big problems crowd in, without resolutions in sight.” AJ Bell
Antofagasta is a UK-listed, Chile-focused miner whose business is built around copper and by-products such as gold, silver and molybdenum. Its main mines include Los Pelambres, Centinela, Antucoya and Zaldívar, which makes the stock more exposed to copper swings than more diversified miners.
The company’s last operating update gave bulls something to hold. First-quarter copper production fell 7.6% year on year to 143,000 tonnes, but Antofagasta kept 2026 production guidance at 650,000 to 700,000 tonnes and capital spending guidance at $3.4 billion. Net cash costs — a mining measure of cost per pound after credits from by-products — were $1.08 a pound; CEO Iván Arriagada said the copper price remained “constructive in 2026” and that medium-term fundamentals were “compelling.” Antofagasta
Chairman Jean-Paul Luksic struck the same long-term note at the annual meeting on May 7, saying the “outlook for copper remains compelling,” while also pointing to a “heightened level of uncertainty” in the macro backdrop. He said projects at Centinela and Los Pelambres were expected to help lift copper production by around 30% before 2030. Antofagasta
But the risk is that Friday’s selloff proves more than a pause. A further copper retreat, a stronger dollar, higher oil-driven inflation or tighter supply-chain conditions could hit sentiment quickly; Goldman Sachs has also flagged sulphuric acid shortages as a potential risk to copper output, including in Chile, even while keeping a 2026 copper price forecast.
The week ahead is therefore less about a scheduled company update and more about the copper tape. Antofagasta’s next dated operating event is its Q2 production report on July 15, followed by half-year results on Aug. 13, so Monday’s reopen is likely to trade first on metals prices, peer moves and the wider UK risk mood.
