London, May 16, 2026, 23:01 (BST)
London’s Antofagasta plc got hit Friday, dropping 10.71% to finish at 3,810p. Miners took a heavy hit as UK equities slid. The FTSE 100 dropped 1.7% to 10,195.37, logging its steepest loss in over eight weeks.
The move is notable since the stock had been considered a straightforward London play on copper strength. With the London Stock Exchange closed for the weekend — regular hours are Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. London — traders can only compare prices to Friday’s close, not to live trading.
Antofagasta shares had some swings this week. The stock jumped to 4,299p on Wednesday but then sank to 3,810p at Friday’s close. That put the shares 2.2% below last week’s finish at 3,897.5p. The mid-week rally didn’t hold.
Copper drove the market early. Copper futures hit $14,191 a tonne during Wednesday’s session, sending Antofagasta up 3.67%. Anglo American, Rio Tinto and Glencore also picked up as miners rallied in London. The trade lost steam by Friday.
Market sentiment soured on Friday. UK stocks, bonds and sterling slipped after Reuters said investors are watching local political risk, oil gains, and new inflation concerns from the Middle East conflict. Neil Wilson, investor strategist at Saxo UK, said markets would balk at a prime minister seen as more left-wing and fiscally loose.
No real relief turned up in other areas. “There’s a downbeat feel around at the end of the week,” said Susannah Streeter, chief investment strategist at Wealth Club. She said “big problems crowd in, without resolutions in sight.” AJ Bell
Antofagasta trades in London and runs mines in Chile, mostly focused on copper, plus by-products like gold, silver, and molybdenum. Los Pelambres, Centinela, Antucoya, and Zaldívar are its main assets. That focus ties the shares more tightly to copper prices than some wider mining peers.
Antofagasta’s latest trading update gave bulls a reason to stay in. Copper output for the first quarter slipped 7.6% from a year earlier, down to 143,000 tonnes. But the miner kept its guidance for 2026, still projecting 650,000 to 700,000 tonnes of production and $3.4 billion in capital spend. Net cash costs landed at $1.08 a pound. CEO Iván Arriagada stuck to his view that copper prices are “constructive in 2026” with “compelling” medium-term fundamentals, according to the company’s update.
Chairman Jean-Paul Luksic kept up the long-term message at the May 7 annual meeting, telling investors the “outlook for copper remains compelling.” He flagged “a heightened level of uncertainty” in the broad economic picture. Luksic said projects at Centinela and Los Pelambres are expected to boost copper output by about 30% before 2030. Antofagasta
There’s a risk that Friday’s selloff is more than a brief break. If copper keeps dropping, the dollar gets stronger, or higher oil prices feed through to inflation, market mood could sour fast. Supply-chain snags could add pressure. Goldman Sachs pointed out that sulphuric acid shortages remain a threat to copper production, especially in Chile, even as it sticks with its 2026 copper price outlook.
Antofagasta: Copper prices set the tone ahead of next update Antofagasta (ANTO) has no big company news due this week, with its Q2 production report coming July 15 and half-year numbers on Aug. 13. Monday’s open will probably hinge more on copper prices, moves in peers and how UK risk trades than any scheduled update.
