London, May 16, 2026, 18:04 (BST)
Anglo American shares dropped 5.66% to 3,833p on Friday, cutting short a rally that took the stock to a 52-week high earlier in the week. The London-listed miner hit 4,118p on Wednesday before giving back those gains.
London Stock Exchange stayed closed on Saturday as usual, with investors waiting for trading to start again on Monday. Regular hours for the exchange are 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. BST, Monday to Friday.
Anglo’s timing is in focus. The company has turned into more of a copper play from its merger talks with Teck Resources, but on Friday that wasn’t the whole story—the selling followed metals prices lower. AJ Bell said London-listed miners dropped as gold, silver and copper all fell, with copper down about 5% intraday.
FTSE 100 dropped 1.71% to 10,195.37. Antofagasta slid 10.71%, Rio Tinto slipped 4.76%, and Glencore was down 3.62%. Anglo ended up caught in the middle as miners sold off across the board, with no sign it was a one-off move.
Stocks dropped on Friday as global equities fell and bond yields climbed. Investors showed concern that higher oil prices might keep inflation high. Kenny Polcari, chief market strategist at Slatestone Wealth, said the market had “gotten way ahead of itself” and was now watching bonds more closely. Reuters
Anglo shares had a choppy week. The stock closed at 3,849p on May 8, bounced up to 4,000p by Monday, hit its highest point on Wednesday, then slipped to finish Friday at 3,833p. That left Anglo with a slight loss for the week and a sharp fall into the close.
Teck is still the key story for the stock. Anglo and Teck signed off in September on a plan to create Anglo Teck, which will be based in Canada but keep its main listing in London. The merged group will have over 70% in copper and the split will leave Anglo shareholders with 62.4% and Teck shareholders with 37.6% once it closes.
Anglo American CEO Duncan Wanblad told the annual meeting on April 29 that the deal is a “pivotal moment” and gives shareholders “more than 70% exposure to copper”. Wanblad said the company is finalizing regulatory approvals and still targets closing the transaction later this year or early next. Anglo American
Analysts see the deal as both defensive and growth-focused. Jefferies’ Christopher LaFemina and Patricia Hove described it as “well-constructed” with “compelling economic and strategic rationale”. Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said Anglo had gone “from prey to predator”. Reuters
Anglo American kept its outlook steady after copper output came in up 1% at 170,400 tonnes for the first quarter, thanks to gains at Los Bronces and Collahuasi. Operating conditions haven’t been bad, and the miner said 2026 production and cost guidance for ongoing businesses is unchanged.
No quick bounce is guaranteed. If copper slumps again, if bond yields move higher, or if investors doubt the deal’s execution, the premium on Anglo’s merger could shrink. The risk is that Anglo shares, valued for copper upside, hit a market less keen on paying up for risk. Teck says Canadian regulators have signed off and shareholders support the deal, but closing still needs other steps.
Week looks straightforward, if uneasy: copper takes top billing, then rates, and any updates on the Teck schedule. On Friday, Anglo moved sharply, trading like a commodity name even with the strategic story going another way.
