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FTSE 100 Live: Stocks to smash new record, Anglo American rejects BHP bid, NatWest reports

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London-listed miner Anglo American (JO:AGLJ) has rejected a surprise advance from Australian mining megacap BHP.

In a statement, Anglo’s board said the proposal “significantly undervalues Anglo American and its future prospects”.

Anglo said the structure of the deal “is highly unattractive for Anglo American’s shareholders, given the uncertainty and complexity inherent in the Proposal, and significant execution risks”.

Stuart Chambers, chairman of Anglo American, called the offer “opportunistic” and advised shareholders to take no action in relation to the proposal

Stocks to hit another record

FTSE 100 futures contracts have the index swimming to another record high this Friday in what has been a resoundingly strong week for equity and company earnings.

The index closed at the third record peak for the week of 8,079 yesterday, and it is tipped to open another 71 points higher to 8,150 today.

A string of stellar big-cap financial results from the likes of Barclays (LON:BARC), AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN), Unilever (LON:ULVR) and London Stock Exchange Group (LON:LSEG) support the index on Thursday; today, NatWest (LON:NWG) Group could continue the trends with its trading update.

It has also emerged that Anglo American has rejected the bombshell takeover bid from Aussie megacap BHP as it “significantly undervalues Anglo American and its future prospects”.

A profit beat from Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) in the US will surely support domestic equities even further.