Glencore, this year’s worst performer on the FTSE 100, had its biggest weekly gain in more than three years on London’s stock market as the miner and commodity trader unveiled a $10 billion (€8.8 billion) plan to cut debt.

Shares rose 0.7 per cent to close at 133.80p on Friday, extending their advance this week to 8.6 per cent, the biggest jump since February 2012.

Glencore plans to scrap its dividend, sell assets and is working on a share sale of as much as $2.5 billion to help trim its borrowings.

“It’s a positive for the stock, it degears the balance sheet, it addresses some of the core risks,” Paul Gait, an analyst at Sanford C Bernstein in London, said.

“It acts as a powerful support for the commodity prices themselves.”

– (Bloomberg)