U.K. stocks ended 2016 on a high note, closing at an all-time high and extending gains into a fifth straight trading session. The FTSE 100 index UKX, +0.32% rose 0.3% to close at 7,142.83, its third record close in a row. The London benchmark had opened in red on Friday, but pushed into positive territory right before the close.The index closed early, at 12:30 p.m. local time (7:30 a.m. Eastern U.S.) ahead of New Year’s Eve. Stellar 2016: U.K. investors have plenty of reason to celebrate as the year comes to an end. The FTSE gained 14.4% in 2016, its biggest advance since 2013. That’s easily enough to put the London benchmark ahead of its European peers, with the Stoxx Europe 600 index SXXP, +0.17% down 1.3% for the year and Germany’s DAX 30 index DAX, +0.09% 6.7% higher. Read: Impressed by the Dow? This stock market has performed just as well in 2016 “The FTSE has been helped by two factors this year. When we started in 2016, commodities, such as oil and mining, were massively out of favor and massively underperformed, which created a huge opportunity. Mining shares got very, very cheap and if you take a look at BHP Billiton BLT, +0.42% BHP, -1.73% BHP, +0.14% , the world’s largest miner, shares have more than doubled from the lows of late January,� said Chris Bailey, market analyst at Financial Orbit. “The second factor was the Brexit vote in June. When the pound fell, the fact that such a high proportion of FTSE 100 earnings come from outside the U.K. started to be a big influence,� he added. The pound: Sterling GBPUSD, +0.4485% exchanged hands $1.2326 on Friday, up from $1.2263 late Thursday in New York. The pound has plunged 17% against the dollar in 2016, yanked lower by concerns over the country’s vote in June to leave the European Union, dubbed Brexit. Against the euro, sterling GBPEUR, -0.0171% is down 14% for the year. It bought €1.1678 on Friday, down from €1.1689 on Thursday.

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