Wednesday relief cold comfort for Glencore

The Switzerland-based firm had fallen 29% in the nine days prior, which wiped more than £5bn off the firm’s value, blaming its slump on record-low prices for copper and zinc – two of its core products.

But that relief could not mean much to investors, who have endured a year in which Glencore has lost around £30bn in market value amid one of the weakest commodities markets in many years, despite chief executive Ivan Glasenberg's efforts to turn the company's fortunes around.

He’s overseen the disposal of £600m in assets, the sale of £1.6bn in shares and a halt in dividends worth a similar amount.

“If all else remains unchanged, it’s going to be back to the drawing board”, Investec mining analyst Marc Elliot told Bloomberg on Wednesday morning.

“Perhaps not to the same degree, but they’re going to have to take more action”, Elliott added, advising investors to sell.

As of 1625 GMT on Wednesday, shares in Glencore were up 4.76% to 93.06p.