Petropavlovsk to join peers in FTSE 100

Russian gold miner Petropavlovsk looks set to take the number of miners in the FTSE 100 index to 12 with a promotion to the top flight of leading shares this week.

The firm, formerly Peter Hambro Mining, is expected to be the only company to join the blue-chip index when the latest quarterly review is posted on Wednesday.

Tour operator Thomas Cook looks set to be demoted back to the mid-caps after a poor run by its shares as the recession puts people off foreign holidays.

Petropavlovsk is the third-largest gold producer in Russia and only joined the London Stock Exchange main market in April.

Its shares have jumped nearly 40% in the past three months as record high gold prices attracted investors.

Thomas Cook shares have fallen nearly 15% in that time.