London equities kicked off the week on a positive note, helped by a rally among metal miners and defence stocks, while investors await comments from the Bank of England for hints on the central bank’s interest rate trajectory.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 shook off its recent slump, climbing 0.3%, and breaking free from the two back-to-back sessions of losses.
The mid-cap FTSE 250 gained 0.5%, inching close to its key 21,000 mark.
Precious metal miners led sectoral gains, rising 2.3%, as bullion prices surged to record highs on bets the US Federal Reserve could deliver its first rate cut soon and industrial metal miners climbed 0.8% after copper hit an all-time peak.
Energy shares and aerospace and defence stocks were also among the leaders, with the latter rising as uncertainty in the Middle East grew after Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi was killed in a helicopter crash.
“It’s not a surprise to see these (defence stocks) up because if the situation in the Middle East destabilises even further, that will just push governments to spend more on defence” Danni Hewson, head of financial analysis at AJ Bell, said.
Traders are looking forward to the Bank of England’s Deputy Governor Ben Broadbent’s speech later in the day for clues that could signal the timing of the first rate cut.
FTSE nudges lower for week after record run
They are also on guard for a slew of upcoming domestic economic data, with the key consumer price index (CPI) set to drop on Wednesday, followed by manufacturing and retail sales numbers later this week.
“A little bit of reorienting is going on but there’s also a bit of wait and see,” Hewson said referring to Wednesday’s CPI numbers.
Kainos Group jumped 11.7% and was the top performer on the mid-cap index after the services firm reported upbeat full-year results.
Keywords Studios surged 61.2% as European private equity group EQT was in advanced talks to buy the Dublin-based video game services company for $2.79 billion.
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