UK’s benchmark FTSE 100 stock index jumped on Tuesday led by miners and energy shares, as copper prices touched a six-week peak, while Bunzl hit a record high after the business supplies distributor forecast a strong annual profit.
The bluechip FTSE 100 index was up 0.4% by 0715 GMT, after hitting a one-week high, while the domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250 was largely unchanged.
The UK equity market was closed on Monday for a bank holiday.
Both indexes posted a second straight weekly rise on Friday, with markets globally cheering US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s nod to initiate interest rate cuts at the Jackson Hole economic symposium.
While high copper prices boosted metal miners , energy stocks climbed even though oil prices paused after sharp gains recently.
Bunzl jumped 11% to the top of the FTSE 100, after raising its annual adjusted operating profit forecast, helping the general industrials index touch a record high.
FTSE 100 gains as Powell signals rate cuts
On the flip side, Associated British Foods was the worst-hit stock on the benchmark index, down 3%, after Deutsche Bank downgraded the stock to “Sell” from “Hold”.
However, investors also kept an eye out for tensions in the Middle East, while awaiting a crucial inflation report from the United States, with a dry events calendar at home.
Meanwhile, data showed British shop prices fell in annual terms this month for the first time since October 2021.
This comes on the heels of the Bank of England cutting interest rates from 16-year highs earlier this month, with investors expecting at least one more quarter-point cut by year-end, as per LSEG data.
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