UK’s FTSE 100 fell at the open on Wednesday, with mining stocks leading declines after global miner Rio Tinto reported a fall in first-half profit, while shares of NatWest slipped after the bank’s CEO stepped down.
By 0706 GMT, the blue-chip FTSE 100 fell 0.1%, while the more domestically-focussed FTSE 250 midcap index was flat.
NatWest Group fell 2.2% after CEO Alison Rose stepped down with immediate effect having admitted to a “serious error of judgment” in discussing former Brexit party leader Nigel Farage’s relationship with the bank with a BBC journalist.
Industrial metal miners slipped 1.9% as London-listed shares of Rio Tinto lost 2.1% after the company reported a near 34% drop in first-half underlying earnings and slashed its interim dividend.
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Rolls-Royce soared 15.2% after the aero-engineering company raised its full-year operating profit forecast.
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings jumped 4.7% after the luxury automaker kept its 2023 forecast unchanged and reported a smaller pre-tax loss for the second quarter.