After a brief stint in the red, London’s FTSE 100 finished moderately higher on Wednesday on the back of strong gains in the mining sector, though elevated bond yields limited upside on the back of political uncertainty.
The Footsie settled 0.4% higher at 10,301.36, its highest finish since 6 May, with small gains recorded on most major indices across Europe and the US.
The yield on a 10-year UK Gilt eased slightly on Wednesday but remained above the 5.0% mark – a level it has not seen since 2007 – after a disastrous local election performance by Labour led to calls this week for prime minister Keir Starmer to resign. The yield on the 30-year bond yield meanwhile touched its highest since 1998.
While Starmer has refused to step aside, political uncertainty remains high amid reports that Wes Streeting was set to resign as Health Secretary to trigger a leadership challenge against the PM.
“The big problem for the UK economy is that the 10-year yield remains above 5%, and we expect it to hover around this level for the long term,” said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB.
“At 5%, government borrowing costs are rising sharply, eroding the fiscal headroom built up by the chancellor in last year’s budget. It also keeps borrowing costs for businesses high. When the cost of debt rises, businesses need to pass these costs onto consumers, so rising borrowing costs can also add to the UK’s inflation pressures, which in turn adds more upward pressure on bond yields.”
In other news, Donald Trump was set to arrive in Beijing to meet his fellow autocrat Xi Jinping where trade, Taiwan and the Iran war are expected to be the main topics of talks.
Miners surge
Mining stocks were the day’s standout performers on the back of higher commodity prices, with Antofagasta, Anglo America, Rio Tinto, Fresnillo and Glencore dominating the top 10 risers list.
Intertek continued to surge as the inspection, product testing and certification group said it would be minded to recommend a £9.4bn takeover offer by Swedish private equity firm EQT, made on Tuesday.
On the downside, Airtel Africa tumbled after majority shareholder Bharti Airtel said its board had approved the issuance of up to 146.7m shares to Indian Continent Investment in exchange for up to 16.3% of Airtel Africa shares. ICIL is an investment firm owned by the family of billionaire Sunil Bharti Mittal. It operates as an investment arm for the family’s holding company, Bharti Global.
On the FTSE 250, shares in UK housebuilder Vistry tanked as it warned first half profits would be “significantly” lower than last year and paused its share buyback to focus on cash generation and cutting debt.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 10,301.36 0.35%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 22,528.37 0.28%
techMARK (TASX) 5,891.14 -0.06%
FTSE 100 – Risers
Antofagasta (ANTO) 4,299.00p 8.73%
Metlen Energy & Metals (MTLN) 40.18p 7.20%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 5,580.00p 6.32%
Anglo American (AAL) 4,075.00p 4.54%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 8,272.00p 4.44%
Fresnillo (FRES) 3,784.00p 3.57%
Glencore (GLEN) 592.10p 3.26%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,885.50p 2.64%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 114.90p 2.64%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 4,807.00p 2.63%
FTSE 100 – Fallers
Airtel Africa (AAF) 359.60p -13.10%
Relx plc (REL) 2,333.00p -4.97%
Experian (EXPN) 2,526.00p -4.64%
Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 6,978.00p -4.17%
The Sage Group (SGE) 847.60p -3.55%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 2,756.00p -2.68%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) 9,126.00p -2.37%
Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (DI) (CCEP) 6,770.00p -2.10%
Spirax Group (SPX) 7,040.00p -1.74%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 1,759.00p -1.70%
FTSE 250 – Risers
AEP Plantations (AEP) 2,270.00p 13.22%
BlackRock World Mining Trust (BRWM) 1,046.00p 4.91%
Ceres Power Holdings (CWR) 744.50p 4.86%
Raspberry PI Holdings (RPI) 707.00p 4.59%
Gamma Communications (GAMA) 925.50p 3.52%
Renishaw (RSW) 5,235.00p 3.15%
Templeton Emerging Markets Inv Trust (TEM) 313.50p 3.13%
Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 305.50p 3.04%
Marshalls (MSLH) 129.50p 2.94%
Pacific Horizon Inv Trust (PHI) 1,140.00p 2.89%
FTSE 250 – Fallers
Vistry Group (VTY) 285.60p -12.34%
Hays (HAS) 30.90p -7.43%
Pagegroup (PAGE) 124.70p -5.60%
Avon Technologies (AVON) 1,520.00p -5.35%
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 947.50p -3.46%
Shawbrook Group (SHAW) 309.00p -3.36%
WH Smith (SMWH) 447.60p -3.19%
SSP Group (SSPG) 154.90p -2.94%
Pan African Resources (PAF) 149.50p -2.61%
Applied Nutrition (APN) 209.00p -2.61%