London shares are trading higher on Tuesday morning as gold and silver rebounded and miners gained, while oil stayed elevated.
The FTSE 100 is up around 0.5% and the FTSE 250 is up 0.2% in early trading today. The DAX and CAC 40 have each gained 0.2%, and the Stoxx 50 has climbed 0.7%.
Spot gold was up 0.73% at $4,144 after dropping to $4,110 yesterday, and spot silver rose 0.5% to 60.91. Miners are higher after yesterday’s decline. In the FTSE 100, Antofagasta and Anglo American are two of the top risers, up 2.14% and 1.77%, respectively.
Brent has increased by 0.7% to $98.52 and WTI has gained 0.5% to $93.03, while sterling slipped 0.2% to $1.3232.
On the geopolitical front, Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said indirect talks via Qatari mediators had been held and that Washington’s formal response is expected today, “hopefully”. President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social: “This is untrue. I offered them NOTHING.”
FTSE 100: pharma and miners lead
GSK is the top FTSE 100 riser, up 2.53%. AstraZeneca is just behind, having risen 2.32% after announcing a $2bn investment in newly issued preferred stock of Summit Therapeutics, equivalent to about 12.0% of Summit’s outstanding common stock (10.6% fully diluted).
As mentioned, miners Antofagasta and Anglo American are also among the biggest gainers.
Ithaca Energy is the biggest faller, down 2.52%, followed by SSE at -2.12% and National Grid at -1.29%.
FTSE 250: Close Brothers jumps after results
Close Brothers is up 9.64% after full-year results. Adjusted operating profit fell to £120.3m from £144.3m, and it reported an operating loss before tax of £60.3m after £180.6m of adjusting items, including a £164.7m motor finance provision addition. There is no final dividend.
SDCL Efficiency Income Trust is up 5.08% and Hunting 4.56%. NCC Group is down 4.13%, Applied Nutrition 3.28% and Ocado 2.29%. AG Barr is down 2.17% after interim results that included an 11% higher dividend.
ZIGUP said in its AGM statement that it expects full-year adjusted pre-tax profit at the top of the £163.2m to £170.0m range of market expectations, citing strong recent performance in Spain and at FMG.
Card Factory reported half-year revenue up 5.3% to £260.8m, while adjusted pre-tax profit slipped to £12.7m from £13.2m and store like-for-like sales fell 2.0%. It raised its interim dividend to 1.4p from 1.3p, said UK store like-for-likes have improved from first-half levels, and said the board remains confident in full-year expectations.
Tribal Group shareholder Jenzabar, which holds about 26%, said it is considering a possible 111p cash offer and urged shareholders to vote against Tribal’s asset sale at the general meeting on Friday 2 October.