London's FTSE 100 edged lower on Wednesday as a selloff in precious metal miners outweighed gains in energy shares. Escalating Middle East tensions lifted oil prices but left the blue-chip index near flat.
A 2.3% drop in precious metal miners pulled the FTSE 100 down 0.1% to 10,515.73 points by 1013 GMT, more than offsetting a rise in energy stocks. The midcap FTSE 250 slipped 0.09%.
Miners drag as energy climbs
Precious metal miners were the worst-performing sector, with Fresnillo and Endeavour Mining falling 2.8% and 2% to sit among the benchmark's top losers. Energy shares moved the other way, rising 0.3% as investors bid up producers.
The lift for energy came from oil. Crude prices climbed around 2% after U.S. President Donald Trump reimposed a naval blockade on all Iranian ports and Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps threatened to close other export corridors benefiting the U.S. and its allies. Because the FTSE 100 leans on a few globally exposed sectors, a sharper move in miners can outweigh a milder gain in energy and tip the whole index lower.
Stock movers and the fiscal backdrop
Individual names told a mixed story. Rio Tinto rose 1.1% after reporting better-than-expected second-quarter iron ore sales, while the personal goods index gained 2.4% to lead sectoral advances. Elsewhere, B&M fell 6.9% after a 2.3% decline in first-quarter UK like-for-like sales.
The moves land against a cautious macro backdrop. The OECD said Britain must maintain fiscal discipline, tackle rising pension costs and address high energy prices to lift growth. A day earlier the index had closed higher, when a softer-than-expected U.S. inflation reading fuelled expectations of a delay in interest rate cuts.
Sources: Reuters, Finimize (snippet-based)
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