FTSE 100 today: latest UK stock market news

A rebound in the price of copper gave London’s listed miners some much-needed respite, with inflation figures from China driving up the benchmark price by 1.3 per cent to $9,110. This meant the red metal reversed, at least in part, the 2.6 per cent decline it had suffered last week.
Analysts at UBS argued that “the majority of the correction in copper has likely played out”, with the Swiss bank adding that it continued to see demand for the metal from industries ranging from electric vehicles to data centres to defence.
Cue a rise in the share prices of Antofagasta, the Chilean miner, which rose 21p, or 1.3 per cent, to £16.59½, and Rio Tinto, its British-Australian rival, which gained 61p, or 1.4 per cent, to £45.77.
The FTSE 100 ended its recent run of declines, too, adding 89.37 points, or 1.1 per cent, to close on 8,270.84. Entain topped the leaderboard after the Ladbrokes owner said its online gaming revenues had risen faster than expected in recent months. Shares in Entain gained 33¾p, or 5.3 per cent, to close at 637¼p.
Rightmove rose 8½p, or 1.3 per cent, to 662½p after analysts at Jefferies, the broker, upgraded their rating of the the online property listing website to “hold” from “underperform”. It comes after Rea Group, an Australian rival, said it was considering making an offer for Rightmove and Jefferies believes “the financial logic of an acquisition is compelling”.
HSBC climbed 12¼p, or 1.9 per cent, to 661p after a report from Bloomberg said Georges Elhedery, the new chief executive of the Asia-focused bank, was considering merging its commercial and investment banking operations in an effort to cut costs and eliminate overlapping jobs.
A bullish note from RBC boosted investors’ sentiment for JD Sports Fashion and Marks & Spencer. Analysts at the bank said that both retailers had room for positive earnings revisions and were attractively priced. Shares in JD Sports added 2¼p, or 1.7 per cent, to 135¾p, while M&S climbed 5p, or 1.5 per cent, to 352¾p.
The more UK-focused FTSE 250 added 156.88 points, or 0.8 per cent, to close at 20,650.88. Here a bout of boardroom buying instilled confidence in Genus as Jorgen Kokke, its chief executive, purchased shares worth more than £240,000. The acquisition helped to push Genus to the top of the mid-cap leaderboard, rising 102p, or 6 per cent, to £18.12.
Investors were disappointed, though, by half-year results from Computacenter and shares in the company, which helps companies to manage software projects, fell 178p, or 6.9 per cent, to £24.10. The business had reported a 31 per cent decline in pre-tax profits to £84 million.
Among the minnows, Rockfire Resources shed 4.7 per cent, to ¼p after the mineral exploration company’s losses in the first six months of 2024 widened to £887,572. It blamed rises in administrative and drilling costs.
However, Andrada Mining advanced by ½p, or 16.5 per cent, to 3¾p after the raw materials producer announced that it had agreed a partnership with Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile to develop its Lithium Ridge project at Uis in Namibia.
Eagle Eye Solutions rose 13p, or 2.9 per cent, to 458p after the Aim-quoted company said it had won a new one-year contract to provide its AI-powered digital “personalised flyer” to E.Leclerc, France’s largest retail chain.
A weakening in revenue expectations has pushed down the valuation of Gresham House Energy Storage Fund, one of Britain’s best-performing investment trusts during the energy crisis.The battery storage specialist reported a 15 per cent fall in its net asset value to 109p a share at the end of June, largely driven by lower revenue assumptions from third-party data providers.The fund previously has blamed an underuse of the technology by the Electricity System Operator, which is responsible for balancing supply and demand on the UK’’s energy system.The revenue generated by the fund’s 790-megawatt portfolio in the first six months of the year declined by 15 per cent to £17.9 million, while its adjusted earnings fell by 25 per cent to £10.4 million.Battery storage funds make most of their money through buying energy when it is plentiful and cheaper and then selling it back to the grid when supply is tight.The fund confirmed that its dividend would remain suspended and that there would be no share buybacks for the rest of the year.The shares closed down 2½p, or 4.2 per cent, at 54½p.
Stocks bounced back after Friday’s sell-off, when weak jobs figures spooked investors. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 484.18 points, or 1.2 per cent, to 40,829.59. The S&P 500 closed up 62.63 points, or 1.2 per cent, at 5471.05.