London close: FTSE gives up gains to close in the red

29th Sep 2026 16:03

(Sharecast News) - London stocks finished in the red on Tuesday, as miners pared back earlier gains and investors mulled Andy Burnham's first conference speech as prime minister.

The FTSE 100 closed off 0.45% at 10,636.71, while Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate were both was 1% lower, at $104.25 a barrel and $91.42 respectively. Alex Rudolph, chief technical analyst at IG, attributed the lower oil prices to "diplomatic efforts to ease Middle East tensions, although doubts over a near-term, US-Iran agreement limit optimism".

The prime minister delivered a wide-ranging speech at this year's Labour Party conference, during which he vowed to scrap the pension triple lock from 2030, deliver a national care service and overhaul the electoral system. Other pledges included building more council houses, addressing the UK's long-term relationship with the European Union and taking greater control of public services, including repealing the ban on state ownership of water companies.

He told delegates: "Change will be difficult but I know we can do it, because we did it before. In 1945 we built the peace. We gave Britain hope again. We built the common good - or at least we did until the 1980s."

There had been widespread speculation that a national care service would be funded by scrapping the pension triple lock. The state pension currently rises every year by whichever is highest: CPI inflation, average earnings or 2.5%.

Burnham said he would honour the party's manifesto pledge to keep the triple lock in this Parliament, but that from April 2030, pensions would rise either in line with prices or by 2.5%.

Figures released earlier in the session showed that shop price inflation eased in September as retailers kept prices low despite rising cost pressures.

The BRC-NIQ shop price index showed that shop price inflation fell to 1.4% year-on-year in September from 1.5% growth in August. This was above the three-month average of 1.3%.

Food inflation decreased to 2.5% following growth of 2.8% in August, while non-food inflation eased to 0.8% in September from 0.9% the month before. Fresh food inflation fell to 2.6% this month from 3% in August, while ambient food inflation eased to 2.2% from 2.5%.

Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, said: "Shop price inflation edged down this month, with food inflation falling as competition between retailers continued to deliver value for shoppers. Promotions helped bring down meat and dairy prices, though poor harvests across Europe pushed up fruit prices and high global commodity prices kept chocolate and confectionery prices elevated. In non-food, strong discounting reduced the cost of back-to-school essentials, including books, stationery, footwear and electricals.

"Retailers have absorbed wave after wave of extra costs, but there is a limit to what businesses can shoulder. With higher business rates set to hit in April, alongside rising employment costs, energy bills and packaging taxes, the Budget is a fork in the road. The Chancellor can help keep prices down by freezing the rates rise and removing shops from the business rates surtax, or risk pushing even more costs onto consumers."

In equity markets, heavily-weighted miners Anglo American, Antofagasta and Glencore all rose in tandem with copper prices, although gains were pared back as the session wore on.

AstraZeneca gained after saying it will invest $2bn in US biopharma Summit Therapeutics. Under the terms of the deal, AstraZeneca will buy newly-issued equity in the New York-listed oncology specialist, giving it a stake of around 12%. The tie-up will allow the companies to collaborate on a series of studies into their cancer treatments.

Vesuvius shares surged after the molten metal flow engineer said it was carefully evaluating a £1.37bn takeover proposal from RHI Magnesita.

Close Brothers shot higher after results, while Zigup advanced as it said full-year adjusted pre-tax profit was set to be at the top of the current range of market expectations.

Trustpilot was boosted by an initiation of coverage at 'buy' by Citi.

On the downside, Ithaca Energy and BP both lost ground as oil prices eased back again.

Irn-Bru maker AG Barr fell despite backing its full-year expectations and posting a rise in interim profit and revenue, with growth ahead of the soft drinks market, driven by core brand performance.

Rentokil was knocked lower by a downgrade to 'equalweight' by Morgan Stanley.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 10,636.71 -0.45%

FTSE 250 (MCX) 24,374.81 0.16%

techMARK (TASX) 6,197.23 0.26%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Metlen Energy & Metals (MTLN) 49.14p 3.35%

Weir (WEIR) 2,712.00p 2.96%

Convatec Group (CTEC) 217.00p 2.36%

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 161.50p 1.89%

Halma (HLMA) 3,528.00p 1.79%

Airtel Africa (AAF) 311.00p 1.44%

Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 4,348.00p 1.40%

Babcock International Group (BAB) 999.00p 1.32%

IG Group Holdings (IGG) 1,315.00p 1.31%

Diploma (DPLM) 7,825.00p 1.23%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Ithaca Energy (ITH) 275.00p -3.71%

BP (BP.) 550.70p -2.27%

Lion Finance Group (BGEO) 14,380.00p -2.04%

Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 329.60p -1.96%

British American Tobacco (BATS) 4,144.00p -1.87%

Rentokil Initial (RTO) 298.50p -1.81%

Experian (EXPN) 2,472.00p -1.79%

Shell (SHEL) 3,594.00p -1.66%

Tesco (TSCO) 470.90p -1.65%

Legal & General Group (LGEN) 294.30p -1.41%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Vesuvius (VSVS) 467.00p 24.73%

Close Brothers Group (CBG) 445.80p 15.49%

Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) 199.40p 9.26%

Zigup (ZIG) 467.50p 7.97%

Raspberry PI Holdings (RPI) 645.50p 4.37%

Trustpilot Group (TRST) 216.20p 4.24%

IP Group (IPO) 73.60p 3.23%

Morgan Advanced Materials (MGAM) 266.00p 2.90%

Genus (GNS) 2,186.00p 2.53%

Volex (VLX) 648.00p 2.53%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Vistry Group (VTY) 264.20p -7.43%

Genuit Group (GEN) 290.80p -4.47%

Globaldata (DATA) 57.60p -4.17%

NCC Group (NCC) 144.20p -3.99%

Barr (A.G.) (BAG) 578.00p -3.51%

SDCL Efficiency Income Trust (SEIT) 33.30p -3.34%

Harbour Energy (HBR) 261.60p -3.11%

Energean (ENOG) 711.00p -3.07%

Playtech (PTEC) 376.80p -2.79%

AEP Plantations (AEP) 205.50p -2.61%