London close: Retailers, miners lift FTSE 100 to third straight record

6th Jan 2026 15:46

(Sharecast News) - London's FTSE 100 powered to another all-time high on Tuesday despite geopolitical worries after America's controversial assault on Venezuela at the weekend, with stocks in the retail, defence, pharma and mining sectors providing a boost.

The Footsie outperformed the rest of its European counterparts with a 1.3% gain to a fresh record high of 10,132.02, setting its third closing record high in as many days. Meanwhile, markets in Tokyo, Singapore and Busan also hit new highs on Tuesday.

"Today saw the FTSE 100 soar, in its best one-day move since February 2024," said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG, who said that geopolitical concerns have been "cast aside" by investors.

"If the Western alliance is about to fracture, it doesn't appear to worry stocks on either side of the Atlantic. Worries about that and high stock valuations have failed to halt the rally, with bubble fears having been left behind in 2025 for the moment," Beauchamp said.

Traders are still digesting the weekend's move by Donald Trump to oust Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who was snatched by US troops in what has been seen by many as an attempt by Washington to take control of the Latin American nation's massive oil reserves.

In economic data, the S&P Global UK services PMI business activity index came in at 51.4 for December, up only fractionally on November's 51.3. It was also lower than the earlier flash estimate and consensus, both at 52.1.

Respondents pointed to "challenging" business conditions, including constrained client spending and the subdued economic prospects for the UK. As a result, the PMI composite output index nudged up just 0.2 points to 51.4, also below consensus for 52.1.

Meanwhile, the BRC-NielsenIQ monthly shop price monitor showed a 0.7% year-on-year increase in prices at UK tills in December, up from 0.6% in November.

Retail, defence, pharma and mining stocks gain

High street retailer Next also gained after lifting full-year guidance on the back of better-than-expected festive trading. It now expects full-year sales of £6.97bn and pre-tax profits of £1.15m, compared with previous guidance of £6.87bn and £1.14bn, respectively.

Tesco and Sainsbury's both rose ahead of trading statements on Thursday and Friday, respectively. The gains also came as the latest industry data from Worldpanel showed that supermarket sales rallied in December as shoppers sought out bargains and grocery inflation moderated.

On the FTSE 250, Ocado surged nearly 12% after JPMorgan placed the stock on 'positive catalyst watch' as it pointed to improving fundamentals.

However, JD Sports bucked the trend in the sector as Bank of America downgraded the stock to 'neutral' from 'buy' and cut the price target to 96p from 112p.

Aerospace and defence firms Babcock, BAE Systems and Rolls-Royce were on the rise again as stocks in the sector continued to rally on geopolitical developments in Venezuela.

Stocks in the pharma and healthcare sectors rebounded after a bout of selling pressure on Monday, with AstraZeneca, GSK, Hikma and Smith & Nephew among the top risers. GSK also rallied after Japan approved its bronchial asthma treatment Exdensur after trial results showed "significant reductions" for patients with severe symptoms of the condition.

Meanwhile, the heavyweight mining sector was powering ahead as commodity prices continued to rise, with copper hitting new record highs and precious metals rallying. Anglo America, Rio Tinto and Glencore all put in decent performances.

Rentokil jumped on the back of an upgrade to 'overweight' from 'equalweight' at Morgan Stanley, but DCC slumped after a downgrade to 'equalweight' by the same outfit.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 10,132.02 1.27%

FTSE 250 (MCX) 22,772.71 0.79%

techMARK (TASX) 5,783.48 1.96%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Next (NXT) 14,265.00p 4.97%

AstraZeneca (AZN) 14,038.00p 4.89%

Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,363.50p 4.88%

GSK (GSK) 1,899.50p 4.34%

Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 1,585.00p 3.80%

Fresnillo (FRES) 3,624.00p 3.66%

Anglo American (AAL) 3,257.00p 3.66%

Smurfit Westrock (DI) (SWR) 3,036.00p 3.51%

Rentokil Initial (RTO) 460.10p 3.37%

Rio Tinto (RIO) 6,291.00p 3.28%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 83.56p -4.39%

Barratt Redrow (BTRW) 372.70p -2.77%

Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 4,656.00p -2.51%

Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 3,902.00p -1.96%

Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (DI) (CCEP) 6,370.00p -1.85%

Rightmove (RMV) 506.60p -1.59%

Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 575.80p -1.54%

Hiscox Limited (DI) (HSX) 1,381.00p -1.50%

Experian (EXPN) 3,384.00p -1.25%

Beazley (BEZ) 806.00p -1.16%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Ocado Group (OCDO) 263.90p 11.59%

Raspberry PI Holdings (RPI) 314.60p 11.17%

Man Group (EMG) 254.80p 9.36%

Pan African Resources (PAF) 128.80p 7.33%

Jupiter Fund Management (JUP) 173.40p 7.04%

Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) 138.90p 6.85%

Carnival (CCL) 2,406.00p 5.30%

W.A.G Payment Solutions (EWG) 122.00p 5.17%

Oxford Biomedica (OXB) 697.00p 5.13%

QinetiQ Group (QQ.) 479.40p 4.95%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Baltic Classifieds Group (BCG) 197.40p -4.87%

Ceres Power Holdings (CWR) 231.80p -3.34%

Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 62.80p -2.86%

B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 160.85p -2.54%

Bellway (BWY) 2,708.00p -2.45%

Volution Group (FAN) 633.00p -2.31%

Ashmore Group (ASHM) 182.80p -2.25%

Abrdn (ABDN) 207.60p -2.17%

Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 105.70p -2.04%

Playtech (PTEC) 266.00p -2.03%