London midday: FTSE on front foot as miners maintain rally

29th Sep 2026 11:39

(Sharecast News) - London stocks were still higher by midday on Tuesday, with miners on the rise, as investors mulled an easing of UK shop price inflation.

The FTSE 100 was up 0.42% at 10,729.38, while Brent crude was $104.92 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate was $92.18.

Figures released earlier 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.

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) 10,721.85 0.35%

FTSE 250 (MCX) 24,435.67 0.41%

techMARK (TASX) 6,244.80 1.03%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Convatec Group (CTEC) 218.60p 3.21%

Weir (WEIR) 2,714.00p 2.89%

GSK (GSK) 1,911.00p 2.74%

Antofagasta (ANTO) 3,752.00p 2.71%

Anglo American (AAL) 4,068.00p 2.60%

Halma (HLMA) 3,556.00p 2.48%

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 162.50p 2.46%

Spirax Group (SPX) 7,300.00p 2.10%

Glencore (GLEN) 563.50p 2.09%

Metlen Energy & Metals (MTLN) 49.02p 1.95%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Ithaca Energy (ITH) 275.00p -3.71%

BP (BP.) 550.70p -2.24%

British American Tobacco (BATS) 4,146.00p -1.70%

Barratt Redrow (BTRW) 340.80p -1.27%

Admiral Group (ADM) 3,628.00p -1.25%

Shell (SHEL) 3,615.00p -1.22%

Unilever (ULVR) 4,626.50p -0.96%

Diageo (DGE) 1,604.50p -0.96%

The Sage Group (SGE) 971.60p -0.96%

Legal & General Group (LGEN) 295.60p -0.87%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Vesuvius (VSVS) 478.40p 27.46%

Close Brothers Group (CBG) 432.20p 12.12%

Zigup (ZIG) 459.50p 5.89%

Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) 191.70p 5.04%

Trustpilot Group (TRST) 216.80p 4.63%

Morgan Advanced Materials (MGAM) 268.00p 3.48%

Volex (VLX) 651.00p 3.01%

Discoverie Group (DSCV) 832.00p 2.72%

Hansa Investment Company Limited (DI) (HAN) 338.00p 2.42%

Great Portland Estates (GPE) 313.60p 2.35%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Vistry Group (VTY) 274.60p -3.78%

Genuit Group (GEN) 295.20p -3.02%

Barr (A.G.) (BAG) 581.00p -3.01%

RHI Magnesita N.V. (DI) (RHIM) 2,750.00p -2.83%

SDCL Efficiency Income Trust (SEIT) 33.60p -2.47%

Harbour Energy (HBR) 264.40p -1.93%

NCC Group (NCC) 147.80p -1.60%

Energean (ENOG) 723.00p -1.43%

Premier Foods (PFD) 193.20p -1.43%

Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 88.08p -1.39%