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London’s blue chip index closed higher on Wednesday, after Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey suggested more rate cuts are ahead, while mining stocks performed well amid a climb in the price of copper. The FTSE 100 index closed up 27.11 points, 0.3%, at 9,250.43. It had earlier lower traded as low as 9,177.09. The FTSE 250 ended just 4.83 points lower at 21,690.52, and the AIM All-Share closed up 1.17 points, 0.2%, at 782.42. The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.2% at 927.54, the Cboe UK 250 ended slightly lower at 19,0005.76, and the Cboe Small Companies rose 0.4% at 17,574.18. On the FTSE 100, a spike in the copper price saw miners Antofagasta, Anglo American and Glencore climb 9.3%, 4.7% and 3.0% respectively. US competitor Freeport-McMoRan said that the suspension of its giant Indonesian copper mine will lead to lower output of the metal and of gold. The price of copper firmed 2.7% to around $4.70 per pound, the latest commodity to find favour. Meanwhile, comments from BoE Governor Andrew Bailey put the pound under pressure. In an interview, Bailey told West Midlands Life that there‘s ‘still some further journey down in rates,’ but ‘exactly when that will be and and how much it will be will depend on the path of inflation going down.’ On inflation, Bailey expects it to rise a ‘little bit’ in the next reading, but ‘come down from there.’ He also talked of some softening in the labour market with people ‘finding it probably harder to find jobs at the moment.’ The pound was quoted lower at $1.3452 at the time of the London equity market close on Wednesday, compared to $1.3509 on Tuesday. The euro stood at $1.1740, lower against $1.1792. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JP¥148.75, higher compared to JP¥147.87. In European equities on Wednesday, the CAC 40 in Paris closed down 0.6%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt ended 0.2% higher. Stocks in New York were slightly lower at the time of the London close. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500 index and the Nasdaq Composite were all down 0.1%. The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was quoted at 4.14%, unchanged from Tuesday. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury was also flat at 4.76%. Geopolitical concerns boosted the oil price after threats of more sanctions on Russian oil. US President Donald Trump said that Europe and other countries need to cut their energy purchases from Moscow. Brent oil was quoted higher at $68.94 a barrel on Wednesday, from $67.98 late Tuesday. The gains supported index heavyweights BP, up 1.5% and Shell, up 1.1%. Gold paused for breath after its record-breaking run, trading at $3,750.05 an ounce on Wednesday, down against $3,778.27 on Tuesday. JD Sports Fashion fell 0.7% after Chief Executive Regis Schultz talked of a ‘tough trading environment’ and ‘an environment of strained consumer finances.’ Schultz said JD remains ‘cautious’ on the trading environment for the second half, but expects ‘limited’ impact from US tariffs this financial year. Broker Shore Capital remains optimistic despite accepting that the athleisure market, particularly in footwear continues to be ‘challenging’. ‘The strength of the brand, good margins and capacity for further growth feed into positive prospects for JD in the medium-term, while in the interim, the high cash generation allows for good shareholder returns,’ Shore Capital commented. On the FTSE 250, Goodwin stormed 20% higher as it reported a new collaboration with Northrop Grumman. The Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire-based engineering and manufacturing company has signed a memorandum of understanding with Northrop for an initial $16 million order which covers four defence programmes. But Goodwin said: ‘As the USA submarine programmes have funding releases, the expected orders will likely develop to over $200 million.’ Elsewhere, Baltic Classifieds dropped 5.1% after it reduced guidance. The online classified ads portal provider in Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia said revenue and profit growth for the year will be 3% to 4% below previous guidance, as weakness in Estonia’s car market continues to weigh on Auto24 revenue. On The Beach plunged 20% after warning profit will be lower than market forecasts. The Manchester, England-based online holidays retailer blamed a continued trend for holidaymakers to book at the last minute as it forecast adjusted pretax profit on a continuing basis, excluding business-to-business operations, between £34.5 million and £35.5 million for the financial year ending September 30. On the Beach said market consensus was for adjusted pretax profit of £38.4 million. Adjusted pretax profit was £31.0 million in financial 2024. ‘It remains clear that customers are still prioritising their holidays with our winter [2025] bookings up 12% and we are confident that summer [2026] will continue to build, notwithstanding the later booking patterns,’ said Chief Executive Officer Shaun Morton. Analysts at RBC Capital Markets explained: ‘Typically customers book for their next summer holiday shortly after returning from this year’s holiday. We understand this is not happening to the same degree this year and this has been reflected in slower trading over the last 4-6 weeks.’ The broker suggested that with the budget ‘around the corner, it is probable that customers are waiting and seeing before committing to next year’s holiday.’ The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Antofagasta, up 224.00 pence to 2,642.00p, Anglo American, up 120.00p at 2,671.00p, Babcock International, up 51.00p at 1,230.00p, Glencore, up 9.45p at 330.25p, and BAE Systems, up 42.50p at 1,993.50p. The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Ashtead Group, down 122.00p at 5,104.00p, IMI, down 46.00p at 2,250.00p ConvaTec, down 4.40p at 234.40p, Fresnillo, down 42.00p at 2,302.00p, and Burberry, down 19.50p at 1,123.50p. Thursday’s global economic calendar has US GDP, durable goods orders and weekly jobless claims data, plus quarterly personal consumption expenditures figures, and an interest rate decision in Switzerland. Thursday’s UK corporate calendar has a trading statement from safety equipment company Halma, and media firm STV. Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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