FTSE 100 Advances Nearly 0.5%; Miners Move Up

(RTTNews) - The UK stock market climbed modestly higher Tuesday morning with investors assessing the situation in the Middle East amidst differing accounts from U.S. President Donald Trump and the Israelian Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

While Trump said he asked both Israel and Hezbollah to halt hostilities, the Israelian Prime Minister's description of the discussions was somewhat limited.

Crude oil's tumble helped ease inflation concerns, contributing a bit to market's positive mood.

The benchmark FTSE 100 was up 43.50 points or 0.41% at 10,382.45 a little while ago.

Mining stocks Fresnillo, Antofagasta, Anglo American Plc, Rio Tinto, Glencore and Endeavour Mining gained 1.5%-4%.

Bank stocks Barclays Group and Standard Chartered moved up sharply.

RightMove, Kingfisher, Next, Entain, AutoTrader Group, Land Securities, Marks & Spencer, JD Sports Fashion, Metlen Energy & Metals, ICG, Intercontinental Hotels Group, Pesimmon, Scottish Mortgage, Barratt Redrow, Associated British Foods, LSEG and Howden Joinery Group also moved notably higher.

Among the losers, British American Tobacco shed 3.5%. Airtel Africa dropped by about 2.3%. Babcock International, BP, Imperial Brands, Haleon and GSK lost 1%-2%.

Data from the Bank of England showed net mortgage approvals for house purchases in the UK increased to 65,900 in April from 64,000 in March, above market expectations of 61,700 and marking the highest level since January 2025.

Net borrowing of mortgage debt by UK individuals decreased to £4.4 billion in April, the lowest in six months, from £6.8 billion in March and below the previous 6-month average of £5.1 billion.

Net borrowing of consumer credit by individuals in the UK eased slightly to £1.86 billion in April from the upwardly revised £1.90 billion in the previous month, though above forecasts of £1.7 billion.