FTSE 100 Climbs Higher Amid Oil Decline, U.K. Housing Recovery

(RTTNews) - U.K. stocks advanced on Monday amid slightly easing concerns about inflation as oil prices fell sharply on hopes for diplomatic progress on the Middle East issue at this week's UN meeting.

Ahead of a crucial meeting between U.S. President Trump and Gulf-state leaders on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, Trump warned Iran that it would fail economically or face its leadership being wiped out if it didn't make a deal.

Trump indicated potential for a meeting with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian in New York, adding that very big things could happen soon and he is in a "deciding mode" on military action, continued economic pressure or a deal.

Brent crude futures dropped to $100.20 a barrel, losing about 3.5%. The benchmark FTSE 100 was up 95.80 points or 0.9% at 10,754.93 a few minutes past noon.

Metlen Energy & Metals climbed 6%, topping the list of gainers in the FTSE 100 index. Antofagasta moved up 4.1% and Anglo American Plc surged nearly 4%.

Halma gained about 3.5%, while Spirax Group, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Lion Finance, IG Group Holdings, Barclays, Aberdeen Group, ICG, Polar Capital Technology Trust, Burberry Group and Diploma gained 2.5%-3%.

Sportswear retailer JD Sports Fashion traded around 1% higher after announcing it would enter the Mexican market through a long-term franchise agreement with Grupo Axo.

Standard Chartered, St. James's Place, 3i Group, Weir, HSBC Holdings and Computacenter also moved up sharply.

Airtel Africa dropped 3.3%, extending recent decline. Entain shed about 3%, whie Barratt Redrow and BP eased by about 1.5% and 1.1%, respectively.

In economic news, UK house prices increased for the first time in four months in September, reflecting early signs of the usual increase in activity seen during the Autumn period, property website Rightmove said Monday.

Average asking prices increased 0.7% month-on-month in September, marking the first rise since May. The increase was also bigger than the ten-year September average of 0.5%.