FTSE 100 Modestly Higher At Noon; Miners Under Pressure

(RTTNews) - After opening on a weak note due to a sell-off in mining stocks, the UK market's benchmark FTSE 100 recovered to move into positive territory Monday morning thanks to some strong buying in other sectors.

Data showing the nation's manufacturing sector strengthened for a fourth straight month in January, lifting the PMI to a 17-month high, helped lift sentiment.

Miners fell, tracking recent tumble in precious metals prices. Energy stocks dropped as oil prices slumped after U.S. President Donald Trump said he was hopeful of agreeing a deal with Iran.

The FTSE 100, which dropped to 10,142.00 earlier in the session, was up 41.31 points or 0.4% at 10,264.85 a few minutes past noon.

Intercontinental Hotels Group gained 2.7%, while Aviva, Beazley, Unilever, AstraZeneca, Compass Group and JD Sports Fashion moved up 2%-2.25%.

Admiral Group, IAG, Howden Joinery, GSK, Sainsbury (J), Coca-Cola HBC, National Grid, British American Tobacco, Kingfisher, Vodafone Group and United Utilities gained 1%-1.8%.

Endeavour Mining, Antofagasta and Fresnillo were down sharply, losing 2.3%-3%, despite recovering from early lows. Glencore shed about 1%.

Energy stocks Shell and BP lost 1.4% and 1.3%, respectively.

BAE Systems, Polar Capital Technology Trust, Melrose Industries, Metlen Energy & Metals, Babcock International, Mondia and 3i Group lost 1%-2%.

British investment firm 3i Infrastructure slumped more than 6% after it flagged a likely £212m write off of its position in DNS:NET.

Final data from S&P Global showed U.K.'s manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index rose to a 17-month high of 51.8 in January from 50.6 in December and exceeded the earlier flash estimate of 51.6.

Manufacturing output increased for the fourth consecutive month, with the joint-quickest pace since September 2024. At the same time, new business also grew the most in almost four years.

The survey showed that business optimism about the coming year rose to its highest level since before the 2024 autumn budget.

"UK manufacturing made a solid start to 2026, showing encouraging resilience in the face of rising geopolitical tensions," S&P Global Market Intelligence Director Rob Dobson said.

Data from the Nationwide Building Society showed UK house price growth accelerated in January as uncertainty around the budget faded.

House prices rose at a pace of 1% on a yearly basis in January after climbing 0.6% in December. This was faster than economists' forecast of 0.7%.

Month-on-month, house prices moved up 0.3%, in line with expectations, and in contrast to the 0.4% fall in December.