FTSE 100 Pares Early Losses; Banks, Miners Drift Lower

(RTTNews) - UK's equity index FTSE 100 is roughly flat around late morning on Friday, recovering fairly well from an early setback. The mood in the market, however, remains cautious amid concerns about potential economic impact of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and increasing prospects of a rate cut by the Bank of England this year.

The FTSE 100, which dropped to 10,196.90, losing about 110 points in the process, was up 11.10 points or 0.11% at 10,316.25 nearly half an hour before noon.

Bank stocks Standard Chartered, Barclays, HSBC Holdings and Lloyds Banking Group are notably lower, while Natwest Group is down marginally.

Miners Fresnillo and Anglo American Plc are declining by 2.8% and 2.3%, respectively. Endeavour Mining is down 2.1%, Glencore is down 1.6% and Antofagasta is lower by 1.4%, while Rio Tinto is down 0.8%.

Weir Group is down 3.3%. Entain, Mondi, IMI, Spirax Group, JD Sports Fashion, Smiths Group, Rentokil Initial, Burberry Group and Intertek are down 2%-3%. Rolls-Royce Holding, Whibread, Easyjet, IAG and Croda International are also notably lower.

Among the gainers, Legal & General is up 1.8%, while BP, Imperial Brands, LSEG, Vodafone Group, Metlen Energy & Metals and Tesco are gaining 1.3%-1.5%.

M&G, Shell, The Sage Group, British American Tobacco, RightMove, GSK, Aviva and Sainsbury (J) are up with moderate gains.

In economic news, a report from the Office for National Statistics showed the UK economy logged no growth in January, as growth in construction was offset by contraction in industry and flat services activity.

Gross domestic product remained flat after rising 0.1% in December and 0.2% in November. Economists had forecast a monthly growth of 0.2%.

The dominant service sector registered no growth and industrial production edged down 0.1%. Meanwhile, the construction sector expanded 0.2%.

On a yearly basis, the UK economy expanded 0.8% in January, slightly weaker than forecast of 0.9%. In the three months to January, real GDP grew 0.2%, following a growth of 0.1% in the three months to December.

The UK recorded a trade surplus of £3.92 billion in January 2026, after posting a £4.34 billion deficit in the previous month. This marks the first surplus since September 2024.

Exports rose 7.2% month-on-month to a record £82.51 billion, while imports fell 3.3% to a one-year low of £78.59 billion.