𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

The FTSE 100 ended lower on Wednesday as weak miners kept London’s lead index in check amid soft economic data in China.

The FTSE 100 closed down 13.47 points, 0.1%, at 10,515.92. The FTSE 250 ended up 55.56 points, 0.2%, at 23,462.39, while the AIM All-Share rose 0.16 of a point at 765.74.

In London, mining stocks were prominent fallers after below forecast economic growth data in China.

China’s national bureau of statistics said gross domestic product expanded 4.3% year-on-year in the second quarter, slowing from 5.0% growth in the first quarter, and missing the FXStreet-cited consensus forecast of 4.5%.

Quarter-on-quarter, GDP increased 0.9%, which Jim Reid at Deutsche Bank pointed out marked the slowest pace of expansion in more than two years.

Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell, said the weak data has “spooked investors” in the mining sector, “causing a sell-off amid fears that the Asian superpower might scale back commodity purchases”.

“The data reading took the market by surprise and might stir speculation that the Chinese government will dig deeper with economic stimulus measures,” he said.

On the FTSE 100, miners Fresnillo, Antofagasta, Anglo American and Endeavour Mining fell 3.0%, 2.6%, 3.4% and 2.5% respectively.

In European equity markets on Wednesday, the CAC 40 in Paris ended up 0.2%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt fell 0.6%.

The CAC 40 was boosted by gains in luxury goods stocks after strong results from sector peer, Richemont.

Shares in the Swiss company, which owns Cartier and Montblanc, jumped 6.7% as it posted total sales of 6.33 billion euros (£5.38 billion) for the first three months that ended June 30, up 17% from 5.41 billion euros (£4.6 billion) a year earlier, beating 5.88 billion euros (£4.99 billion) market consensus.

The strong top-line performance came on the back of “excellent” growth at Jewellery Maisons, while Specialist Watchmakers improved “sequentially”.

JPMorgan analyst Chiara Battistini said the figures were “remarkably strong” with a 7% beat against JPMorgan’s sales estimate, with better delivery at all divisions.

In Paris, Gucci owner Kering rose 3.6%, while LVMH climbed 2.7% and Hermes 2.4%. In London, Burberry, which provides a quarterly update on Friday, gained 2.4%.

Elsewhere, Europe’s most valuable company by market value, ASML, fell 0.4% after a second quarter beat-and-raise, as analysts said guidance was mixed.

In New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.3%, the S&P 500 was 0.2% higher and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.3%.

Wall Street took encouragement from further soft inflation data as wholesale pricing eased in June as energy costs fell. The figures come a day after consumer inflation figures surprised to the downside.

The producer price index dropped by 0.3% month-on-month, the first such contraction since August 2025, said the US labour department.

Compared with a year ago, PPI was up 5.5% last month – also a smaller increase than the 6.0% uptick seen in May, which was revised down from 6.5%.

The reading undershot the FXStreet-cited consensus, which had pencilled in a 6.2% increase.

Paypal shot up 18% as Reuters reported it is the subject of a 53 billion US dollars (£39.3 billion) takeover advance from privately-owned payments processor Stripe and private equity firm Advent International.

While Morgan Stanley edged up 0.6% as it reported a jump in earnings in the second quarter, driven by a sharp rise in equities revenue and continued momentum in investment banking and fixed income.

The US 10-year Treasury yield traded flat at 4.56% on Wednesday, and the US 30-year Treasury yield widened to 5.08% from 5.07%.

The euro traded higher against the greenback, at 1.1437 US dollars on Wednesday against 1.1432 dollars on Tuesday. Against the Japanese yen, the dollar was trading at 162.13 yen, up from 161.96 yen on Tuesday.

The pound traded at 1.3486 dollars on Wednesday afternoon, up from 1.3396 dollars on Tuesday. Against the euro, sterling firmed to 1.1791 euros from 1.1709 euros on Tuesday.

A report in the i Paper suggests incoming prime minister Andy Burnham will appoint Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood as the new Chancellor of the Exchequer.

The appointment would be viewed as more “market friendly” than that of the more left-leaning Ed Milliband, who had been tipped for the role but who may now become foreign secretary.

Brent crude for September delivery traded lower at 83.71 dollars a barrel on Wednesday, from 84.00 dollars at the time of the London equity market close on Tuesday.

The muted oil price move came despite tensions in the Middle East remaining elevated after the US renewed its naval blockade of Iranian ports and exchanged fresh strikes with Tehran over the Strait of Hormuz.

On the FTSE 100, ICG led the risers, up 5.5% as it reported net additions to fee-earning assets amounted to 2.4 billion dollars (£1.78 billion).

ICG made 4.4 billion dollars (£3.26 billion) of gross additions, which analysts Jefferies said beat Visible Alpha consensus of 3.0 billion dollars (£2.22 billion), offset by realisations of 2.0 billion dollars (£1.48 billion).

Housebuilder Barratt Redrow rose 4.3% as it announced a £386 million share buyback and reported a “solid” end to financial 2026 with home completions at the top end of guidance.

The Leicestershire, England-based housebuilder, said it expects future share buybacks will be prioritised as the preferred method of returning capital to shareholders.

The move comes shortly after shareholder Phoenix Asset Management Partners urged the firm to pursue an “aggressive” share buyback programme.

On the FTSE 250, Vistry rallied 6.6% after recent weakness as chief executive Adam Daniels bought 38,372 shares.

But B&M European Value Retail declined 5.4% as UK like-for-like sales growth fell short of market expectations.

Gold traded at 4,048.39 US dollars an ounce on Wednesday, down from 4,085.44 dollars on Tuesday.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were: ICG, up 99.0p at 1,889.0p; St James’s Place, up 49.5p at 1,204.0p; Barratt Redrow, up 11.9p at 290.1p; Persimmon, up 40.5p at 1,093.0p; and Entain, up 19.6p at 574.0p.

The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were: Vodafone, down 4.55p at 112.2p; Anglo American, down 123.0p at 3,547.0p; Airtel Africa, down 11.4p at 337.8p; Fresnillo, down 80.0p at 2,515.0p; and Antofagasta, down 101.0p at 3,742.0p.

Thursday’s global economic calendar has eurozone trade data, UK GDP figures and US retail sales numbers and an initial jobless claims report.

Thursday’s local corporate calendar has a trading statement from credit checking agency Experian and half-year results from online grocer and warehouse technology provider Ocado and electricity generator SSE.

Contributed by Alliance News