London close: Falling miners, oil stocks pull FTSE 100 back from record high

(Sharecast News) - UK stocks retreated sharply from record highs on Wednesday with steep falls in the heavyweight mining and energy sectors providing a drag as geopolitical tensions continued to mount.

The FTSE 100, which jumped 1.3% to a fresh record high of 10,132.02 on Tuesday - its third closing record high in as many days - finished 0.7% lower at 10,056.84.

"Investor sentiment turned cautious amid developments between the US and Venezuela, prompting a shift toward defensive sectors like utilities and real estate," said Patrick Munnelly, partner of market strategy at Tickmill Group.

Commodity prices were lower across the board on Wednesday, with metals prices pulling back from record highs and oil prices dragged down by oversupply concerns following Donald Trump's controversial raid of Venezuela's energy sector.

Brent crude was 0.9% lower at $60.17 a barrel after the US president said Venezuela will be "turning over" up to 50m barrels of oil to the US to be sold at its market price. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the US will use the proceeds "to benefit the people of Venezuela and the United States!".

In other geopolitical developments, Trump has now renewed his focus on Greenland as his next potential target for American expansionism, claiming that annexing the region is a "national security priority". The White House said the US president was looking at "a range of options" to take over the semi-autonomous Danish territory, and could potentially use military action to get what he wants.

Several European leaders rallied on Tuesday in support of Denmark, a fellow Nato member, which is opposed to Trump's demands and has challenged his assertions that Chinese vessels are operating in the region in large numbers.

Meanwhile, gold prices slipped 0.5% while silver and copper tanked 3.6% and 2.9%, pulling back sharply after dramatic swings to the upside in recent days.

On home shores, a survey out earlier showed the construction downturn eased slightly in December, though the sector still experienced sharp falls in housing, commercial and civil engineering activity.

The S&P Global UK construction purchasing managers' index (PMI) rose to 40.1 over the final month of 2025, from a five-year low of 39.4 in November. This was the 12th straight month below the neutral 50-point level - which separates contraction from growth - and the second-lowest reading since May 2020.

Miners, oil majors down

Precious metals miner Fresnillo was the biggest loser on the index as gold prices retreated, while heavyweights Antofagasta, Anglo American and Glencore also fell as copper prices retreated from recent highs. BP and Shell were also tracking oil prices lower on oversupply concerns.

NatWest also fell after a downgrade to 'equalweight' at Barclays, while Hikma was knocked lower by a downgrade to 'underweight' by the same outfit. In contrast, Vodafone rallied after Berenberg upgraded the stock to 'buy' from 'hold' and lifted the price target to 119p from 82p.

REITs and housebuilders were the top performers amid falling gilt yields - the yield on a 10-year UK bond was down 6.8 basis points at a four-week low of 4.418% by the close.

LondonMetric, Land Securities, British Land, Barratt Redrow and Persimmon were all higher on the FTSE 100, while Primary Health Properties, Safestore, Great Portland Estate and Derwent London gained on the FTSE 250. GPE was also in focus after agreeing to buy a building from the City of London Corporation for �51m, boosting its West End portfolio.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 10,056.84 -0.65%

FTSE 250 (MCX) 22,880.81 0.39%

techMARK (TASX) 5,820.21 0.61%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Babcock International Group (BAB) 1,444.00p 4.03%

LondonMetric Property (LMP) 196.00p 3.76%

SEGRO (SGRO) 743.60p 3.39%

IMI (IMI) 2,616.00p 3.24%

Barratt Redrow (BTRW) 384.30p 3.11%

Land Securities Group (LAND) 643.50p 3.04%

British Land Company (BLND) 416.80p 2.91%

Persimmon (PSN) 1,391.50p 2.81%

Vodafone Group (VOD) 103.30p 2.79%

Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 4,006.00p 2.67%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 15,710.00p -5.36%

Fresnillo (FRES) 3,500.00p -4.84%

Antofagasta (ANTO) 3,387.00p -4.38%

NATWEST GROUP (NWG) 632.40p -4.27%

Diageo (DGE) 1,577.00p -4.08%

Entain (ENT) 743.60p -3.65%

easyJet (EZJ) 504.60p -3.37%

Shell (SHEL) 2,655.50p -3.33%

Anglo American (AAL) 3,150.00p -3.29%

BP (BP.) 418.20p -3.16%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Grainger (GRI) 190.60p 6.01%

W.A.G Payment Solutions (EWG) 129.00p 5.74%

Oxford Biomedica (OXB) 728.00p 4.45%

Primary Health Properties (PHP) 101.90p 4.30%

Safestore Holdings (SAFE) 773.50p 4.03%

Ocado Group (OCDO) 274.10p 3.87%

Great Portland Estates (GPE) 327.00p 3.48%

Derwent London (DLN) 1,835.00p 3.44%

Grafton Group Ut (CDI) (GFTU) 975.10p 3.19%

Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 64.80p 3.18%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Pan African Resources (PAF) 117.60p -8.84%

Hochschild Mining (HOC) 490.40p -6.50%

Raspberry PI Holdings (RPI) 296.00p -5.91%

Harbour Energy (HBR) 185.90p -3.98%

CMC Markets (CMCX) 313.50p -3.83%

Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 1,270.00p -3.42%

IP Group (IPO) 57.30p -3.37%

Shawbrook Group (SHAW) 484.50p -3.10%

Ashmore Group (ASHM) 177.50p -2.90%

Carnival (CCL) 2,339.00p -2.78%