London midday: FTSE touch higher as miners gain

(Sharecast News) - London stocks were a touch firmer by midday on Monday, underpinned by strength in the mining sector, as investors mulled the latest house price figures from Rightmove.

The FTSE 100 was 0.1% higher at 10,764.54, while Brent crude was up 0.8% at $89.20 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate was up 0.3% at $82.64.

Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell, said: "The FTSE 100 ticked higher at the start of the new trading week amid robust gains across Asia.

"Investors seem willing to park any concerns about the ongoing crisis in the Middle East as last week's softer-than-anticipated inflation numbers saw fears of an imminent rate hike from the US Federal Reserve subside. Combined with strong earnings from the tech space and you've had the conditions necessary for a healthy pick-up in sentiment.

"That improved sentiment may be tested as the interim ceasefire agreement between Washington and Tehran expires. The longer we go without any sort of resolution, the more likely we are to see Brent crude oil test the $100 per barrel mark seen in recent months.

"It could mean any relief on inflation is temporary. As markets seek to divine the likely trajectory of both rates and prices, UK inflation figures and minutes from the latest Federal Reserve meeting - both set for the middle of this week - could be instructive.

"In London, miners clawed back some of the ground they lost last week, helped by strong precious metals prices, with weakness seen in consumer-facing stocks."

On home shores, property portal Rightmove downgraded its forecast for house price growth this year as it reported a drop in August property prices.

Prices fell 1% on the year following a 0.4% decline in July. This marked the largest annual price fall since December 2023. On the month, prices were down 2% in August following a 1% fall a year earlier. This marked the largest August price fall since 2018.

The average price of a home stood at £364,999, versus £372,359 last month.

The figures also revealed an increasingly divided regional picture for property price growth, with the year-on-year difference between the northern and southern regions of England particularly stark.

Prices in the north of England are up by 1.5% versus a year ago, while prices in the south of England are down by 1.8%, with the largest decline seen in London, where prices fell 3.1% annually. Rightmove said the capital is seeing the largest choice of homes since 2010, leading to "fierce" competition among sellers to tempt buyers in the costliest part of the country.

Rightmove downgraded its national average 2026 price growth forecast to between flat and a 2% decline, having previously expected a 2% increase.

Colleen Babcock, property expert at Rightmove, said: "This month's larger-than-usual August price drop is a sign that many sellers are recognising the reality of the market and pricing much more competitively from day one. Buyers have the widest choice of homes for sale at this time of year in more than a decade, so standing out on price for the right reasons is hugely important.

"While no seller likes to come to market lower than they might have hoped, Rightmove analysis shows that those who price realistically are statistically proven to be giving themselves the strongest chance of finding a buyer and successfully completing a move. One tactic some sellers are using when considering lower offers on their home, is to also make a lower offer themselves on their onwards purchase, to see if they can make up the difference."

In equity markets, miners rose in tandem with metals prices, with Fresnillo, Endeavour, Antofagasta, Anglo American, Rio Tinto and Glencore all up.

Elsewhere, Telecom Plus - which trades as Utility Warehouse - gained as it said it was confident of meeting its guidance for FY27 and of delivering on its long-term goal of £175m of adjusted pre-tax profit by FY31 following an "encouraging" start to the year.

Drugmaker AstraZeneca advanced as it discontinued a Phase III study for a cancer drug, while reporting strong survival rates from another.