(Sharecast News) - London stocks were down but off earlier lows by midday on Tuesday, having taken their cue from a technology selloff on Wall Street.
The FTSE 100 was down 0.3% at 10,410.74.
Sentiment took a hit following a tech selloff in the US, where SpaceX tumbled 16% on news it has kicked off its first investment grade bond sale to raise $20bn. Alphabet also fell sharply after Google Deepmind director and senior research scientist John Jumper left the division after a nine-year stint to move to Anthropic. Just last week, a key figure in Google's Gemini team, jumped ship to OpenAI.
Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: "The FTSE 100 was lower on Tuesday after yesterday's tech sell-off in the US.
"The selling in SpaceX, as its trajectory starts to reverse following a blockbuster market debut, has had a knock-on effect on some of the UK vehicles with stakes in the business. The mining sector in London was also lower amid concern about the global economy.
"The market reaction to the latest political news in the UK is relatively measured after Keir Starmer's decision to step down as prime minister.
"Gilt yields held firm despite uncertainty around whether there will be a smooth succession for Starmer's replacement or a leadership contest.
"Andy Burnham has already made attempts to address concerns he might rapidly increase borrowing and/or abandon fiscal rules should he become PM."
According to The Times, Andy Burnham will make a speech next week in which he will pledge to grow the economy and commit to Labour's fiscal rules, as he prepares to enter Downing Street following Keir Starmer's resignation.
Neil Wilson, UK investor strategist at Saxo Markets, said markets are still trying to figure out what Burnham means for the economy and markets. "Who's the chancellor is a big signal not just about the substance of their priorities but also the tone of the new regime in terms of just being about Burnham and supporters or a genuine reset," he said.
"We don't know much about his actual economic plans... we should hear more next week in a speech, in which he will seek to reassure markets."
He added: "The biggest tail risk for UK assets would be if an emboldened Burnham (And why not be bold given the momentum?) makes 'brave' decisions (to borrow from Sir Humphrey) on tax and spending."
Meanwhile, oil prices had pared losses by midday, with Brent crude flat at $77.91 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate also flat, at $73.82. Oil had been weaker earlier in the session after the US waived sanctions on Iran for 60 days from Monday following the first talks to negotiate a peace deal.
US Vice President JD Vance said on Monday that his talks with senior Iranian officials in Switzerland had created a "good foundation for a successful final deal".
In equity markets, heavily-weighted miners slumped, with Antofagasta, Anglo American, Rio Tinto and Glencore all lower.
Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust - which has significant exposure to the US tech sector - was among the worst performers on the FTSE 100.
Raspberry Pi, which makes high-performance, low-cost single-board computers (SBCs), microcontrollers, and computing accessories, also suffered heavy losses.
Telecom Plus tumbled after saying it expects earnings next fiscal year to be lower as it launched an ambitious five-year plan to more than double multi-service customer numbers to one million.
On the upside, Bunzl was the biggest riser on the FTSE 100 as it boosted annual guidance following a stronger-than-expected start to the year.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 10,410.74 -0.26%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 22,848.01 -1.50%
techMARK (TASX) 5,766.44 -0.60%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Bunzl (BNZL) 2,540.00p 3.00%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 1,010.50p 2.65%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 4,533.00p 2.02%
Relx plc (REL) 2,373.00p 2.02%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 13,540.00p 1.97%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 365.00p 1.73%
Entain (ENT) 555.00p 1.68%
The Sage Group (SGE) 814.40p 1.65%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 4,662.00p 1.44%
Diageo (DGE) 1,534.50p 1.25%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Antofagasta (ANTO) 3,690.00p -6.45%
Anglo American (AAL) 3,708.00p -4.99%
Fresnillo (FRES) 2,859.00p -4.69%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 1,374.00p -4.68%
Glencore (GLEN) 537.50p -3.81%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 7,239.00p -3.58%
IMI (IMI) 2,922.00p -2.86%
Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 3,722.00p -2.36%
Halma (HLMA) 3,876.00p -2.32%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,031.50p -2.09%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Hays (HAS) 31.70p 5.39%
Kainos Group (KNOS) 796.00p 2.91%
Trainline (TRN) 217.60p 1.59%
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 1,195.00p 1.53%
Energean (ENOG) 729.00p 1.46%
Pagegroup (PAGE) 104.80p 1.35%
Wetherspoon (J.D.) (JDW) 668.50p 1.21%
Applied Nutrition (APN) 299.00p 1.01%
IP Group (IPO) 65.60p 0.92%
Rathbones Group (RAT) 1,632.00p 0.86%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Telecom Plus (TEP) 700.00p -26.26%
Raspberry PI Holdings (RPI) 783.00p -12.47%
Ceres Power Holdings (CWR) 618.50p -8.65%
The Schiehallion Fund Limited NPV (MNTN) 1.94p -7.94%
Pacific Horizon Inv Trust (PHI) 1,174.00p -6.23%
Templeton Emerging Markets Inv Trust (TEM) 330.00p -5.71%
Seraphim Space Investment Trust (SSIT) 182.00p -5.70%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 518.00p -5.64%
Vesuvius (VSVS) 440.40p -5.24%
XP Power Ltd. (DI) (XPP) 1,852.00p -4.63%
36.25 (0.35%)
0.00