London open: FTSE dragged lower by miners as investors mull GDP

(Sharecast News) - London stocks fell in early trade on Thursday, dragged lower by weakness in the mining sector, as investors mulled the latest UK GDP reading.

At 0835 BST, the FTSE 100 was down 0.4% at 10,794.56, while Brent crude was 0.5% lower at $88.52 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate was down 0.6% at $82.78.

Figures released earlier by the Office for National Statistics showed the economy grew 0.4% between April and June, down from 0.6% in the first quarter and in line with expectations.

The services sector was the biggest contributor to growth, expanding 0.5%, while the construction sector grew 0.3% and production output showed no growth.

On the month, GDP grew 0.3% in June, having shown no growth in May and following a 0.1% contraction in April.

ONS director of economic statistics Liz McKeown said: "Growth slowed in the second quarter of the year, following a strong start to 2026, but remained relatively robust.

"Services were once again the main driver of growth, while production was broadly unchanged and construction also grew.

"Within services, computer programming and advertising continued to perform strongly, as they have done throughout the year, while wholesale was a notable area of weakness.

"While production was flat across the quarter, manufacturing grew, led by the often-volatile pharmaceutical industry alongside further strength in computer products.

"This was offset by falls in power generation and sewerage.

"Services also drove growth in June, with some businesses reporting that good weather and sporting events may have had a positive impact that month."

In equity markets, heavily-weighted miners were under the cosh as copper prices fell, with Antofagasta, Rio Tinto, Anglo American and Glencore all lower. Chilean copper miner Antofagasta was also in focus as it posted a rise in first-half earnings but cut its 2026 production guidance.

Grosvenor Casinos owner Rank Group rallied as it reported a 21% increase in full-year underlying operating profit to £78.6m, with good revenue growth across all of its businesses.

Savills rose as it backed its full-year expectations and posted a jump in first-half profit and revenue, with year-on-year growth across all business segments and a "significant" improvement in profitability in North America.

Aviva was boosted by an upgrade to 'overweight' from 'neutral' at JPMorgan, while Ladbrokes owner Entain ticked higher as it reported first-half results ahead of expectations.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 10,794.56 -0.36%

FTSE 250 (MCX) 24,814.38 0.00%

techMARK (TASX) 6,124.73 -0.03%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 1,449.50p 1.68%

Spirax Group (SPX) 7,325.00p 1.66%

Tesco (TSCO) 455.10p 1.20%

Aviva (AV.) 711.60p 1.08%

Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,104.50p 1.05%

Computacenter (CCC) 4,872.00p 1.04%

Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,129.50p 1.03%

Standard Chartered (STAN) 2,245.00p 0.99%

Lion Finance Group (BGEO) 12,850.00p 0.94%

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 161.00p 0.91%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Antofagasta (ANTO) 3,821.00p -4.81%

Rio Tinto (RIO) 7,185.00p -4.33%

Fresnillo (FRES) 2,895.00p -3.85%

Anglo American (AAL) 3,935.00p -2.59%

Abrdn (ABDN) 244.60p -2.39%

Glencore (GLEN) 562.40p -1.90%

London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) 8,578.00p -1.74%

Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (DI) (CCEP) 7,820.00p -1.07%

BP (BP.) 525.10p -0.94%

Rentokil Initial (RTO) 355.70p -0.89%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Premier Foods (PFD) 194.20p 4.92%

Savills (SVS) 1,008.00p 3.57%

Ocado Group (OCDO) 259.60p 2.43%

Johnson Service Group (JSG) 150.70p 2.38%

AO World (AO.) 100.00p 2.35%

Barr (A.G.) (BAG) 615.00p 2.16%

Jpmorgan European Growth & Income (JEGI) 152.00p 1.88%

Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) 129.80p 1.81%

Rank Group (RNK) 101.60p 1.80%

Renishaw (RSW) 5,250.00p 1.80%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Hochschild Mining (HOC) 510.50p -3.85%

Greencoat UK Wind (UKW) 110.50p -2.99%

Endeavour Mining (EDV) 4,162.00p -2.92%

Globaldata (DATA) 84.50p -2.76%

The Renewables Infrastructure Group Limited (TRIG) 75.60p -2.70%

Genus (GNS) 2,200.00p -2.48%

Ceres Power Holdings (CWR) 476.00p -2.46%

Halfords Group (HFD) 235.00p -2.29%

Pan African Resources (PAF) 110.80p -2.28%

Playtech (PTEC) 365.20p -2.20%: