London open: FTSE rises as miners rally

(Sharecast News) - London stocks rose in early trade on Tuesday, underpinned by strength in the heavily-weighted mining, as investors mulled a rate hike by the Reserve Bank of Australia and an easing of UK shop price inflation.

At 0835 BST, the FTSE 100 was 09.3% firmer at 10,711.84, while Brent crude was up 1.2% at $106.54 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate was 1% higher at $93.51.

Australia's Reserve Bank lifted its cash rate by 25 basis points to 4.6%, its fourth increase of 2026 and the highest level in 15 years. The move was in line with expectations.

The board said the decision was unanimous and signalled it was prepared to tighten policy further if needed to return inflation to target.

Consumer price inflation is currently 3.5%, above the RBA's 2-3% band. Policymakers said recent data had been stronger than expected and that financial conditions needed to remain restrictive to ensure price pressures ease over time.

On home shores, figures showed that shop price inflation eased in September as retailers kept prices low despite rising cost pressures. The BRC-NIQ shop price index showed that shop price inflation fell to 1.4% year-on-year in September from 1.5% growth in August. This was above the three-month average of 1.3%.

Food inflation decreased to 2.5% following growth of 2.8% in August, while non-food inflation eased to 0.8% in September from 0.9% the month before. Fresh food inflation fell to 2.6% this month from 3% in August, while ambient food inflation eased to 2.2% from 2.5%.

Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, said: "Shop price inflation edged down this month, with food inflation falling as competition between retailers continued to deliver value for shoppers. Promotions helped bring down meat and dairy prices, though poor harvests across Europe pushed up fruit prices and high global commodity prices kept chocolate and confectionery prices elevated. In non-food, strong discounting reduced the cost of back-to-school essentials, including books, stationery, footwear and electricals.

"Retailers have absorbed wave after wave of extra costs, but there is a limit to what businesses can shoulder. With higher business rates set to hit in April, alongside rising employment costs, energy bills and packaging taxes, the Budget is a fork in the road. The Chancellor can help keep prices down by freezing the rates rise and removing shops from the business rates surtax, or risk pushing even more costs onto consumers."

In equity markets, miners Antofagasta, Anglo American, Glencore and Rio Tinto were among the top performers on the FTSE 100 as copper prices rose.

AstraZeneca gained after saying it will invest $2bn in US biopharma Summit Therapeutics. Under the terms of the deal, AstraZeneca will buy newly-issued equity in the New York-listed oncology specialist, giving it a stake of around 12%. The tie-up will allow the companies to collaborate on a series of studies into their cancer treatments.

Close Brothers shot higher after results, while Zigup advanced as it said full-year adjusted pre-tax profit was set to be at the top of the current range of market expectations of £163.2m to £170m.

On the downside, Irn-Bru maker AG Barr fell despite backing its full-year expectations and posting a rise in interim profit and revenue, with growth ahead of the soft drinks market, driven by core brand performance.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 10,711.84 0.25%

FTSE 250 (MCX) 24,378.85 0.18%

techMARK (TASX) 6,198.27 0.28%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Antofagasta (ANTO) 3,718.00p 2.19%

AstraZeneca (AZN) 12,736.00p 2.11%

GSK (GSK) 1,897.00p 1.88%

Anglo American (AAL) 4,029.00p 1.77%

Glencore (GLEN) 559.90p 1.54%

Halma (HLMA) 3,514.00p 1.50%

Relx plc (REL) 2,514.00p 1.49%

InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 160.35p 1.45%

Rio Tinto (RIO) 7,154.00p 1.42%

Spirax Group (SPX) 7,240.00p 1.40%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

SSE (SSE) 2,408.00p -1.79%

Ithaca Energy (ITH) 280.00p -1.72%

Vodafone Group (VOD) 122.75p -1.43%

National Grid (NG.) 1,113.00p -1.37%

Legal & General Group (LGEN) 294.90p -1.27%

Rentokil Initial (RTO) 299.80p -1.25%

Admiral Group (ADM) 3,628.00p -1.14%

Centrica (CNA) 144.90p -1.09%

BT Group (BT.A) 192.00p -0.90%

Severn Trent (SVT) 3,050.00p -0.78%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Close Brothers Group (CBG) 420.80p 9.33%

Zigup (ZIG) 449.00p 4.62%

W.A.G Payment Solutions (EWG) 98.00p 4.37%

Trustpilot Group (TRST) 214.20p 3.66%

Ruffer Investment Company Ltd Red PTG Pref Shares (RICA) 297.00p 3.55%

Hansa Investment Company Limited (DI) (HAN) 338.00p 2.42%

Foresight Group Holdings Limited NPV (FSG) 445.00p 2.42%

Ceres Power Holdings (CWR) 392.80p 2.22%

Workspace Group (WKP) 369.20p 2.16%

HGCapital Trust (HGT) 389.00p 2.10%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

NCC Group (NCC) 144.00p -4.13%

Pollen Street Group Limited (POLN) 900.00p -2.28%

Grafton Group Ut (CDI) (GFTU) 977.00p -1.94%

Serco Group (SRP) 247.00p -1.75%

Barr (A.G.) (BAG) 588.00p -1.67%

Pennon Group (PNN) 441.80p -1.48%

Genuit Group (GEN) 300.00p -1.45%

Ocado Group (OCDO) 249.60p -1.34%

Baltic Classifieds Group (BCG) 2.00p -1.19%

Clarkson (CKN) 5,060.00p -1.08%