The UK’s FTSE was flat on Monday as gains in mining stocks tracking metal prices higher offset the drag from shares of Barclays following lacklustre quarterly results.
The commodity-focused FTSE 100 was unchanged while the mid-cap FTSE 250 rose 0.2%. British lender Barclays lost 6.1% after the third-quarter profit dipped slightly from a year ago on sliding revenues in its investment bank.
The banking index dropped 1.5%, leading declines. Shares of Bunzl Plc shed 4.6% after the business supplies distributor trimmed its full-year revenue forecast, weighed down by lower product prices. Limiting declines, industrial metal miners added 1.7% on a rise in the prices of most metals.
Precious metal miners also climbed 0.3% following a pullback in US Treasury yields, while demand for the safe-haven product also rose amid growing tensions in the Middle East.
Commodity-linked stocks drag FTSE 100 lower, Indivior lifts midcaps
Meanwhile, data showed Britain’s unemployment rate held steady at 4.2% in the three months to August.
However, the big picture remained of a softening labour market with the number of people in jobs falling again, cementing hopes of a rate pause by the BoE in its upcoming policy meeting.