FTSE 100 flat as Barclays drags, miners cap losses

The UK’s FTSE was flat on Monday as gains in mining stocks tracking metal prices higher offset the drag from shares...
24 Oct, 2023

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.

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