FTSE 100 Hits New Record

The FTSE 100 rose more than 1% to a fresh record high above 10800 on Tuesday, supported by strong gains in banking and mining shares. HSBC Holdings jumped 7.6% to a record after reporting better than expected profit, with its wealth division lifted by solid client income, driving a broad rally in lenders. Commodity linked stocks also advanced as copper and precious metals prices strengthened. Fresnillo gained 7%, Antofagasta rose 6%, while Endeavour Mining and Glencore added around 3%. Relx climbed 6.3% as its LexisNexis unit partnered with AI firm Anthropic, easing prior concerns. In contrast, Diageo tumbled 13% after it warned of weaker annual sales and cut its dividend to protect its balance sheet. Haleon declined 7% after its sales growth fell short of estimates.

The FTSE 100 Index went up by 116 points or 1.09 percent on Wednesday to close at 10797 points. The rise was led by HSBC Holdings (7.56%), Fresnillo (6.94%) and Relx (6.25%).

FTSE 100 rose more than 0.5% to trade at a fresh record high above 10750 on Tuesday, supported by strong gains in banking and mining shares. HSBC Holdings jumped 6% to a record after reporting better than expected profit, with its wealth division lifted by solid client income, driving a broad rally in lenders. Commodity linked stocks also advanced as copper and precious metals prices strengthened. Fresnillo gained 4.7%, Antofagasta rose 4%, while Endeavour Mining and Glencore added around 2%. Relx climbed 3.8% as its LexisNexis unit partnered with AI firm Anthropic, easing prior concerns. In contrast, Diageo (-6.5%) warned of weaker annual sales and cut its dividend to protect its balance sheet. Overnight, Donald Trump struck an upbeat tone on the US economy. Haleon is falling more than 3.5% after its sales growth fell short of estimates.