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On Monday, the UK’s FTSE experienced relatively stable performance, with gains in mining stocks that were tracking higher metal prices offsetting the drag caused by the shares of Barclays following less-than-stellar quarterly results.The commodity-focused FTSE 100 posteda modest gain of 0.7%. British lender Barclays faced a challenging day, with its shares declining by 6.8%. This drop was triggered by the bank’s third-quarter profit, which showed a slight dip from the previous year, primarily due to reduced revenues in its investment banking division. Consequently, the banking index led the market in declining, experiencing a 1.5% drop. Shares of Bunzl Plc experienced a decline of 4.6% after the business supplies distributor revised its full-year revenue forecast downward. This adjustment was primarily driven by the impact of lower product prices, which had put pressure on the company’s financial outlook. Both Barclays and Bunzl were pipped to the bottom spot by Experian shedding 8% on the session.On the positive side of the ledger Precious metal miners managed to secure a 0.3% gain, with Rio Tinto benefiting the most gaining over 3% to sit at the top of the blue chip index,benefiting from a retreat in U.S. Treasury yields. Additionally, demand for precious metals, often considered safe-haven assets, experienced an upsurge amid escalating tensions in the Middle East.Concurrently, labour market data from the UK revealed that the unemployment rate remained steady at 4.2% during the three months leading up to August. Nevertheless, the broader view of the labour market reflected a trend of softening, with a reduction in the number of people employed. This development is solidifying expectations of a rate pause by the Bank of England (BoE) during its upcoming policy meeting, as it assesses the economic landscape.
FTSE Bias: Bullish Above Bearish below 7470

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