Miners, energy shares drag FTSE 100 lower

This content was published on July 23, 2024 - 18:16

2 minutes

By Purvi Agarwal and Roshan Abraham

(Reuters) – Britain’s FTSE 100 closed lower on Tuesday, pressured by commodity-linked stocks which tracked declines in prices of oil and copper, while positive earning updates from companies helped offset declines.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 index was down 0.4%, after logging its best session in over a week on Monday. The mid-cap FTSE 250 was down 0.2%.

Industrial metal miners fell 1.9%, with heavyweights like Rio Tinto and Glencore slipped over 1.5% and 2.2% each as concerns of weak Chinese demand weighed on prices of copper. [MET/L]

The sector hit its lowest level since early April.

Automobile and parts stocks led the declines, falling 2.6%, with Dowlais Group, TI Fluid Systems and Aston Martin falling between 0.9% and 3.9%, after German automaker Porsche AG cut its sales and profitability outlook.

Energy shares and precious metal miners also slipped 1.6% and 0.4%, respectively.

In the U.S., focus will be on quarterly earnings of Wall Street giants like Alphabet and Tesla, reporting after the closing bell later in the day.

Vice President Kamala Harris was set to campaign in the critical state of Wisconsin for the first time, after securing enough Democratic delegate support to clear a path to the nomination, ahead of Nov. 3 elections.

Among stocks, SThree Plc jumped 1.1% after announcing its half-yearly results.

Compass gained 4.5% after the catering group raised its 2024 profit and revenue forecasts for the second time this year despite easing prices.

Rolls-Royce climbed 3.8% as it is developing a smaller version of its Ultrafan engine demonstrator aimed at exploring technology for the next generation of narrow-body jets, CEO Tufan Erginbilgic said on Tuesday.

Beazley rose 1.8% after the insurer said it had no plans to alter its guidance in the wake of Friday’s global IT glitch.