- FTSE 100 up 77 points to 10,728
- Wall Street set for the red
- Brent crude jumps towards $108
- Sage Group tops leaderboard
15:31: Blue-chips kick on
The FTSE 100 climbed 77 points, or 0.72%, to 10,727.56 by mid-afternoon, having strengthened steadily from a near-flat open as defensive and energy stocks helped London shrug off a global technology sell-off.
Software names bucked the wider retreat, cheered by calls from leading AI companies to slow the development of advanced models. RELX rose more than 5% to 2,623p and Sage climbed over 5%, among the strongest blue-chip risers.
Wall Street opened lower, with the Nasdaq Composite off 1.19%. Brent crude jumped 4.07% to $108.87 a barrel as Middle East tensions deepened supply fears.
Gilt yields rose further, with the 30-year reaching 5.951%, its highest since March 1998.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has cancelled engagements after the death of his father, Roy.
14.04: Blue-chips remain in the green
The FTSE 100 is up 46 points, or 0.43%, at 10,696.75, according to LSE data.
But the FTSE 250 continues on its downward journey. It is down 112 points, or 0.47%, at 23,863.92.
Best of the brokers
Berenberg: Antofagasta upgraded to ‘buy’ from ‘hold’, 4,400p target (vs 3,790p close), ~16% upside after copper slide
Citi: AstraZeneca's camizestrant trial failed, but ‘buy’ rating and £178 target maintained as setback seen as limited
Panmure Liberum: GlobalData ‘buy’ retained, target cut to 100p from 140p after results; EPS forecast reduced ~25%
Panmure Liberum: Cerillion ‘buy’ retained, target cut to 1,400p from 2,000p; profit before tax and EPS forecasts reduced ~17% after order delays
13.07: Wall Street woes
The FTSE 100 rose 53 points to 10,703 in early afternoon trading even as a sell-off in technology stocks gripped global markets.
The pressure came after the two leading frontier artificial intelligence companies called for an industrywide slowdown in AI development.
Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei argued in a 3,800-word essay over the weekend that AI firms should slow the pace of improving their models to address safety concerns.
OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman agreed in a post on X, putting the two labs at odds with a market that has banked on rapid progress.
US futures pointed lower as a result, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 down 1.5%, led by chip stocks including Nvidia. In Asia, memory chip makers SK Hynix and Samsung fell.
London proved more resilient, helped by strength in information services and healthcare. RELX, London Stock Exchange Group and Experian all gained ground, as did Sage Group, while Smith & Nephew and GSK supported the healthcare end.
The wider UK market was softer, however, with the FTSE 250 down 0.55% and the AIM All-Share off 0.31%.
Oil added to the mix, with Brent crude trading near $108 a barrel after Saudi Arabia shut a key pipeline. Sterling slipped below $1.35 as the stronger dollar, lifted by higher oil and a hawkish Federal Reserve, weighed on the pound ahead of Wednesday's Fed meeting.
11.40: Copper bottomed
Citi has reaffirmed its bullish call on copper, holding its three-month price target at $15,000 a tonne.
The forecast sits well above current levels and would mark fresh territory for the industrial metal, widely used in construction, power grids and electric vehicles.
In its September outlook, the bank said the balance of risks was skewed to the upside, despite the threat of US tariffs hanging over the market.
Citi acknowledged that copper looked exposed in the near term.
Heavy positioning by investment funds leaves the metal vulnerable to sharp pullbacks if bearish news on American copper tariffs emerges.
The bank argued, however, that any such setback would prove temporary.
10.20: Holding the line
The FTSE 100 maintained its momentum in mid-morning trading as investors weighed higher oil prices against the prospect of tighter monetary policy.
Technology, information services and healthcare stocks led the advance.
Sage Group topped the risers with a 3.5% gain, while RELX climbed 3.07%, London Stock Exchange Group added 2.67% and Experian rose 2.52%.
Smith & Nephew and GSK also gained ground.
The wider market was softer, with the FTSE 250 down 0.55% and the AIM All-Share off 0.31%.
Brent crude traded around $108 a barrel, up about 3%, as traders priced the risk of genuine supply shortages.
Sterling slipped below $1.35 as the stronger oil price and a hawkish Federal Reserve lifted the dollar.
9:19am: Strong start
The FTSE 100 opened at 10,683 before climbing 61 points, or 0.6%, to 10,711.
Brent crude jumped 3.2% to $107.94 a barrel after Saudi Arabia closed its East-West pipeline following an attack.
The route can carry around 7 million barrels a day while bypassing the Strait of Hormuz.
The renewed surge in oil prices raises inflation risks ahead of this week's Bank of England decision.
It could support BP and Shell while piling pressure on airlines, retailers and other energy-intensive companies.
Rightmove, the property listings group, led the early blue-chip risers with a gain of 1.7%.
Positive start predicted
The FTSE 100 is expected to open around 26 points higher on Monday, with IG pointing to a level near 10,677.
London's blue-chip index closed Friday at 10,650.44, up 42 points or 0.4%, after touching a session high of 10,714.67.
Wall Street rebounded on Friday as oil prices briefly retreated.
The Dow Jones gained 1% to 52,573, the S&P 500 added 0.9% to 7,657 and the Nasdaq rose 1% to 26,333.
All three benchmarks still finished the week lower.
Asian markets were mixed on Monday as worries over artificial intelligence spending weighed on technology shares.
Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 0.8% and South Korea's Kospi dropped 2.5%.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 0.3%, China's Shanghai Composite rose 0.2% and Australia's ASX 200 edged up 0.1%.
SoftBank, the Japanese technology investor, plunged 11.2% after leading AI executives backed calls to slow the development of advanced models while safety measures catch up.
SK Hynix fell 5.3% and Samsung lost 2.8%.
Oil prices surged after Saudi Arabia shut a major pipeline used to bypass the Strait of Hormuz following an attack.
Brent crude jumped 3.2% to $107.94 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate gained 3.2% to $103.26.
The rise could support BP and Shell but renews pressure on airlines, retailers and other energy-intensive businesses.
Gold slipped 0.5% to $4,327.80 an ounce as costlier oil reinforced expectations of a US interest-rate rise.
Copper eased 1.2% to around $6.39 a pound, while Bitcoin traded near $77,800.
Central-bank decisions in the US, UK and Japan will dominate the week, with investors weighing whether the energy shock will force policymakers to keep interest rates higher.
