London, Jan 14, 2026, 10:58 GMT — Regular session
- FTSE 100 up 0.3% as miners rise with bullion at fresh highs
- Mid-cap FTSE 250 slips, keeping the domestic picture mixed
- Traders eye U.S. tariffs ruling and bank earnings for the next jolt
Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.3% to 10,170.81 in mid-morning trade, helped by gold-linked miners and a lift in AstraZeneca. Endeavour Mining gained 3.4%, AstraZeneca rose 2.6% and Glencore added 2.3%, while the index came into the day after edging down 0.03% on Tuesday. 1
The tone matters now because the UK’s blue-chip index is heavy on miners, oil producers and global defensives, so it tends to track big swings in commodities and rates expectations rather than the health of the local consumer.
Gold and silver set the pace again after U.S. inflation undershot forecasts, feeding bets that the Federal Reserve cuts rates this year. Spot gold hit a record $4,639.42 an ounce and silver cracked $90, with the CPI rising 0.2% month-on-month and 2.6% year-on-year, the Reuters report said. 2
China also handed the market a commodity-friendly headline, posting a record $1.189 trillion trade surplus in 2025 as exports beat expectations in December. “China’s economy remains extraordinarily competitive,” Fred Neumann, chief Asia economist at HSBC, said, while warning the numbers also reflect weak domestic demand and excess capacity. 3
The more UK-focused FTSE 250 fell 0.3% to 22,858.41, underlining that the lift in London was not broad-based. 4
Interest-rate expectations are doing their own work. Bank of England rate-setter Alan Taylor said inflation is likely to hit the BoE’s 2% target around mid-2026 and that rates “should continue on a downward path” if the data keep matching his outlook. 5
Among individual names, SSE got a push after it and Germany’s RWE won contracts in the UK’s offshore wind power auction, while AstraZeneca gained after it agreed to buy Modella AI, according to a Reuters report that also flagged Pearson down about 5% after losing a U.S. education contract. Investors are also watching a pending U.S. Supreme Court decision tied to President Donald Trump’s tariffs, and more big U.S. bank results in the days ahead. 6
Whitbread was still on screens after a trading update on Tuesday when the Premier Inn owner lifted its cost-savings goal and reported accelerating sales. Chief executive Dominic Paul said the group delivered a “strong performance” and cited positive momentum; Whitbread also flagged UK revenue per available room (RevPAR, a key hotel pricing and occupancy gauge) up 4% in recent weeks. 7
Still, the UK market’s comfort zone is narrow. If metals cool or rate-cut hopes wobble, the miners that are doing the heavy lifting can flip fast, and any renewed tariff shock would test the risk mood.
For the rest of Wednesday, traders will keep one eye on bullion and industrial metals, and the other on U.S. policy headlines and bank earnings that could reset global risk pricing.
