UK Shares Slip as Miners Fall and Labour Market Cools

FTSE Futures

UK shares declined on Tuesday as metal miners experienced a downturn, coinciding with data indicating a continued cooling in Britain’s labour market.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 index was 0.1% lower at 10,711.29 points by 0948, marking a decline for the seventh consecutive session, while the midcap FTSE 250 slipped 0.4% to 24,612.95 points.

  • Long-term borrowing costs from the United States to Japan and Germany increased to their highest levels in decades as oil prices surpassed $90 a barrel, intensifying inflation concerns amid diminishing hopes for peace between the U.S. and Iran.
  • Shares of miners Endeavour Mining, Fresnillo, and Antofagasta declined by approximately 2% each as gold and copper prices experienced a downturn.
  • Oil and gas producers Shell and BP experienced increases of 1.3% and 1.8%, respectively, following a third consecutive rise in oil prices. This uptick comes as the likelihood of a resolution to the Middle East conflict diminishes, with Iran indicating a shift toward a more aggressive posture and the U.S. dismissing the possibility of extending a ceasefire agreement, thereby amplifying concerns regarding energy supply.
  • Britain’s labour market exhibited further cooling in the second quarter, characterised by a deceleration in earnings growth within the private sector and the lowest number of vacancies recorded in over five years, according to official data.
  • In a separate development, grocery price inflation has decreased to its lowest point since October 2024 in August, according to market researcher Worldpanel by Numerator. This trend provides additional relief to households facing high living costs.
  • The data is expected to maintain the Bank of England’s current stance for the time being, although the central bank has indicated that it may require until the end of the year to assess whether the increased energy prices resulting from the Iran conflict are influencing wage agreements.
  • Japan-focused investment trusts JPMorgan Japanese and Baillie Gifford Japan Trust experienced declines of 3.3% and 2.6%, respectively, ranking among the leading losses on the FTSE midcap index, coinciding with a wider downturn in financial shares. The country’s benchmark bond yield was nearing a three-decade high, just below 3%.
  • Among the midcap stocks, shares of IT software provider Kainos Group rose 21% after its fiscal 2027 revenue and adjusted pretax profit forecasts came in “comfortably ahead” of market expectations.