London’s blue-chip FTSE 100 opened Tuesday on a mildly positive note, edging up around 9 points to near 9,875, as gains in mining stocks helped offset broader caution across global equity markets. Trading volumes remained thin due to year-end holidays, resulting in selective buying.

All three major US indexes pulled back. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.5% lower on Monday, while the S&P 500 lost 0.3%. The Nasdaq Composite also slipped 0.5%. 

In Asia, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 fell 0.4%, though the index is still up nearly 25% for the year. South Korea’s Kospi and Taiwan’s Taiex also posted small losses, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 1.1% and Shanghai ended flat.

Mining Stocks Drive Early Momentum

The early gains in the FTSE 100 were driven mainly by mining and metals stocks. The price of silver bounced back from its fall. Fresnillo shares were up by 2.69% to £3,280. 

The price of copper rose, and therefore Antofagasta's stock price rose as well, gaining 1.87% to £3,271, while Glencore moved up 1.65% to £403.5 on account of the overall strong performance of base metals.

Anglo American's stock price rose 1.47% to £3,029, indicating an improved outlook for the diversified miner, while Endeavour Mining's stock price rose 1.10% to £3,860, as gold sustained its price above recent lows.

Metlen Energy & Metals also traded higher, adding 0.79% to £44.90 in early dealings. The sector-wide strength followed renewed dip buying in gold and silver after margin hikes at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange triggered heavy profit-taking on Monday.

Defensives and Consumer Stocks Lag

Games Workshop slipped 0.37% to £18,860, while DCC declined 0.73% to £4,656 amid cautious sentiment. Retailer Next eased 0.19% to £13,485, and pharmaceutical heavyweight AstraZeneca edged down 0.16% to £13,726.

Elsewhere, Experian fell 0.64% to £3,409, and British American Tobacco retreated 0.41% to £4,153, reflecting mild rotation away from defensive names rather than aggressive selling pressure.

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Global and Macro Backdrop

GBP/USD managed to post slight gains on Monday, but it was unable to move beyond the 1.3500 mark, which was the level at which the pair was anchored at the beginning of the European session.

On the US economic calendar, housing data will be released in the second half of the day, and the Federal Reserve will issue the minutes of the December policy meeting.

The data from the US showed on Monday that in November, Pending Home Sales recorded a 3.3% rise. The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas also indicated that the Dallas Fed Manufacturing Index declined to -10.9 in December from -10.4 in November.

Gold in the commodity markets recovered to above $4,350 per ounce, after having the most significant one-day drop since October, while silver climbed to $75 after being almost 9% lower. The oil market saw a slight decline, with Brent crude oil at around $61 per barrel.