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The FTSE 100 opened 32 points higher at 10.782, recovering some of last week’s losses amid weak US economic data, reducing expectations of a US Federal Reserve interest rate hike. Brent crude futures fell 0.29% to $88.26 per barrel. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) declined 0.86% to $81.69 per barrel.
Sterling traded at $1.3557 on Monday, up from $1.3550 late Friday. Against the euro, it faded to €1.1694 from €1.1698.
On the upside, Antofagasta climbed 2.59% to 3,678p. Fresnillo advanced 2.47% to 2,951p, while Glencore gained 2.37% to 561.90p. Anglo American rose 2.34% to 3,940p, Prudential added 2.05% to 1,046p, and Endeavour Mining increased 1.82% to 4,186p.
On the downside, Unilever fell 1.09% to 4,539.50p. Spirax Group declined 1.07% to 6,945p, while Reckitt Benckiser dropped 0.98% to 5,064p. Croda International slipped 0.83% to 3,231p, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners lost 0.50% to 7,895p, and Lion Finance Group edged 0.44% lower to 13,450p.
Hiscox Ltd completed the initial tranche of its share repurchase program, purchasing 6,608,372 ordinary shares for $150 million, according to a press release.
The company bought back shares between February 25 and August 14 through an agreement with Peel Hunt LLP.
The purchases are part of a broader $300 million buyback program announced on February 25, 2026. Hiscox has agreed with Citigroup Global Markets Limited to conduct the second tranche of the program, which commenced today and will end no later than the end of 2026.
AstraZeneca said on Monday it is discontinuing a late-stage trial testing its drug volrustomig, combined with chemotherapy, in patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer.
The decision came after an Independent Data Monitoring Committee (IDMC) determined the combination was unlikely to meet its primary goals of extending progression-free survival or overall survival in patients whose tumors lacked the PD-L1 protein, when compared with the trial’s control arm.
The drugmaker said the safety profile of the combination was consistent with that of the individual medicines, and no new safety concerns emerged.
House prices in the UK have suffered their biggest August drop since 2018. The average house price slumped by 2% this month to £364,999, according to property portal Rightmove.
House prices are down 1% year-on-year, the largest annual drop since December 2023. “The uncertain geopolitical picture, changing mortgage rate landscape, and the new Chancellor’s first Budget in October are making it difficult to predict the rest of the year,” the property portal said.
In the US, stock futures were mixed early Monday, after the S&P 500 climbed for a third straight week. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures slid 59 points, or 0.11%. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq 100 futures climbed 0.1% and 0.35%, respectively.
In Asia on Monday, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 rose 0.74% to 69,220.25, while China’s Shanghai Composite gained 1.41%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng advanced 1.55%, and South Korea’s Kospi edged higher by 2.42%. In India, both the Nifty 50 and the Sensex fell by 0.15% and 0.15%, respectively.
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