The FTSE 100 continued its march to the upside on Thursday as miners passed the baton to financials and UK-centric names to lead the index to fresh record highs.
London’s leading index was 0.5% higher at 10,237 at the time of writing.
“The Footsie has hiked higher to new heights, again breaching fresh records. More optimism is swirling, helped by a calming of geopolitics and more clement conditions for the UK,” said Susannah Streeter, Chief Markets Strategist, Wealth Club.
“With November’s snapshot of economic health more robust than expected, it’s put more spring in the step of listed companies linked to the domestic outlook.”
UK month-on-month GDP growth came in at 0.3% v 0.1% expected by economists.
Banks were higher after better-than-expected GDP figures reduced the chances of a string of UK interest rate cuts in early 2026. NatWest gained 1.5% while Lloyds rose 1% as investors positioned for key banking interest income metrics holding up for just a little while longer.
The FTSE 100’s gains on Thursday are notable, not least because the fresh records were achieved despite broad softness across the commodity sectors.
A drop in oil prices hit BP and Shell, which were trading 2% and 0.5% lower, respectively.
“Brent crude fell by 3.2% to $64.40, a substantially larger movement than one might expect on the commodities market for an average day. Investors took stock of events in Iran and responded to comments by Donald Trump that implied tensions around anti-government protests had eased,” explained Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.
“Financial markets took those comments to mean there was less of a chance the US takes military action against Iran, and therefore a lower risk of disruption to oil supplies.”
Mining companies, some of the best performing of 2026 so far, were more subdued on Thursday, with Fresnillo falling 1.5% and Rio Tinto adding 1%.
Schroders was the FTSE 100’s top riser, surging more than 6%, after the asset manager bumped up its profit outlook. The group said it expected operating profit to be at least £745 million for FY25 compared to £603.1 million last year.
Housebuilders were generally stronger after Taylor Wimpey released a mixed trading update that showed some signs of improvement in completions. Persimmon rose 2.6% while Barratt Redrow gained 1.4%.
“With a pressing need for new homes in the UK, the long-term demand outlook remains favourable,” said Aarin Chiekrie, equity analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown.
“Taylor Wimpey’s got a significant land bank to lean on as and when demand really does pick up. The only hiccup in today’s results was the outlook for 2026, where the company expects profit margins to be lower than the prior year.”