The FTSE 100 was broadly flat on Monday as investors prepared for a week that is likely to be dominated by US trade talks, with Donald Trump’s August 1 deadline fast approaching.
London’s leading index was 6 points higher at 8,996 at the time of writing.
“The FTSE 100 is flirting with the key 9000 level in early trading, with no major catalysts to send the index one way or another,” said Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown.
Investors are in ‘wait and see’ mode ahead of key trade negotiations, particularly between the US and the EU, and are showing little appetite to take major indices to fresh highs with a number of risk events on the horizon.
“There is now less than a fortnight before the 1 August deadline for the new tariff regime to kick in, and we still don’t have framework deals between the US and many regions including the EU,” said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.
“It’s now been six months since Donald Trump returned to the White House and it is fair to say he’s ruffled a few feathers during that period. Financial markets have been all over the place, geopolitical tensions have intensified, and uncertainty has prevailed.”
Miners were among the best performers on Monday with Anglo American topping the FTSE 100 leaderboard. Anglo American shares were 3.8% higher while Glencore added 3.7%.
“Glencore is leading the charge with Anglo American, Antofagasta, and Rio Tinto all staging impressive gains. This is after China started work on the world’s largest dam in Tibet, pushing iron ore and steel prices to four-month highs,” explained interactive investor analyst Victoria Scholar.
The mining sector has been key to the FTSE 100 breaking record highs in July, and it played a leading role in keeping the index flat on Monday amid losses for banks and pharmaceutical stocks.
BAE Systems was the FTSE 100’s top faller with losses of 2%.