The FTSE 100 bounced back from a wobble caused by bond market gyrations yesterday as miners surged amid rising precious metals prices.

Although London’s leading index didn’t recover all losses sustained yesterday, investors will be reassured that the global bond market sell-off didn’t spill into a second session of equity declines. That said, bond yields remained elevated and are likely to impact the equity story again before long.

The FTSE 100 was trading 0.5% higher at the time of writing, with mining stocks leading the charge. US equities were set for a higher open as tech stocks gained in the premarket.

Fresnillo, up 5%, was the top riser as gold scaled fresh highs. Fresnillo is the FTSE 100’s best-performing stock of 2025, posting gains in excess of 220% and playing a significant part in the index hitting record highs on a number of occasions this year.

Gold was last trading comfortably above $3,500 at $3,547 – a fresh record high.

“Gold is undergoing an impressive rally, supported by a combination of macroeconomic factors and capital flows,” said Linh Tran, Market Analyst at XS.com.

“After setting new record highs, the precious metal has continued to attract investors thanks to expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) will soon shift toward monetary easing, declining real yields, and rising demand for safe-haven assets amid global economic uncertainties.”

Diversified miners also joined the rally and helped lift the FTSE 100 index. Antofagasta and Anglo American both added more than 3%.

Ashtead rose 2.7% as the plant hire firm pleased investors with an encouraging set of Q1 results that further dispelled the gloom around the stock at the beginning of the year.

“Ashtead’s share price resurgence, up over 50% in just a few months, marks one of the most compelling turnarounds in the FTSE 100 this year. What began as a bleak 2025, marred by slowing construction starts and fears of a U.S. hard landing, has flipped dramatically as infrastructure tailwinds, resilient U.S. demand, and record free cash flow have reignited investor confidence,” said Mark Crouch, market analyst for eToro.

“Q1 results only add fuel to the rally, $2.8bn of revenue, $552m in profit, and raised free cash flow guidance underscore both operational strength and balance sheet discipline.”

There was also strength in defence stocks after China showed off its military hardware in a major parade that featured AI-powered robot attack wolves and nuclear bombs.

“It was telling that defence stocks moved higher, including gains from BAE Systems and Rheinmetall as investors potentially took the view that a more serious threat from the East could further increase demand for Western defence capabilities,” explained Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.

Babcock added 3% as BAE Systems rose around 0.5%.

Klarna has set its sights on New York for its long-awaited IPO that could value the ‘buy now, play later’ company at up to $14bn.

The Fintech filed for an IPO confidentially earlier this year, but pushed back plans due to market volatility caused by Trump’s tariffs.

The news will come as a blow to London, following reports that the Swedish start-up was considering listing on the London Stock Exchange.

The US has enjoyed a raft of successful IPO’s in recent months, so the decision to pass on London in favour of New York wouldn’t have been a difficult one to make.

Figma recently more than doubled on its first day of trading in the US, while a string of space-focused firms have been met with strong investor demand. London-listed Tekcapital has also picked the US to list its AV safety firm Guident, which, like Klarna, has filed for a US IPO confidentially.

Klarna is offering 34.3 million ordinary shares at an expected price range of $35-$37 per share, trading under the symbol “KLAR.”

Of the total offering, Klarna will issue 5.6 million new shares, whilst existing shareholders will sell 28.8 million shares. Underwriters have a 30-day option to purchase an additional 5.1 million shares to cover over-allotments.

Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, and Morgan Stanley are leading the offering as joint book-running managers. Several major banks including BofA Securities, Citigroup, and Deutsche Bank are serving as bookrunners, with additional firms acting as co-managers.

While it will be pretty tricky for UK-based private investors to gain exposure to the Klarna IPO before shares start to trade, they do have the option of taking a position in London-listed Chrysalis Investments Limited, which holds a £125m stake in Klarna, accounting for roughly 15% of the fund’s portfolio.

James Cropper shares rose on Wednesday after the Advanced Materials and Paper & Packaging group announced that recent trading had exceeded expectations across both core divisions.

Shares rose 20% in early trading on Wednesday as the group said it was targeting ‘significant growth in Adjusted EBITDA against FY25’.

The company produce paper and packaging as well as advanced materials such as composites for a broad range of industries, including automotive and defence. It also provides materials for batteries and electrolysers.

The group’s financial position improved during the 18-week period ended August 2, 2025, which also helped boost sentiment. Net debt fell to £10.3m from £12.9m at the end of the previous financial year in March 2025 – a reduction of £2.6m. This represents a £5.0m improvement compared to the same period last year.

The debt reduction was supported by disciplined cash management and £1.2m in net receipts from selling non-core assets. This aligns with the capital allocation policy outlined by the board at its Capital Markets Event in June.

“I am pleased we are making progress on our three key objectives: sales growth in Advanced Materials, improving profitability in Paper & Packaging and disciplined cash management to embed leverage below 2x EBITDA,” said David Stirling, CEO.

“The business is becoming more agile and streamlined to deliver our objectives, which will create long-term value for shareholders as we make progress against our recently introduced strategy.”

After a torrid 2024, shares are 30% higher in 2025 and investors will hope today’s update builds a foundation for further recovery.

Watches of Switzerland Group has shaken off the impact of tariffs and continued to deliver robust performance across its luxury watch and jewellery portfolio, with trading in the 18 weeks to August 31st meeting company expectations.

A trading statement released on Wednesday was heavily focused on operational progress, but the luxury retailer did say it has maintained consistently strong performance in both the UK and US markets, with the company on track for a solid first half of fiscal year 2026.

Investors cheered the news, and shares were trading 6% higher at the time of writing.

Rolex Flagship Store Exceeds Expectations

The crown jewel of recent developments has been the flagship Rolex Boutique on London’s Old Bond Street. The store has surpassed initial projections, generating excellent client response and securing impressive traffic levels and conversion rates.

The boutique’s lower ground floor features a Rolex Certified Pre-Owned salon, which is rapidly establishing itself as the go-to destination for Rolex enthusiasts seeking authenticated pre-owned timepieces and alleviating concerns about a slowdown in demand for second-hand luxury watches.

US Market Shows Resilience

Despite concerns over increased tariffs on Swiss imports, the US market has demonstrated remarkable stability and will continue to be a key growth market for the firm.

The company’s American operations continue to show strong year-over-year growth, supported by an upgraded e-commerce platform that has boosted online sales significantly.

Roberto Coin Acquisition Paying Dividends

The May 2024 acquisition of Roberto Coin Inc. is delivering strong results. The luxury jewellery brand has benefited from a high-impact advertising campaign featuring Dakota Johnson as global brand ambassador.

Three new mono-brand Roberto Coin boutiques are under construction in Miami, New York, and Las Vegas, scheduled to open in the third quarter of fiscal 2026.

Expansion Plans in Full Swing

The company’s aggressive showroom development programme continues across multiple locations.

Recent completions include the refurbishment of Northern Goldsmiths in Newcastle and the opening of Audemars Piguet AP House in Manchester through a joint venture partnership. Manchester is also home to a new Mappin & Webb Luxury Jewellery Boutique opened on September 4th, featuring geographical exclusivity for several luxury brands, including the company’s first De Beers mono-brand boutique.

Management remains optimistic about performance in the key UK and US markets and expects a minimal impact from US tariffs in the first half, as brand partners have significantly increased their inventory levels.

In July, the company guided for constant currency revenue growth of 6%-10%. This is unchanged.

The certified pre-owned business continues to show strong growth potential, with the company identifying this as a key opportunity across both UK and US markets. Registration of Interest lists continue to expand, indicating sustained consumer demand for luxury timepieces.

The FTSE 100 was on the back foot on Tuesday as UK gilts rose to a 27-year high, driven by concerns about the government’s borrowing and budgetary plans.

The pound also fell sharply against the dollar as the FTSE 100 gave up 0.3% to trade at 9,162.

“Gilt yields in the UK rose after the prime minister reshuffled the deck, seemingly sidelining his iron chancellor Reeves by poaching her deputy,” said Neil Wilson, Investor Strategist at Saxo UK.

“If the Treasury won’t break the rules, then perhaps Number 10 can? The market move was a sign that investors do not have confidence the Treasury will stick to its strict borrowing rules. Long-dated gilt yields are now trading close to 27-year highs again with the 30yr above 5.7%.”

Rising bond yields are particularly affecting those FTSE 100 sectors most exposed to interest rates.

Housebuilders were broadly lower as investors fretted about interest rates remaining higher for an extended period.

Taylor Wimpey, set to lose its FTSE 100 status after falling 23% so far in 2025, was among the top fallers, declining 2.6% on Tuesday.

Persimmon lost 2.5% and Barratts droped 2.3%. Rightmove was also hit with a 2.2% decline.

Stocks that are considered to have ‘bond proxy’ attributes, such as reliable cash flows and progressive dividend policies, were out of favour as investors looked to bond markets as a lower risk opportunity to capture yields amid the gilt sell-off.

Stocks such as United Utilities, Whitbread, Land Securities, and SSE appear less appealing when investors can achieve a 5.7% yield on 30-year government debt. Some of these stocks will also feel the pinch of higher financing costs.

Marks & Spencer was the top faller with losses of 3.8%.

Stronger commodities helped BP, Shell, and Fresnillo rise by between 1% and 1.8%.

“Oil stocks and precious metals miners were the main gainers in London as gold and silver prices continued to surge,” explained AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.

“Crude oil prices moved higher, with traders reacting to potential supply disruptions associated with the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.”

Only 17 of the FTSE 100 constituents were trading in positive territory at the time of writing.

AIM-listed Tialis Essential IT has won a substantial five-year contract extension worth approximately £50 million from an existing customer. The managed services provider will deliver lifecycle services, tech bars, end user support and field engineering under the expanded framework agreement.

Tialis Essential IT shares were over 60% higher at the time of writing.

Investors were clearly impressed with the deal as it represents a significant boost to the company’s order book and provides investors with much-needed revenue visibility.

The company said the agreement underscores Tialis’s strong client relationships and successful delivery track record in advanced engineering and technology solutions.

The contract extension builds on previous work with the unnamed long-standing customer, demonstrating high levels of client satisfaction with the firm’s services.

“We are delighted to deepen our long-standing relationship through this major contract expansion,” said Niall O’Regan, Chief Operating Officer of Tialis Essential IT.

“Repeat business from high-quality clients is the clearest endorsement of our capabilities, and this award highlights the trust placed in us to deliver mission-critical solutions. This contract will meaningfully contribute to our revenue base and supports our strategy of driving growth through long-term partnerships.”

US tech shares dominated the top 10 shares traded on the Robinhood UK platform again in August as investors continued to position their portfolios in the world’s fastest-growing and largest AI and crypto stocks.

“Another month, another big showing for AI, crypto and tech in general among the most popular stocks in August 2025 on Robinhood UK,” said Dan Lane, Lead Analyst at Robinhood UK.

Top 10 stocks traded on the Robinhood UK platform in August:

1. Palantir (PLTR)
2. MARA (MARA)
3. Tesla (TSLA)
4. Robinhood (HOOD)
5. NVIDIA (NVDA)
6. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD)
7. Nebius (NBIS)
8. SoFi Technologies (SOFI)
9. Apple (AAPL)
10. UnitedHealth (UNH)

Interest in AI shares remains intact among Robinhood’s clients, despite questions about whether the pace of growth can continue.

“A few worries that AI won’t be the big profit accelerator sector fans were hoping for shook markets towards the end of August. But, renewed hopes of a September interest rate cut helped keep spirits high nonetheless,” Lane explained.

“Palantir’s stock had a busy month, hitting all-time highs thanks to impressing the market with Q2 results, before calming down on the back of valuation concerns. A price-to-sales (P/S) ratio of over 100 clearly widened a few eyes and, with a recent report from MIT questioning the extent of corporate America’s revenue uplift due to AI, the stock trended downwards heading into the back end of August.

“Staying in AI, AMD had a choppy month, with the stock gyrating on a stream of news items including an announcement that the company, along with NVIDIA, plans to give 15% of revenue generated from Chinese chip sales to the US government. Data centre sales have been hampered by the revoking of AMD’s export license so, with this deal in the works, the firm will be hoping trade disruption is close to an end. It was a similar story for NVIDIA, with restrictions meaning zero sales of its H20 processors to China-based customers in its latest quarter. That said, the world’s most valuable company did beat earnings and revenue estimates and guided for sales growth this quarter to stay above 50%.

“Dutch AI infrastructure firm, Nebius, rose up the most popular stock list as its shares continued their post-Liberation Day rise. Bumper Q2 earnings and a guidance upgrade helped lift the stock in August, with broader AI nerves stepping in to stall the party somewhat from the middle of the month.”

Tesla shares are benefiting from investor interest in the autonomous vehicles story and how robotaxis could provide the next phase of growth for the company as EV sales growth falters.

“Tesla’s still among the most popular buys, with the stock making a charge in August on the back of announced plans to expand the company’s robotaxi service and word that a new full self-driving model is being developed,” Lane said.

“On the crypto front, MARA (the artist formerly known as Marathon Digital) makes the most popular list after Bitcoin’s summer rally breathed further life into appetite for miners and exchanges. That didn’t translate into another positive month for MARA stock though, with July marking recent highs.

“Fintech firm SoFi makes the list after investors lifted the stock on the back of beating Q2 earnings estimates and raising revenue guidance. An expanding user base and hike in profits prompted buying throughout August.”