Market Analysis

London stocks started the week positively, buoyed by a surge in metal miners and defence stocks. Investors awaited insights from the Bank of England regarding future interest rate changes.

The FTSE 100 rebounded by 0.3%, reversing recent losses, while the FTSE 250 edged up 0.5% near the 21,000 mark.

Precious metal miners saw a 2.3% rise as gold prices hit new highs on expectations of a potential U.S. Federal Reserve rate cut. Industrial metal miners gained 0.8% with copper reaching record levels.

Energy shares and aerospace/defence stocks were top gainers, the latter benefiting from increased Middle East uncertainty following Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi's death in a helicopter crash.

"It's no surprise defence stocks are up," said Danni Hewson from AJ Bell, citing potential geopolitical tensions driving higher defence spending.

Investors awaited a speech from Bank of England Deputy Governor Ben Broadbent for hints on rate cut timing, amidst upcoming economic data including the CPI, manufacturing, and retail sales figures.

Kainos Group surged 11.7% on strong full-year results, leading gains on the mid-cap index. Keywords Studios soared 61.2% amid talks of a $2.79 billion acquisition by EQT.

Paraphrasing text from "Reuters" all rights reserved by the original author.