{"id":68710,"date":"2026-01-15T12:07:14","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T12:07:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pantheregroup.com\/2026\/01\/15\/ftse-100-up-nearly-0-5-at-noon\/"},"modified":"2026-01-15T12:07:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T12:07:14","slug":"ftse-100-up-nearly-0-5-at-noon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pantheregroup.com\/2026\/01\/15\/ftse-100-up-nearly-0-5-at-noon\/","title":{"rendered":"FTSE 100 Up Nearly 0.5% At Noon"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

\n<\/p>\n

\n

Despite some strong selling in energy and mining stocks, the U.K. stock market was modestly higher around noon on Thursday thanks to a few encouraging corporate updates.<\/p>\n

Prices of crude oil and precious metals dropped today amid easing geopolitical tensions and Fed independence concerns. <\/p>\n

Fears of an imminent U.S. action against Iran ebbed as U.S. President Donald Trump appeared to soften rhetoric against Iran.<\/p>\n

Trump said he had received information “on good authority” that Iran has stayed fast trials and executions of protesters, signaling he may hold off on attacking the country for now.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump told Reuters in an interview that he has no plans to fire Jerome Powell, but it was “too early” to say what he would ultimately do.<\/p>\n

Investors are also digesting the data showing stronger than expected GDP growth in November.<\/p>\n

The benchmark FTSE 100 was up 43.34 points of 0.43% at 10,227.69 a few minutes before noon.<\/p>\n

Data showed UK’s gross domestic product logged a monthly growth of 0.3% in November, reversing a 0.1% drop in October. Analysts had expected GDP to grow marginally by 0.1%.<\/p>\n

A separate data from the government showed U.K.’s trade deficit narrowed to GBP 23.7 billion in November from GBP 24.2 billion in the previous month. The shortfall, however, was bigger than forecast of GBP 20.3 billion.<\/p>\n

Shares of money manager Schroders was up as much h as 7% despite paring some gains. The stock is up after the company said it expects annual profits for 2025 to be ahead of market expectations.<\/p>\n

3i Group gained more than 5%. LondonMetric Property, Marks & Spencer, Centrica, Tesco and Persimmon moved up 2.3 to 2.5%.<\/p>\n

British American Tobacco, Smiths Group, Natwest Group, M&G, HSBC Holdings, Games Workshop, British Land, Glencore, Berkeley Group Holdings and Vodafone Group gained 1.2 to 2%.<\/p>\n

Shares of storage giant Safestore Holdings climbed about 1% after the company reported strong operational growth for the year ended October 31, 2025.<\/p>\n

Taylor Wimpey dropped down nearly 1%, weighed down the company’s announcement that profit margins in 2026 will be lower than earlier forecast.<\/p>\n

Fresnillo slid 2.7%. Compass Group, Burberry Group, BP, Diageo, Kingfisher, JD Sports Fashion, Airtel Africa and Intertek Group were lower by 1 to 2.3%. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Market Analysis<\/p>\n<\/div>\n