FTSE 100 extends record win streak as gold miners rally
The FTSE 100’s record run, fuelled by a recovery in investor sentiment following a pullback in US tariff threats, extended to 16 days on Tuesday.
The blue-chip index had another nail-biting session fluctuating between small gains and losses before scraping a 0.01 per cent win.
Gold miners led the risers as Endeavour and Fresnillo topped four per cent.
The price of gold rallied over two per cent to $3,394.09 on the back of China, the world’s biggest buyer, returning from a holiday break.
Geopolitical tensions in the first quarter had the price of the precious metal up by more than 25 per cent as investors flocked to the safe haven asset.
On the fallers, Anglo American slumped three per cent after American coal miner Peabody said it was considering walking away from a $3.78bn deal to acquire Anglo assets after a fire at an Australian mine.
Meanwhile, the FTSE 250 notched a 0.55 per cent gain, taking its win streak to nine days – the longest since October 2020.
Susannah Streeter, head of markets and money at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “Investors have been finding appeal in the defensive nature of the index and looking for assets which could present value amid the uncertainty.
“Worries about trade turmoil have been soothed a little by a deal signed between the UK and India and hopes for fresh accords between the US and the rest of the world.”
London outperforms Europe and Wall Street
The index netted its record 15-day run on Friday as it made a full recovery from President Donald Trump’s tariff onslaught.
Global markets plummeted as geopolitical tensions escalated last month. As China fired back at the US with retaliatory tariffs, the FTSE 100 plunged five per cent.
The index hit a low of 7679.48 on April 9 as trade war tensions ramped up.
But after Trump’s climb down on his ‘Liberation Day’ levies markets began to recover.
Elsewhere, markets dipped on Tuesday as London managed to buck the trend.
Germany’s Dax was down over 0.4 per cent and Cac 40 in Paris 0.3 per cent.
On Wall Street markets had a rocky road to recovery after Trump’s attacks on the Federal Reserve and escalations with China spooked investors.
The S&P 500 closed off 0.6 per cent on Monday ending a nine-day winning streak.
As markets opened on Tuesday, the S&P was back in the red at a loss of nearly 0.4 per cent.
The Dow Jones was down 0.4 per cent and tech-heavy Nasdaq 0.5 per cent.
Tech giants Nvida and Meta lost over one per cent and Elon Musk’s Tesla over two per cent.
Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said investors would be eying central rate cuts, as the Bank of England and Federal Reserve both make decisions this week.
“The key focus will be on forward-looking commentary and whether the Fed is getting worried about Trump’s tariffs. It’s too early to judge the true impact of tariffs on the economy and labour markets but give it a few months and the situation will become clearer.
“Markets expect a 30 per cent chance of US rate cuts in June, a 76 per cent probability of cuts in July and a 96 per cent chance of cuts in September, so the direction of travel looks clear,” Mould said.