17th Feb 2026 12:09
(Alliance News) - The FTSE 100 was higher at midday on Tuesday, as investors continue to digest UK labour figures and as Russian and Ukrainian negotiators prepare to meet for new US-brokered talks.
Before the meetings began Ukraine accused Russia of undermining peace efforts by launching 29 missiles and 396 drones in attacks that authorities said killed one, wounded others and cut power to tens of thousands.
The FTSE 100 index was up 46.63 points, 0.5%, at 10,520.32. The FTSE 250 was up 32.61 points, 0.1%, at 23,408.08, and the AIM all-share was down 4.71 points, 0.6%, at 806.63.
The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.4% at 10,47.91, the Cboe UK 250 was down marginally at 20,693.38, and the Cboe small companies was down 0.4% at 18,530.28.
Earlier on Tuesday, the UK unemployment rate came in higher than expected at 5.2% for the three months ended December and average earnings growth including bonuses slowed to 4.2%, missing the 4.6% consensus estimate. This was "down from 4.6% in November and well below the 5.9% seen a year earlier," StoneX analyst Fawad Razaqzada commented.
Razaqzada said that "wage pressures...are clearly cooling", adding: "And that’s strengthening the case for further easing from the BoE with the UK central bank likely to move in March now instead of waiting until April.
"Traders are now pricing in a 76% chance of a March cut while odds of two cuts are now fully priced in by November, up from about 48 basis points earlier. But I think we could see that second cut as early as June. As such, this should keep the FTSE 100 forecast positive."
Antofagasta continued to lead the FTSE 100 laggers, down 3.8%, after reporting 2025 revenue and operating profit below analyst expectations.
Revenue increased 30% to USD8.62 billion annually, but was a notch below Peel Hunt's expectations of USD8.68 billion. Operating profit from subsidiaries and share of total results from associates and joint ventures climbed 64% to USD3.43 billion, slightly below market consensus according to Peel Hunt of USD3.45 billion.
Barratt Redrow led the FTSE 100, up 3.7%. Other property stocks also performed well, with fellow housebuilder Persimmon up 2.0% and real estate investor Land Securities up 1.6%.
Scottish housebuilder Springfield Properties, down 4.5% on AIM, said in its first-half results that it completed profitable land sales of £9.8 million, which mainly represent the final site sale under its 2025 agreement with Barratt Redrow.
Springfield also reported that revenue increased to GBP108.0 million in the six months ended November 30, up 2% on-year, while pretax profit rose 6% to GBP3.7 million.
Tertiary Minerals lost 5.6%.
The mineral developer's 2025 pretax loss widened GBP583,916 from GBP550,934 the year before, although revenue increased and Tertiary said the outlook for its main commodities is "bullish" with copper prices "near historically high levels" and "forecast to increase", and silver having "enjoyed a significant rerating".
Chief Executive Innes Smith said that "we remain on track to deliver results for the full year in line with market expectations".
MTI Wireless Edge rose 17%.
The Rosh Haayin, Israel-based maker of military and commercial antennas expects to report revenue of approximately USD51.5 million for 2025, the top of its current market guidance range.
Earnings before interest and tax growth was "very strong" at around 30% on-year, leading MTI to expect earnings per share to be "significantly ahead" of the market consensus range.
In European equities on Tuesday, the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.2%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was up 0.1%.
Investor sentiment was worse than anticipated in Germany and the eurozone this month, ZEW reported.
The ZEW indicator of economic sentiment for Germany fell by 1.3 points to 58.3 points in February, sharply underperforming against the FXStreet-cited consensus of an improvement to 65.0.
The indicator of the current economic situation improved by 6.8 points to minus 65.9, albeit worse than expectations of a stronger improvement to minus 65.7.
For the eurozone, investor sentiment deteriorated by 1.4 points to 39.4 points in Februaryy, falling behind the consensus of an improvement to 45.2 points. The current situation index, however, rose by 4.5 to minus 13.6 points in February.
The pound was quoted lower at USD1.3575 at midday on Tuesday in London, compared to USD1.3629 at the equities close on Monday. The euro stood lower at USD1.1837, against USD1.1854. Against the yen, the dollar was trading lower at JPY153.11 compared to JPY153.44.
Stocks in New York were called lower, after a long weekend which included Washington's Birthday on Monday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was called down 0.1%, the S&P 500 index down 0.3%, and the Nasdaq Composite down 0.8%.
The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was quoted at 4.03%, narrowing from 4.05% late on Friday. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury was quoted at 4.67%, narrowing from 4.70%.
Brent oil was quoted higher at USD68.92 a barrel at midday in London on Tuesday from USD68.42 late Monday.
Gold was quoted lower at USD4,928.32 an ounce against USD4,985.30.
Still to come on Tuesday's economic calendar, Canada has consumer inflation and the US has the New York manufacturing index.
By Emma Curzon, Alliance News reporter
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AntofagastaBarratt RedrowMti WirelessPersimmonLand SecuritiesTertiary MineralsSpringfield Pr.