Early market roundup: Miners boost FTSE 100; Gran Tierra shares jump

London's blue chip index was strongly supported by rising shares in miners; meanwhile Gran Tierra Energy shares surged as it agreed to sell its Colombia and Ecuador operations.

The FTSE 100 index opened up 34.30 points, 0.3%, at 10,913.68. The FTSE 250 was up 163.78 points, 0.7%, at 24,623.08, and the AIM all-share was up 5.87 points, 0.8%, at 780.23.

The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.2% at 1,083.91, the Cboe UK 250 was up 0.7% at 21,384.61, and the Cboe small companies was marginally lower at 18,737.94.

In European equities on Wednesday, the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.1%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was up 0.6%.

Mining stocks led the FTSE 100 higher as industrial metal prices rallied ahead of an expected US decision on tariffs. Fresnillo climbed 4.8%, while Glencore advanced 4.1% after reporting strong interim results. Antofagasta gained 3.9%, and Endeavour Mining added 3.5%.

The biggest riser on the blue-chip index, however, was Next, up 7.0%.

The retailer raised its full-year pretax profit guidance by £25 million to £1.24 billion, implying annual growth of 7.3%, up from previous guidance of £1.22 billion and 5.2% growth. It also lifted its earnings per share forecast to 812.9 pence from 792.9p.

The upgrade followed second-quarter full-price sales growth of 9.2%, well ahead of the company's 4.0% guidance. Next said warm UK weather, pent-up demand in the Middle East and Northern Europe, and stronger-than-expected marketing returns helped boost sales by £70 million above forecast.

Glencore rose 4.1% after swinging to a first-half pretax profit of USD4.89 billion from a USD1.13 billion loss a year earlier as revenue surged 49% to USD174.43 billion from USD117.40 billion, driven by what it described as a "significant repricing" of energy and related markets.

The miner also unveiled a further USD1.5 billion shareholder return package, comprising a special cash distribution of 8.5 US cents per share payable in September and a new USD500 million share buyback running until February 2027. Total announced shareholder returns for 2026 now amount to around USD3.5 billion.

Glencore additionally announced plans for a secondary listing on the Australian Securities Exchange from October, saying the move would broaden its investor base, strengthen its profile and improve trading liquidity.

In the FTSE 250, 4imprint jumped 8.5%.

The promotional products company reported a 19% decline in first-half pretax profit to USD59.6 million from USD74.0 million, despite revenue edging 1.1% higher to USD666.4 million.

It maintained its interim dividend at 80.0 US cents per share and said it expects full-year revenue and earnings to come in above current market expectations, forecasting adjusted pretax profit of around USD130 million. Cash and bank deposits increased 34% to USD136.9 million.

Gran Tierra Energy surged 26% after agreeing to sell its Colombia and Ecuador operations to Maurel & Prom for USD1.33 billion.

The company said the disposal covers all of its South American assets, which produced around 29,000 barrels of oil per day in the first half. Gran Tierra said part of the net cash proceeds will be returned to shareholders.

It also reported first-half adjusted Ebitda of USD106.1 million, down from USD164.6 million a year ago, alongside a net loss of USD94.3 million.

The pound was quoted at USD1.3462 early Wednesday, up from USD1.3445 at the London equities close on Tuesday. Against the euro, sterling edged down to EUR1.1669 from EUR1.1674. The euro rose to USD1.1537 from USD1.1517, while the dollar strengthened slightly to JPY157.68 from JPY157.56.

In the US on Tuesday, Wall Street ended higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 1.7%, the S&P 500 up 1.8% and the Nasdaq Composite up 2.6%.

US President Donald Trump warned Iran it would be "hit very hard" unless the Strait of Hormuz is reopened "very soon", while maintaining that negotiations to end months of conflict were making progress.

"We're having very good discussions," Trump told Fox News during a visit to California. "The only thing that matters is action. And they want to make a deal. We'll see what happens."

According to Axios, the US, Iran and Oman are close to agreeing a 60-day arrangement to guarantee safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, with Washington hoping to announce the deal on Wednesday. The proposed agreement would not involve toll payments and could later be extended.

Meanwhile, Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis said on Wednesday that they attacked a Saudi oil tanker off Yanbu, in the Red Sea, as the rebels pressed on with their declared maritime blockade of the kingdom.

This was the eighth Saudi oil tanker targeted since the start of the blockade on July 22, a Houthi military spokesman said.

Brent oil was quoted at USD80.03 a barrel early Wednesday, down from USD80.60 late Tuesday.

In Asia on Wednesday, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo closed up 3.7%. In China, the Shanghai Composite rose 1.5%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong added 0.2%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney finished up 0.9%.

German automotive sector sentiment also improved sharply in July, according to the Ifo institute.

The business climate index for the industry rose by six points to minus 15.6, driven by a sharp improvement in expectations to minus 0.1, the highest level in more than three years. However, manufacturers continued to assess current business conditions as weak, with that measure remaining at minus 29.9.

Gold was quoted at USD4,166.39 an ounce early Wednesday, up from USD4,078.23 on Tuesday.

Still to come on Wednesday's economic calendar are UK composite PMI data, eurozone producer prices, US ADP employment figures, US composite PMI, the ISM services PMI and US EIA crude oil inventories.

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