UK's FTSE 100 hits record as cooling inflation fuels rate‑cut bets; miners shine

By Tharuniyaa Lakshmi

Feb 18 (Reuters) - London's FTSE 100 closed at a fresh peak on Wednesday after signs of cooling inflation bolstered expectations of a Bank of England rate cut as soon as March, while miners rallied on surging metal prices.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 .FTSE ended up 1.2% at 10,686.18 points, marking a record high for a second straight day. The FTSE 250 midcap index .FTMC added 0.5% to a four-year high.

London‑listed miners advanced, with Antofagasta ANTO.L and Anglo American AAL.L up 10.5% and 4.6% respectively, leading the FTSE 100 as copper prices climbed. MET/L

Glencore GLEN.L rose 4.4% after reporting slightly lower annual earnings and announcing a $2 billion shareholder payout.

"Investors keep piling into UK assets as these hardly feature battered technology or software stocks and instead benefit from high energy and precious metal prices," said Axel Rudolph, senior financial analyst at IG.

"With valuations around half of their U.S. peers, UK stock indices remain an attractive proposition for many investors, propelling the FTSE 100 to record highs, towards the 11,000 mark."

Surging commodity stocks, stronger-than-expected earnings and expectations of monetary policy easing have helped UK equities rebound from last week's selloff, when concerns about AI-driven disruption in several industries hit sentiment.

British inflation slowed to 3.0% in January, its lowest in nearly a year, helped by softer rises in transport, food and non-alcoholic drinks, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Sterling GBP=D3 dipped against the dollar as traders priced in almost an 85% chance of a March rate cut. A soft labour-market report on Tuesday had already pressured the currency.

Defence stocks .FTNMX502010 rose 2.7%, with BAE Systems BAES.L up 3.9% after reporting a better-than-expected jump in full-year operating profit, as global demand swelled its order backlog to a record 83.6 billion pounds ($113.4 billion).