Bank shares lift London's FTSE 100 to record, gold soars above $4,000 (updated)
08/10/2025 17:00
FTSE 100 up 0.7%, FTSE 250 up 0.2%
Lloyds Banking Group rises on lower motor finance scandal bill
Gold miners jump after metal price hits record
Unite Group plunges after softer Q3 rental growth
Updates after markets close
Oct 8 (Reuters) - Britain's benchmark FTSE 100 closed at a record high on Wednesday, buoyed by gains in heavyweight financial stocks, while gold miners rallied as bullion prices surged to historic levels.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 .FTSE gained 0.7% to 9,548.87, while the mid-cap FTSE 250 .FTMC closed up 0.2%.
An index of bank stocks .FTNMX301010 rose 1.9%. Lloyds Banking Group LLOY.L gained 3.7% after London's financial services regulator proposed a lower-than-feared redress package over motor finance mis-selling.
The sentiment propped up other lenders, with Barclays BARC.L adding 1.1%. HSBC HSBA.L also rose 1.5% after Morgan Stanley raised its price target on the stock. Merchant bank Close Brothers CBRO.L surged 5.4%.
Precious metal miners .FTNMX551030 outperformed peers after gold prices soared past $4,000 per ounce for the first time. GOL/
Endeavour Mining EDV.L and Fresnillo FRES.L rose 2.7% and 3%, respectively, placing the miners among the FTSE 100's top performers.
Industrial metal miners .FTNMX551020 added 1.7%, tracking gains in copper prices. MET/L
Real estate stocks .FTUB3510, meanwhile, were the biggest drag among sectors falling 1.9%.
Unite Group UTG.L dropped 10.8% to a more than five-year low, the biggest loser on the FTSE 250, after the student accommodation developer reported rental growth of 4% at the end of the third quarter, compared with a 8.2% growth a year ago.
Investors also watched trade developments as Prime Minister Keir Starmer began a two-day visit to India and said he wanted the trade deal with India, inked in July, implemented as soon as "humanly possible".
The FTSE 100 rallied to record highs last week, posting new peaks in four out of five sessions, helped by resurgent healthcare stocks, which had lagged in the first half of the year.
On Wednesday, they .FTNMX201030 gained 0.6%, while AstraZeneca AZN.L gave up its earlier gains to end the session nearly flat.
Among other stocks, Vertu Motors VTU.L fell 2% after warning of an annual profit hit from a cyberattack at Jaguar Land Rover, whose dealerships the motor retailer operates.
(Reporting by Avinash P, Purvi Agarwal and Sanchayaita Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid and Alex Richardson)
((Avinash.P@thomsonreuters.com;))
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