London’s FTSE 100 shook off early losses to finish about 0.3% higher at 10,255 on Wednesday, rebounding from the previous session’s decline and outperforming other major European benchmarks. Sentiment was lifted in particular by Tritax Big Box REIT, which surged 4.9% after confirming it had won an appeal for its £360 million Heathrow data centre project, driving strength across property-related stocks.
Broader gains were underpinned by Entain, insurer Admiral Group and supermarket giant Tesco. Among the blue-chip heavyweights, oil majors Shell and BP added further support, while defensive names including British American Tobacco, Unilever, GSK and Compass Group advanced between 1% and 2%.
On the downside, mining stocks lagged, with Endeavour Mining falling 4.1%, Fresnillo down 1.7% and Glencore slipping 0.9%. UK banks also came under pressure, as HSBC dropped 1.3% and Standard Chartered declined 1.1% after a JP Morgan note assessing the impact of new Chinese regulations.