FTSE 100 Live: Index powers to 10,700 as miners and defence firms climb
FTSE 100 climbs 142 points to 10,699 Inflation eases to further raise BoE rate cut hopes BAE Systems and Glencore lead risers after results Miners rise as metals prices rally 3.24pm: US stocks improve US stocks have picked as traders got into their second and third coffees of the...
FTSE 100 Live: Index closes 130 points higher as miners and defence firms climb
Last updated: 12:05 18 Feb 2026 EST, First published: 02:17 18 Feb 2026 EST
FTSE 100 climbs 130 points to 10,686 Inflation eases to further raise BoE rate cut hopes BAE Systems and Glencore lead risers after results Miners rise as metals prices rally
5.05pm: Another record day
The FTSE 100 continued to break ground on Wednesday, adding 130 points to close at a new all-time record of 10,686.
“Weaker UK inflation and strong results from star performers in the defence and mining sector have propelled the FTSE 100 to yet more new highs.
“It is a firm risk-on day for global markets anyway, which seem to be unfazed by the continued military buildup in the Middle East. Yesterday’s sharp reversal in the VIX has heralded a revival of bullish momentum across the board, but it looks like the inevitable dip buying in tech stocks has finally begun.”
4.03pm: Remarkable gains
The FTSE is back above today's brand new milestone of 10,700 as I hand over the baton for the final half hour to my North American colleagues. In fact, the index also passed the 10,600 mile marker in this session too.
All but five of the benchmark's top 33 largest companies are in green, with miners the key driving force.
Antofagasta is up over 10% now, while Anglo American and Glencore are both up over 4%.
St James's Place, BAE Systems, Fresnillo, Rio Tinto, Endeavour Mining, Airtel and Barclays close out the top 10 of the leaderboard, all up more than 3%.
Quite a remarkable day with nothing that special seeming to have changed.
3.47pm: Why are different assets doing better?
Asset returns have flipped in the 2020s, with commodities outperforming while government bonds lag, a sharp reversal from the 2010s when bonds, equities and bitcoin led, says AJ Bell’s Russ Mould.
The shift reflects a move from the low-growth, low-inflation conditions before the pandemic to higher inflation and more volatile rates, "prompting a re-think when it comes to strategic asset allocation".
He adds that investors are rotating away from “paper promises” towards real assets. While theoretically safe, government bonds have fared badly, "thanks to higher inflation and higher interest rates, as well as worries over the supply of paper at a time when Western regimes are struggling to rein in annual budget deficits, let alone aggregate ones".
Capital returns in sterling terms
Bitcoin 733.5% Silver 303.9% Gold 215.2% Growth equities 177.5% Commodities 89.9% Global equities 80.8% Value equities 60.4% Emerging Market equities 36.9% Natural Gas 36.7% Global high yield bonds 31.7% Global corporate bonds 8.4% Brent crude oil (0.2%) US dollar (1.1%) Global government bonds (8.2%)
“Valuation is the ultimate arbiter of investment return after all, since the plan is to buy low and sell high, even if momentum-oriented strategies and buying high to sell higher brought handsome rewards in the 2010s," he says.
“The issue of valuation, relative or absolute, is making its presence felt this decade, and the past 12 months show an even stronger move away from the trends and portfolio options which provided the best returns in the 2010s."
In the 12 months to February, silver, gold and EM equities top the performance table, while bitcoin has slumped to the bottom of the list and the dollar has remained weak, with crude oil and natural gas also showing not great divergence from the 2010s – helpfully for inflation.
Equity leadership has shifted as sharply as asset class returns. In the 2010s, it was “America first and almost the rest nowhere”, as low growth, low inflation and low rates favoured US technology stocks. Japan and India also performed strongly, while China and Brazil lagged as the BRICs theme lost momentum.
The early 2020s initially looked similar, with the US still ahead. But over the past year the picture has "changed dramatically". High valuations, concerns over AI returns and a weaker dollar have weighed on US stocks, while emerging markets have benefited from lower starting valuations, firmer commodity prices and dollar weakness. Even long-time laggards such as China and the UK have improved.
The UK’s FTSE 100, heavy in banks, miners and oil groups, was ill-suited to the the "low-interest-rate slop” of the 2010s but better aligned to a more inflationary, volatile era we are seeing now.
US equities still look expensive relative to history, while emerging markets, Europe and Japan appear less stretched.
“Under such a gloomy scenario it may take a fresh round of financial repression, in the form of artificially low interest rates and Quantitative Easing from central banks, to tempt investors back to sovereign fixed income," says Mould.
"Though would-be buyers of bonds could be one of the few groups who might welcome a disinflationary shock that stems from any AI productivity boom."
3.24pm: US stocks improve
US stocks have picked as traders got into their second and third coffees of the day.
Tech stocks and small caps are marching at the front of the move, with the Nasdaq up 1.2% and the Russell 2000 rising 1.4%.
The Dow has also improved, up 0.76% and the S&P is up 0.8%.
Nvidia, Amazon, ASML, Micron and Applied Materials are doing some heavy lifting, all up at least 2%.
2.51pm: Wall Street opens higher, but in the FTSE's shade
US stocks have started in the green, but gains are already being trimmed.
The Dow Jones and S&P 500 are up around 0.3%, while the Nasdaq has added almost 0.4%.
Back in London, the Footsie has hit another milestone, crossing the 10,700 mark.
2.23pm: Miners flying higher
Metals prices are rallying further, driving the mining sector higher, with Antofagasta top of the Footsie leaderboard with a 6.4% gain.
Copper prices are up 1.7%, gold up 1.6% and silver 4.5%.
Anto is joined by Glencore, Anglo American and Fresnillo in the top 10 of the leaderboard, helping drive the London blue-chip index to over a 7% gain so far this year.
1.45pm: Antofagatsa gets broker boost
Some of today's broker takes of interest now.
RBC Capital Markets warns that a lack of earnings momentum towards luxury stocks is weighing on names such as Burberry and Watches of Switzerland.
In its latest look at luxury datawatch, analysts at the bank said feedback from US investor meetings pointed to “some of the weakest” sentiment since 2014-2016.
Burberry, however, is seen as an attractive turnaround prospect.
Elsewhere, JP Morgan reiterated its 'overweight' stance on Antofagasta, arguing the copper miner offers around 30% copper volume growth by 2028 to 2029 compared with 2024 levels, positioning it as one of the most attractive and fastest-growing names among its global copper peers.
Any clients who followed the bank's double-upgrade in February last year have done well, as the micro outlook and for the wider copper sector have improved.
With the focus of investor discussions shifting towards the rising capital intensity of new organic growth projects across the industry, JPM sees Antofagasta’s growth profile as requiring much lower capital intensity than those flagged by BHP and Lundin in recent days.
JP Morgan colleagues have highlighted growing speculation around a potential reintroduction of the UK Help to Buy scheme and assessed the implications for UK housebuilders, with Persimmon identified as the key beneficiary.
And Stifel has reassured clients that although Seeing Machines said first-half revenue is expected to fall year on year, the decline in non-recurring engineering income “doesn't make good headlines” but signals that the “harvest season has arrived”.
Investors should “make the most of the current weakness” in the shares, analysts said, as the fall in revenue is due to services work easing as Aftermarket Guardian sales continue to ramp up and production volumes due to “increase materially” in the coming quarters.
1.07pm: US futures edge higher, as rotation flagged
Wall Street stock futures have improved over the past few hours, with the tech-led Nasdaq expected to lead gains.
Nasdaq 100 futures are up 0.45%, while those for the S&P 500 are pointing 0.3% higher and Dow Jones futures indicate a 0.1% gain.
Overnight, recall, stocks overcame a rocky start to close slightly above flat, with the three major indices all finishing up around 0.1%.
Ahead of the opening bell, Nvidia shares are up 2% in premarket trading, on the back of its 'full-stack' supply contract with Meta, with Amazon and Palantir also pointing to gains of at least 1%, with Apple, Microsoft and Meta's own flatter.
The dollar was on the front foot earlier, continuing its recent slow recovery, but has eased. Treasuries edged higher, pushing the 10-year yield to 4.06%. Oil rebounded to about $63 amid Middle East tensions, while gold holds near $4,913 within its recent trading range.
Digging below the headline moves from the majors, tells "a very different story", says market analyst Kenny Polcari at Slatestone Wealth.
Only three sectors finished higher, he notes: financials and real estate both closed up 1%, while industrials ended +0.5%.
The other eight sectors closed lower, with consumer staples hit the hardest, down 1.5%, though this follows a surge of nearly 15% over the past eight weeks.
Likewise, energy fell 1.1% after rallying more than 21% over that same stretch, and basic materials dropped 1.1% after an 18% run in eight weeks.
"So, what does this tell you? This isn’t panic. It’s short-term rotation," says Polcari. "Traders are harvesting short-term gains in areas that have outperformed – using those profits to offset broader weakness elsewhere.
"They’re creating short-term alpha in a market that feels unstable. And in volatile environments, that’s exactly what active money tends to do.
"Longer term money tends to ride out the storm, comfortable in their portfolio, comfortable in the names they own and comfortable in their diversification.
"It doesn’t mean one is right and the other is wrong – it just means one is trading volatility while the other is investing thru the storm – understanding who you are is what matters."
US tech has taken a knock, with the a major tech sector index now 10% below its highs and big names sharply off recent peaks – Amazon down 24%, Nvidia 14%, Meta 20% and Palantir 40%.
Today's US data includes durable goods, housing numbers and the latest Federal Reserve minutes, alongside earnings from chipmaker ADI and payments group GPN.
12.09pm: FTSE and other European markets zooming higher
The FTSE 100 is having another stormer of a day, on course for the fifth 100-point day over the past three months.
There have also been 15 days with moves over 70 points or 25 where the index has added at least 50 points since mid-November, meaning roughly 40% of sessions in this period saw a healthy positive swing.
The pound has stabilised after yesterday's sell-off, with GBP/USD hovering around $1.3550 after the CPI data.
Market analyst Kathleen Brooks at XTB notes that there is seen a 82% chance of a Bank of England interest rate cut next month.
She also notes that Downing Street may be forced into another U-turn on the jobs market, with MPC member Catherine Mann highlighting in an interview last weekend the link between the large rise in the minimum wage and rising youth unemployment.
"This supports the view that the Bank of England is focusing more on labour market concerns as the UK economy faces challenging conditions," says Brooks.
Number 10 also appears to be taking note of the BOE’s labour market concerns, with a report in the Times this morning that Labour ministers are considering ditching their manifesto pledge to pay young people the same minimum wage as older workers, due to the surge in youth unemployment in the UK.
"With one in six 18–24-year-olds out of work, the data justifies a rethink, and Starmer’s government could be about to embark on another U-turn, which could have an impact on BOE policy in the future, if it eases the squeeze on hiring," says Brooks.
Elsewhere, continental European stocks are also romping higher, with the DAX up 0.8% and IBEX up 1.2%.
The euro is selling off this morning after the FT reported that ECB chair Christine Lagarde is planning to step down from her role before the end of her eight-year term.
The ECB has denied this, and there has been little impact on the European bond market.
"However, it is worth watching this story, as the next chair of the ECB will determine the direction of Eurozone interest rate policy as the Eurozone economy slowly turns a corner," says Brooks.
11.11am: What's happening with Raspberry Pi
Raspberry Pi shares have almost doubled in a week (bouncing back from a new low seen last month) after a viral open-source AI agent triggered an unexpected hardware rush.
The shares jumped another 29% as more investors catch onto the trend we mentioned yesterday, where users of the OpenClaw AI assistant are snapping up small, always-on machines or single-board computers such as Raspberry Pi to run the software locally.
OpenClaw runs continuously inside messaging apps, browsing, executing scripts and monitoring feeds. That behaviour requires a dedicated device rather than a laptop that gets shut at night, pushing developers towards compact, energy-efficient hardware.
High-memory Apple Mac Minis have reportedly sold out, while Raspberry Pi setups are being touted online and on social media for lighter workloads.
The episode points to a new layer of AI demand – consumer-level, always-on infrastructure rather than vast data centres. It also shows how quickly enthusiasm can translate into hardware shortages and share price spikes.
Whether that surge proves durable will depend on sustained usage rather than viral hype. For now, a niche AI agent has reshaped a small corner of the hardware market almost overnight.
10.10am: Nvidia gets Meta boost
Nvidia shares edged higher yesterday and another 1.5% afterhours following a multibillion-dollar order from Meta spanning its Grace CPUs, GPUs and networking kit.
It was what analysts called a near “full endorsement” of the chip giant's AI stack.
The move eases fears that big customers were shifting to AMD or Google chips.
AMD shares fell 4% on the news.
9.52am: Everyone wants a cut
Some different takes on the inflation story.
Cooling inflation seems likely to boost the likelihood of a BoE base rate cut, which would be welcome news for borrowers as mortgage rates have edged higher in the past few weeks.
Caitlyn Eastell, personal finance analyst at Moneyfacts, said: "In recent weeks, swap rates have been reacting to volatile market conditions, effectively halting lenders’ rate-cutting momentum and prompting many to reassess their margins and adjusting their pricing by increasing rates, which led to a small uptick in average rates."
This week, swap rates hit 30-day lows following yesterday's unemployment stats, "which means we may see lenders beginning to make rate cuts in the next few weeks", says Eastell.
CPI may be at its lowest level for nearly a year, but that headline figure is "only part of the story", says Stuart Morrison, research manager at the British Chambers of Commerce.
"Firms will be hoping it strengthens the case for another interest rate cut by the Bank of England soon," he says, noting that 56% of firms cited inflation as a worry, with price pressures "squeezing confidence, stalling investment and holding back recruitment".
He says that alongside next month’s Spring Statement from Rachel Reeves, as well as providing the economic outlook from the OBR and the government, firms want easing inflation to be "matched by action to cut the cost of doing business" such as business rates reform and support for exports. "Only then, will businesses be able to fully turbocharge economic growth."
Trade unions also want cuts, with TUC general secretary Paul Nowak saying the easing of inflation is "welcome news for working people", with further softening expected in coming months as the government has provided support for energy bills, rail fares and prescription charges.
"But after years of falling living standards millions of families are still struggling to make ends meet. With households squeezed there’s less money being spent on the high street - holding back businesses and choking off growth.
"The Bank of England must now act," he says, calling for "a series of quick fire interest rate cuts" to "put money back into people’s pockets, give businesses the confidence to invest and help Britain finally move on from a cost-of-living crisis that has dragged on for far too long".
9.09am: FTSE 100 powering higher as miners, defence and banks rise
After just over an hour of trading, the FTSE 100 is conitinuing to power higher, up over 70 points to cross above 10,625.
Several sectors are providing the juice: miners, led by Anglo American and Glencore; defence and aerospace, led by BAE Systems and Rolls-Royce; and banks, led by Barclays and Standard Chartered.
Oil giants Shell and BP, and drug giants AstraZeneca and GSK are also on the front foot to supply extra oomph, with only two out of the index's 15 largest names in the red currently.
Fallers are seeing the AI fear trade return with RELX, Experian, Pearson and others at the bottom of the list, along with consumer focused names like 3i Group, Diageo, Entain, BT and Unilever.
After the UK CPI data earlier, markets are pretty sure we are going to see another Bank of England interest rate cut at the meeting next month.
after that UK CPI print for January, the BoE still on track to cut rates by 25bps at the March 19th meeting, currently 80% priced:
[image or embed] — BrokenBanker (@brokenbanker.bsky.social) February 18, 2026 at 7:44 AM
8.39am: BAE brings bittersweet feelings
BAE shares rocketed back up to just below last month's all-time high, but have eased back a little now.
Market analyst Mark Crouch at eToro says: “BAE Systems doesn’t manufacture optimism, it manufactures deterrence. And right now, deterrence is in high demand.
"A 12% rise in operating profit tells you governments aren’t hesitating in reaching for their chequebooks. BAE's order book now stands at a record £83.6bn, stretching years into the horizon, and it’s why BAE shares have definitively outpaced the FTSE 100.
"With free cash flow set to top £6bn through 2026, that trajectory looks set to continue."
He conceded that there’s "a bittersweet truth" to investing in defence, as the Russia-Ukraine War grinds on and tensions in the Middle East remain at boiling point.
Or, as Richard Hunter at Interactive Investor puts it: "BAE is basking in the increasing heat of geopolitical tensions with a set of results which have comfortably blown past estimates."
He reminds that the group upped its guidance at the halfway stage, reiterated the numbers at its third quarter update and has now delivered for the full year – "and then some".
Revenues came in at the upper end of guidance, earnings were above both market estimates and the guided growth of 9-11%, while free cash flow decreased 14% to £2.16 billion given increased investment, but over a three year period came in at more than £7 billion, higher than the previously estimated £6 billion.
This, he also recognised, reflects "the unfortunate sign of the times that defence stocks are squarely back in fashion, as governments around the world look to protect their interests and lands from growing tensions. For shareholders, however, this has resulted in significant rewards."
The "prodigious" cash flow enabled net debt to be reduced by 22% to £3.84 billion, while the 10% dividend rise took the projected yield to 1.8% which Hunter says may be "pedestrian" but maintained a payment which has been increased for more than 20 consecutive years.
Headwinds may be few and far between, he adds, with the lack of a share buyback announcement potentially resulting in some "minor disappointment even though the rationale is sound as the group diverts resources elsewhere for investment and debt reduction purposes".
8.15am: FTSE opens higher at new high
The FTSE 100 has started Wednesday trading at new record heights, up 38 points to 10,594.
BAE is setting the pace at the front, up 5.9%, followed by defence sector peer Babcock, with Rolls-Royce a little way behind.
Miners are next, with Antofagasta, Anglo American, Glencore and Rio Tinto all up between 1% and 2.5%. Precious metals miners Fresnillo and Endeavour are also well bid.
7.59am: Glencore profits fall less than expected
Glencore has reported lower year-on-year earnings despite a recovery in the second half of last year, but the decline was less than City analysts had forecast.
Revenue for 2025 came in at $247.54 billion, up 7% on the previous year and ahead of estimates of $233.9 billion, while adjusted EBIT fell 14% to $5.98 billion, but beat forecasts of $5.47 billion.
Performance improved sharply in the second half, with EBITDA of $8.1 billion, up 49% on the first half, helped by stronger metals prices and higher copper output.
The FTSE 100 miner and trader proposed a base dividend of $0.10 per share, plus a top-up of $0.07 per share due to the increased value of its surplus Bunge shareholding, taking total cash returns to about $2 billion. The payout will be made in two equal instalments in June and September.
7.46am: Bank of England cut 'nailed on'
Some early analysis of the inflation numbers.
"For the Bank of England, the January inflation data nods strongly towards the MPC delivering another 25bp cut at the next meeting, in March, especially after yesterday's employment data pointed to a further margin of labour market slack having emerged, further reducing the (already low) risks of price pressures proving persistent," says market analyst Michael Brown at Pepperstone.
"Of course, the MPC have already laid the foundations for a move next month, after February's confab saw not only a hold by the narrowest possible vote split, and explicit guidance towards further easing, but also a dovish round of forecasts which pointed to CPI achieving the 2% target this spring, and remaining there.
"Today's data does little to threaten those expectations, with the real risk now being that of an inflation undershoot as the year progresses."
Consequently, Brown expects the 'Old Lady' will deliver a 25bp cut at next month's meeting and reckons "further cuts will follow beyond then" to reduce the base rate to around 3% by the end of summer.
Thomas Pugh, chief economist at RSM UK, says the drop in inflation "all but nails on a rate cut next month", with today’s drop expected to be come before inflation's steep slide to 2% in April, setting the stage for another interest rate cut in the summer.
“However, given almost all the survey measures of prices suggest disinflation has slowed, the MPC will still have to be cautious this year, even as headline inflation drops. Indeed, services inflation is proving to be much stickier than headline inflation."
He says this "doesn’t rule out a third cut later in the year, especially if the labour market remains weak, but it means a third rate cut is a downside risk rather than the base case at the moment".
7.36am: BAE bumps up dividend, but no new buyback
BAE Systems has hiked its dividend 10% as it reported record sales and an order book swelling ever larger as rising global defence spending feeds through into its numbers.
The UK defence contractor said sales rose 10% to £30.7 billion in 2025, with underlying earnings before interest and tax increased 12% to £3.3 billion, in line with City forecasts.
Order intake reached £36.8 billion, with the order backlog growing £5.8 billion to a record £83.6 billion.
Looking to the current year, BAE expects sales to rise 7-9%, underlying EBIT to increase 9-11% and underlying earnings per share to grow 9-11%. Free cash flow is forecast to exceed £1.3 billion.
7.23am: More inflation details
The headline is that the annual rate of consumer price inflation fell to 3.0% in January from 3.4% at the end of last year.
Core CPI, which ignores more vaolatile prices such as fuel and food, fell to 3.1% from 3.2%, not quite the drop to 3.0% that was expected.
Likewise, services CPI, which is followed as a measure of the stickiness of infaltion, fell to 4.4% from 4.5%, but again not all the way to 4.3% as had been forecast.
Commenting on the inflation figures, ONS chief economist Grant Fitzner said: "Inflation fell markedly in January to its lowest annual rate since March last year, driven partly by a decrease in petrol prices.
"Airfares were another downward driver this month with prices dropping back following the increase in December. Lower food prices also helped push the rate down, particularly for bread & cereals and meat. These were partially offset by the cost of hotel stays and takeaways.
"The cost of raw materials for businesses fell over the past year, driven by lower crude oil prices, while the increase in the cost of goods leaving factories slowed."
7.17am: FTSE called higher as inflation drops to 10-month low
The FTSE 100 is likely to forge further into new virgin territory on Wednesday, as inflation fell to the lowest since last March.
Annual UK consumer price inflation has eased to 3.0% from 3.4%, as forecast.
The London index is seen rising another 28 points on the futures market this morning, after finishing at a record high of 10,556.17, having gained 82.48 points on the day.
Overnight, US stocks overcame a rocky start to finish just above the waterline by the close, with the S&P 500, Nasdaq and Dow Jones all ending up around 0.1%.
This morning, the Office for National Statistics revealed that the consumer prices index dropped 0.5% last month, bringing down the annual rate to the lowest in 10 months.