London stocks had turned lower by midday on Tuesday despite the recovery in metals prices, with the top-flight index easing back from record highs as heavy losses for the likes of Relx, Pearson and Informa took their toll.
The FTSE was down 0.4% at 10,300.49.

At the same time, spot gold was up 5.4% at $4,916.22, while silver was 8.6% firmer at $86.24. Last Friday, US President Donald Trump's nomination of former Fed governor Kevin Warsh as the next chair of the Federal Reserve sparked a rise in the dollar and considerable selloff in the price of both precious metals.

Susannah Streeter, chief investment strategist at Wealth Club, said: "Bargain hunters have been out in force, buying up precious metals after the dramatic fall in prices. Gold and silver are in recovery mode but are still cooler than the hot records reached last week.

"Gold is around 12% lower, and silver is 28% below its peak, but compared to this time last year, the rise has still been remarkable. Safe haven demand is still strong, given the erratic policymaking from the White House, and fractious geopolitical relations."

Despite the recovery in metals prices, equity markets failed to stay up as Relx, Pearson and Informa slumped after US AI company Anthropic released an AI-powered productivity tool for companies' in-house legal teams. The news also dented shares of Dutch firm Wolters Kluwer, among others.

WPP was in the red as French peer Publicis tumbled after results.

JD Sports was hit after Deutsche Bank cut its price target on the stock to 85p from 95p and kept its 'hold' rating as it said the retailer was "running against the trend". It said that beyond the Nike comeback, there are three fashion trends it is watching that suggest potential for ongoing downside risk to JD's demand outlook.

On the upside, miners continued to gain as metals prices recovered, with Anglo American, Antofagasta, Rio Tinto and Glencore among the top performers. Precious metals miner Fresnillo and gold miners Endeavour, Hochshchild and Pan African Resources also rose.

AG Barr surged after it bought soft drinks maker Fentimans and juice producer Frobishers as it looked to cash in on the fall in alcohol consumption by consumers. The Irn-Bru owner bought Fentimans for £38m. No financial details on the Frobishers purchase were disclosed.

AG Barr added that full-year results were expected to be in line with expectations as revenue jumped 4% to £437m with double-digit profit growth.

Plus500 shot up after saying it has entered the US retail prediction markets segment through the launch of event-based contracts on its US B2C trading platform. The new offering includes products from Kalshi Exchange, the first regulated event-based contracts exchange in the US.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 10,300.49 -0.40%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 23,397.01 -0.12%
techMARK (TASX) 5,926.88 -0.32%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Anglo American (AAL) 3,580.00p 3.77%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 3,756.00p 3.19%
Fresnillo (FRES) 3,766.00p 2.67%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 1,458.00p 2.39%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 1,255.00p 1.99%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 6,935.00p 1.96%
NATWEST GROUP (NWG) 695.20p 1.64%
Glencore (GLEN) 508.70p 1.54%
Weir Group (WEIR) 3,294.00p 1.48%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 113.00p 1.39%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Relx plc (REL) 2,318.00p -10.33%
Experian (EXPN) 2,565.00p -6.39%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 81.90p -5.62%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) 7,814.00p -5.10%
Pearson (PSON) 929.20p -4.17%
The Sage Group (SGE) 928.40p -3.85%
Informa (INF) 855.60p -3.32%
Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 11,750.00p -3.09%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,068.00p -2.82%
Autotrader Group (AUTO) 516.80p -2.82%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Barr (A.G.) (BAG) 693.00p 6.62%
Plus500 Ltd (DI) (PLUS) 4,514.00p 6.26%
Ashoka India Equity Investment Trust (AIE) 254.50p 5.82%
Endeavour Mining (EDV) 4,318.00p 5.06%
Pan African Resources (PAF) 137.40p 4.73%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 683.50p 4.27%
JPMorgan India Growth & Income (JIGI) 980.00p 3.70%
Shawbrook Group (SHAW) 491.75p 3.20%
BlackRock World Mining Trust (BRWM) 918.00p 3.03%
Applied Nutrition (APN) 240.50p 3.00%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

WPP (WPP) 284.50p -5.98%
Future (FUTR) 522.00p -3.60%
Finsbury Growth & Income Trust (FGT) 752.00p -3.59%
Raspberry PI Holdings (RPI) 264.90p -3.25%
GB Group (GBG) 234.00p -2.90%
International Workplace Group (IWG) 242.20p -2.89%
Bytes Technology Group (BYIT) 330.20p -2.71%
Trustpilot Group (TRST) 176.40p -2.60%
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 173.65p -2.42%
Kainos Group (KNOS) 895.00p -2.40%