Finance
London's FTSE 100 notches new high on mining, healthcare boost
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on January 14, 2026
2 min readLast updated: January 19, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
Company
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on January 14, 2026
2 min readLast updated: January 19, 2026
FTSE 100 hits a record high, driven by mining and healthcare gains. Rio Tinto and AstraZeneca lead the charge, while Pearson faces setbacks.
By Tharuniyaa .
Jan 14 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 ended at a record high on Wednesday, buoyed by gains in miners and healthcare names, while Pearson fell after a contract setback in New Jersey.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 closed up at 0.46% at 10,184.35 points, while the domestically focused mid-cap index FTSE 250 ended 0.1% higher.
A broader index for miners jumped 2.3%, with Rio Tinto up 2.3%, Atalaya Mining adding 1.8%, and Glencore up 3%, boosted by copper prices which scaled a new high. [MET/L]
Precious metal miners were up 0.1% as gold prices extended their record-breaking rally.
"A more interventionist Donald Trump who is pressuring the Fed, demanding corporations do as he wishes, and plans to take Greenland are all driving flows into the relative safety of gold," said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB.
The pharmaceutical index was also a standout, up 2%, helped by heavyweight AstraZeneca after the drugmaker agreed to buy Boston-based Modella AI, as the industry increasingly uses artificial intelligence to speed up drug discovery.
Separately, Bank of England policymaker Alan Taylor said UK interest rates should keep falling as inflation is on track to hit the 2% target by mid-2026, earlier than previously forecast.
Market participants see only about two moderate-sized rate cuts by the end of this year, according to data compiled by LSEG.
Limiting overall gains, the media index slipped 2.5%, dragged by a 9.5% drop in Pearson, the benchmark's worst performer. The British education company reported that its biggest division, Assessment & Qualifications, lost a contract with New Jersey, which will be a headwind in the first half of 2026.
The FTSE 350 index of Household goods was down 3%, weighed by an 8.8% drop in Vistry after the company flagged a dip in forward sales position at the start of 2026, having reported fewer annual home completions.
Vistry was the worst performer on the midcap index on Wednesday.
(Reporting by Tharuniyaa Lakshmi in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar and Ed Osmond)
The FTSE 100 is a stock market index that represents the 100 largest companies listed on the London Stock Exchange, reflecting the performance of the UK stock market.
Mining stocks are shares in companies involved in the extraction of minerals and resources, such as gold, silver, and copper, often influenced by commodity prices.
A blue-chip stock refers to shares in large, well-established, and financially sound companies that have a history of reliable performance and dividends.
Economic inflation is the rate at which the general level of prices for goods and services rises, eroding purchasing power.
A contract loss occurs when a company loses a contract it previously held, which can negatively impact its revenue and market position.
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