Sept 1 (Reuters) – London equities closed slightly higher on Monday, helped by precious metal miners and defence stocks, but losses in utilities kept gains in check.The blue-chip FTSE 100 (.FTSE), opens new tab closed 0.1% higher, following its biggest weekly decline in almost five months on Friday. The domestically focussed mid-cap index (.FTMC), opens new tab rose 0.1%.
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Defence stocks (.FTNMX502010), opens new tab advanced after Norway said it had chosen Britain as its strategic partner for the acquisition of new frigates, in a deal worth some 10 billion pounds ($13.51 billion).BAE Systems (BAES.L), opens new tab rose 1.9%, Babcock (BAB.L), opens new tab advanced 2.1%, while Rolls-Royce (RR.L), opens new tab gained 2.8%.Precious metal mining stocks (.FTNMX551030), opens new tab gained 3.3%, tracking higher gold prices. Hochschild Mining (HOCM.L), opens new tab rose 6.7%, Fresnillo (FRES.L), opens new tab and Endeavour Mining (EDV.L), opens new tab added 2.1% and 3.5%, respectively.The FTSE 100 hit a record high in August, as global shares rallied on rising bets on a U.S. rate cut in September, but at the end of the month registered four straight sessions of declines.Heavyweight banking stocks (.FTNMX301010), opens new tab, which fell on Friday after a think-tank recommended a new tax on lenders as a possible way for finance minister Rachel Reeves to raise revenue, rebounded slightly on the day with several analysts saying the sharp falls last week were overdone.NatWest (NWG.L), opens new tab was up 1.2% and Barclays (BARC.L), opens new tab rose 1.9%.On the flip side, utility stocks (.FTUB6510), opens new tab fell, with SSE (SSE.L), opens new tab down 3.1%, while National Grid (NG.L), opens new tab and United Utilities (UU.L), opens new tab fell 2.1% and 2.5%, respectively.Personal goods (.FTNMX402040), opens new tab and industrial mining stocks (.FTNMX551020), opens new tab also declined.Among corporate updates, IT software developer Kainos (KNOS.L), opens new tab jumped 22.5%, to top the mid-cap index, on an upbeat annual outlook.Domino’s Pizza Group (DOM.L), opens new tab rose 8.8% on reaffirming its annual earnings forecast and launching a new share buyback.A survey showed Britain’s manufacturers suffered a fresh setback in August with new orders dropping due to worries about trade tensions abroad and tax increases at home.Meanwhile, a U.S. appeals court ruled on Friday that most of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs are illegal, although it allowed them to remain in place until mid-October to permit further appeals.Trump has vowed to take the case to the Supreme Court and trade experts say the administration is preparing alternative plans to be able to proceed with its tariffs.U.S. markets were closed for a holiday.
Reporting by Sukriti Gupta; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Ros Russell
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