London close: FTSE nudges lower, Brent crude retreats from six-week high

London stocks ended just a touch lower on Tuesday, with strength in the mining sector helping to offset worries about rising oil prices, after Brent crude came close to hitting $100 a barrel. The FTSE 100 ended down 0.1% at 10,811.66, while Brent crude was up 0.3% at $97.32 a barrel, having hit a six-week high of $99.46 earlier, and West Texas Intermediate was 0.8% higher at $92.20 after Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis attacked several cities in Saudi Arabia, wounding more than 70 people and igniting fires at several oil facilities. Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell, said: "Brent crude is at a six-week high, with apparent moves toward a deal between Iran and Oman to manage the flow of some shipping through the Strait of Hormuz merely underlining Tehran's control of the waterway. "For now, government bond yields remained steady and that applied to stocks too. "Investors will have a laser focus on US inflation data out later this week to see if the impact of rising energy prices is starting to feed into broader inflationary pressures. "Record copper prices add to a picture which is becoming as complicated for investors as an M.C. Escher work, as the threat of US tariffs on refined copper adds to declining production and rampant demand linked to AI, power grids and electric vehicles." Industry data released earlier showed that UK retail sales growth eased in August as summer spending cooled, with discretionary spending hit as consumers tightened their belts. According to the latest BRC-KPMG retail sales monitor, total retail sales rose 0.7% year-on-year following 3.1% growth in August 2025. This was below the 12-month average growth of 1.6%. Food sales were up 2.6% following 4.7% growth a year earlier, while non-food sales fell 0.8% year-on-year in August, versus 1.8% growth the year before. In-store non-food sales declined by 1.2% last month following 1.3% growth in August 2025, while online non-food sales fell 0.2%, having growth 2.7% in August 2025. Harvir Dhillon, lead economist at the British Retail Consortium, said: "August was a disappointing month for retail sales. Despite pockets of growth, particularly in some food categories, overall performance was below the average for the past year. With the cost of households bills rising, and set to rise further, many shoppers have clearly been tightening their belts. This was particularly true for discretionary spending, as big-ticket purchases like furniture and household appliances declined and consumers opted to instead treat themselves to smaller luxuries in health and beauty. "As summer spending cools, all eyes turn to the Autumn Budget. Retailers are being hit by a double whammy of rising costs and slowing consumer demand. The new government has put high streets at the centre of their vision for better economic growth and the upcoming Budget is an opportunity to deliver on this commitment. Taking action on business rates and energy costs would help support retail investment in local communities while delivering value for consumers." In equity markets, miners Antofagasta, Glencore and Anglo American were among the top performers after copper prices hit a new all-time high. Autotrader was boosted by an upgrade to 'buy' from 'hold' at Jefferies, while Rightmove gained after an upgrade to 'hold' from 'underperform' by the same outfit. On the downside, tech provider Computacenter reversed earlier gains to trade sharply lower despite saying that full-year earnings would be "significantly ahead" of forecasts after it almost doubled interim profits on the back of a strong performance in North America. Pre-tax profit for the six months to 30 June rose 87% to £152.4m. The company now expects adjusted earnings to be at least £380m compared with a company compiled consensus of £341m. Softcat also suffered heavy losses. Homeware retailer Dunelm tumbled as it posted flat full-year pre-tax profits, unveiled a three-year strategic growth plan and said unusually hot weather had dented trading in the first six weeks of FY27. Dan Coatsworth said: "A warning about weaker trading in July and August has knocked Dunelm's shares for six, sending them down 10% as analysts sharpen their knives to cut profit expectations. It's not the ideal scenario to launch a new three-year growth plan." Market Movers FTSE 100 (UKX) 10,811.66 -0.10% FTSE 250 (MCX) 24,348.85 -0.64% techMARK (TASX) 6,024.03 -0.78% FTSE 100 - Risers Antofagasta (ANTO) 4,081.00p 4.69% Glencore (GLEN) 629.00p 4.10% Weir (WEIR) 2,828.00p 3.82% Halma (HLMA) 3,750.00p 2.80% Anglo American (AAL) 4,306.00p 2.77% Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 4,590.00p 2.46% Vodafone Group (VOD) 128.25p 2.23% ICG (ICG) 1,970.00p 2.02% Croda International (CRDA) 3,327.00p 1.96% Investec (INVP) 682.00p 1.87% FTSE 100 - Fallers Computacenter (CCC) 5,165.00p -7.27% Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,026.00p -3.57% JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 80.88p -2.55% Convatec Group (CTEC) 221.40p -2.47% GSK (GSK) 1,796.50p -2.23% Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,078.00p -2.18% Games Workshop Group (GAW) 18,000.00p -2.17% Entain (ENT) 502.00p -1.95% Kingfisher (KGF) 297.10p -1.75% Haleon (HLN) 337.30p -1.75% FTSE 250 - Risers Shawbrook Group (SHAW) 325.50p 3.86% RHI Magnesita N.V. (DI) (RHIM) 2,970.00p 3.85% Diversified Energy Company (DI) (DEC) 1,146.00p 3.24% Ceres Power Holdings (CWR) 430.00p 3.12% XP Power Ltd. (DI) (XPP) 1,890.00p 2.16% Harbour Energy (HBR) 268.40p 2.05% BlackRock World Mining Trust (BRWM) 1,036.00p 1.77% Oxford Biomedica (OXB) 468.00p 1.74% Workspace Group (WKP) 370.80p 1.64% RTW Biotech Opportunities Ltd (RTW) 2.43p 1.25% FTSE 250 - Fallers Dunelm Group (DNLM) 760.00p -14.27% Softcat (SCT) 1,867.00p -8.48% Rank Group (RNK) 89.90p -8.27% Johnson Service Group (JSG) 133.20p -7.24% Telecom Plus (TEP) 815.00p -5.12% Bytes Technology Group (BYIT) 391.00p -4.45% Close Brothers Group (CBG) 405.80p -4.20% Kainos Group (KNOS) 1,189.00p -3.88% NCC Group (NCC) 134.40p -3.72% Baltic Classifieds Group (BCG) 2.43p -3.65%