FTSE 100 muted as banks offset gains in miners; tariff worries linger

Tue, 24th Feb 2026 18:07

Feb 24 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 was little changed on ‌Tuesday, as gains in miners and utilities were offset by losses in financials, while investors assessed ⁠U.S. President Donald Trump's shifting trade stance.

The blue-chip index ⁠closed flat, while the domestically focused mid-cap FTSE 250 slipped 0.1%.

Industrial metal miners were the biggest boosts to the FTSE 100, with Rio Tinto and Glencore rising more than 1% each as the copper price hit its highest in ‌over a week.

British technology stocks rose 0.6% after artificial intelligence firm Anthropic announced new ways for customers to integrate its tools into their workflows. Most U.S. tech stocks also advanced.

Despite the modest rebound, underlying AI jitters persisted, said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank, adding that investors remained fragile.

Banks fell 0.5%, tracking declines in global financials. Standard Chartered ‌dipped 1.4% despite reporting a rise in full-year pretax profit, announcing a $1.5 billion share buyback and a 65% jump in its ‌annual dividend.

The U.S. began collecting a temporary new 10% global import tariff, though the Trump administration is working to lift the rate to 15%, amid confusion over trade policy after the Supreme Court last week ruled against Trump's previous tariff hikes.

Britain negotiated a reciprocal 10% tariff ‌rate with Washington last year, and trade minister Peter Kyle said he was confident that agreement would remain in place.

Separately, Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey pointed to the possibility of ⁠a March ⁠rate cut but warned that services inflation remained high.

Among individual ‌movers, Convatec jumped 10.3% to the top of the FTSE 100 after the medical equipment maker raised its medium-term organic revenue target on the back of a strengthening product pipeline.

Croda climbed 7.6% ‌after the speciality chemicals maker forecast strong 2028 profit margins as it continues streamlining its operations following last year's subdued demand in some regions linked to U.S. tariffs. (Reporting by Tharuniyaa Lakshmi in Bengaluru. Editing by Vijay Kishore and Mark Potter)