BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - The U.K. market is up firmly in positive territory on Monday, supported by gains in pharma and mining stocks. Despite concerns of a looming U.S. government shutdown, the undertone in the UK market remains firm.
The benchmark FTSE 100 was up 42.03 or 0.45% at 9,326.86 a little while ago.
Antofagasta is gaining 4.75%. Glencore is up 1.7% and Endeavour Mining is rising 1.6%. Anglo American Plc is up by about 1.5% and Rio Tinto is advancing 0.8%.
Pharma stock GSK is gaining about 2.5%. The company has announced CEO Emma Walmsley will step down in January. Luke Miels is set to succeed him.
AstraZeneca is up 0.75%. The company has unveiled plans to upgrade its US listing by directly listing ordinary shares on the New York Stock Exchange.
JD Sports Fashion, Berkeley Group Holdings, Admiral Group, BAE Systems, Metlen Energy & Metals, Prudential, Convatec Group, Kingfihser, Halma and Persimman are gaining 1.5 to 3%.
Coca-Cola HBC is down by about 2.3%. Rentokil Initia, BP, Centrica, Unilever, National Grid, Severn Trent and British American Tobacco are down 0.3 to 1%.
In economic news, UK mortgage approvals declined in August and consumer credit remained flat, data from the Bank of England showed.
The number of mortgage approvals fell by 500 to 64,700 in August, below This was below the expected level of 65,000.
Secured lending dropped by GBP 0.2 billion to GBP 4.3 billion in August after falling by GBP 0.9 billion in July.
Net borrowing of consumer credit by individuals remained flat at GBP 1.7 billion in August.
Data showed that borrowing by large businesses increased at a faster pace of 8.6 percent, following an 8.1 percent rise in July.
Similarly, the annual growth rate of borrowing by small and medium-sized enterprises increased to 1.2 percent, which was the highest since August 2021.
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