FTSE 100 Modestly Higher In Cautious Trade

(RTTNews) - U.K. stocks gained modest ground in positive territory Monday morning amid selective buying ahead of Fed Chair Kevin Warsh's speech at the Jackson Hole Symposium and the Trump administration's announcement of fresh economic sanctions on Iran and its trading partners.

The benchmark FTSE 100 was up 27.52 points or 0.25% at 10,844.08 about a quarter before noon.

Miners Antofagasta and Anglo American Plc gained 2% and 1.8%, respectively, contributing notably to market's upmove.

Among other gainers, Airtel Africa moved up 3.3%, while Weir, IG Group Holdings, Halma, Intercontinental Hotels Group, IAG, Diageo, Diploma, Aberdeen Group and Bunzl advanced 1.5%-2%.

Whitbread, Aviva, Hiscox, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Howden Joinery Group, Pearson, 3i Group and IMI also moved notably higher.

GSK climbed higher after receiving first global approval for its experimental chronic hepatitis B drug in Japan. However, the stock pared gains subsequently and drifted down marginally into negative territory.

Fresnillo, AutoTrader Group, BP, Polar Capital Technology Trust, Kingfisher, Games Workshop, AstraZeneca, Scottish Mortgage and Melrose Industries shed 0.5%-1.6%.