{"id":138538,"title":"FTSE 100 Closes Higher as Energy and Utilities Stocks Gain","publisher":"Share Talk","author":"sharetalk","published":"2026-07-17T17:23:27+00:00","modified":"2026-07-17T17:23:27+00:00","canonical_url":"https://www.share-talk.com/ftse-100-closes-higher-as-energy-and-utilities-stocks-gain/","markdown_url":"https://www.share-talk.com/ftse-100-closes-higher-as-energy-and-utilities-stocks-gain.md","json_url":"https://www.share-talk.com/ftse-100-closes-higher-as-energy-and-utilities-stocks-gain.json","category":"Blogs","categories":["Blogs","Technology","Technology, Media & Telecoms"],"tags":["Asia","Bangkok","Denmark","Endeavour Mining","Fed","Federal Reserve","Finland","FRANCE","FTSE 100","GERMANY","Glencore","Greenland plan","Hong kong","Japan","London","Manila","mining stocks","Mumbai","Nasdaq Composite","NATO alliance","Netherlands","Nikkei 225","Norway","S&P 500","shanghai","Singapore","Sweden","Sydney","Taiwan","UK","United States","Wall Street","Wellington"],"featured_image":"https://i0.wp.com/www.share-talk.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/LONDON-31ST-JAN-24.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&quality=89&ssl=1","format":"news","language":"en-GB","content":"London’s FTSE 100 outperformed global peers on Friday as defensive utilities and energy stocks helped offset wider market weakness driven by a sell-off in technology and semiconductor shares.\n\nThe blue-chip index closed up 28.13 points, or 0.3%, at 10,600.37. The FTSE 250 fell 111.00 points, or 0.5%, to 23,604.83, snapping a six-day winning streak, although both the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 still recorded weekly gains, while the AIM All-Share dropped 0.9% to 759.31.\n\nFor the week, both the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 gained 1.0%, while AIM lost 0.6%.\n\nWall Street also traded lower, with the Dow Jones down 0.1%, the S&P 500 falling 0.7% and the Nasdaq Composite down 1.3%.\n\nNvidia briefly lost its position as the world’s most valuable company to Apple before regaining some ground. At the London close, Nvidia was valued at around US$4.94 trillion, slightly ahead of Apple at US$4.92 trillion.\n\nNvidia shares were down 1.5%, having fallen more than 4% earlier in the session, while Apple rose 0.5%.\n\nBrent crude climbed to US$86.53 a barrel from US$84.75 on Thursday as Middle East tensions remained elevated. Gold was broadly flat at US$4,014.29 an ounce.\n\nIn London, utility stocks were among the strongest performers. National Grid rose 3.3%, Severn Trent gained 2.9% and SSE climbed 2.4%.\n\nBurberry was the weakest large-cap performer, falling 6.4% after a cautious outlook overshadowed a return to sales growth.\n\nAston Martin fell 2.4% after saying it regularly reviews its capital structure, including potential financing options.\n\nSmiths News rose 4.5% after announcing new long-term contracts with Frontline and Seymour Distribution."}