The FTSE 100 closed at a fresh record high, ending the session up 1.15% at 10,341.56, adding 118 points. London’s blue-chip index earlier touched a new intraday peak of 10,345 points, extending its strong run.
The FTSE 250 also enjoyed a solid session, hitting a four-year high , rising 0.74% to 23,426.05 points, reflecting broad-based strength across UK equities.
Bitcoin has staged a modest rebound after slipping to a 10-month low earlier in the session.
The cryptocurrency is up almost 2% at around $78,750, having earlier fallen to levels last seen around Donald Trump’s so-called “Liberation Day”, when the US president announced sweeping tariffs.
The recovery comes after Bitcoin was swept lower alongside a global sell-off in gold and silver. Despite today’s bounce, the token remains under pressure, with losses over the past three weeks still standing at roughly 18%, highlighting how closely crypto has tracked the broader risk-off move across markets.
US markets were expected to plunge at the open after a rout across Asian equities overnight, as gold, silver, oil and other commodities suffered steep declines.
Instead, Wall Street quickly stabilised and turned positive as the impact of a key decision by CME Group began to fade.
Gold fell as much as 7% to nearly $4,400 an ounce, less than a week after touching a record close to $5,600. The sell-off followed CME Group’s move over the weekend to raise margin requirements, increasing the amount of collateral traders must post to maintain positions. The change came after Friday’s collapse in gold prices, its sharpest fall since 1983, and triggered forced liquidations across the market.
Silver saw even more dramatic moves, plunging as much as 14% to below $72 an ounce after briefly topping $120 last week. The decline wiped out heavily leveraged traders unable to meet margin calls as volatility surged.
