FTSE 100 Rises Amid Travel and Leisure Surge, Despite Commodity Setbacks

The UK’s FTSE 100 climbed 0.43% on Monday, driven by advances in the travel, leisure, aerospace, and defence sectors. However, gains were limited by losses in commodity-linked stocks. The financial mood was dimmed by dropping business confidence and potential tax hikes from the upcoming budget plan.

The UK's benchmark FTSE 100 index recorded an upswing on Monday, driven largely by surging travel and leisure shares, as well as resilience in aerospace and defence stocks. However, the overall gains were tempered by losses among commodity-linked companies.

The FTSE 100 advanced 0.43% by 1601 GMT, and the mid-cap FTSE 250 posted a modest rise of 0.14%. The travel and leisure sector alone saw a jump of 1.38%, spurred by a remarkable 9.5% increase in shares of Trainline after the company raised its yearly revenue forecast for the second time in recent months.

Despite these gains, the market was hampered by a 1.7% dip in precious metal miners as gold prices faltered amid a strong U.S. dollar. Energy shares also declined, notably by 1.6%, following a significant drop in oil prices related to geopolitical tensions in the Middle East. Furthermore, British business confidence dropped to a four-month low amid concerns over possible tax hikes from the new government's first budget plan, anticipated at the end of October.

(With inputs from agencies.)