FTSE 100 today: Stocks rise as gold, miners gain; oil eases

British stocks rose on Monday as miners rallied with gold and oil prices eased, erasing an early dip ahead of Wednesday’s Budget.

The FTSE 100 was up 0.47% as of 04:20 ET (08:20 GMT), having been down earlier. Germany’s DAX gained 0.57% and France’s CAC 40 rose 0.68%. Sterling fell 0.14% to $1.3358.

Shares of gold miners Fresnillo and Endeavour Mining rose 2.35% and 1.27%, tracking gains in gold, with gold futures rose 0.50% to $4,027.77 and spot gold 0.47% to $4,014.16.

Brent futures fell 1.44% to $110.10 and WTI 1.89% to $101.33.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham told ITV he is not proposing rejoining the EU in this parliament and ruled out an early election. Housing Secretary Angela Rayner told the BBC he wants an "honest conversation" on trade-offs.

Chancellor John Healey will announce £20.4 billion for the National Wealth Fund and British Business Bank on Wednesday, the FT reported.

Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Turkey were due to hold security talks with Iran in Tehran on Monday, the first high-level contact between Tehran and all three Mecca Joint Defence Agreement members.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said there was "no intention on Israel’s part to initiate an attack on Iran before the elections", denying a Channel 12 report of a rift between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and military chief Eyal Zamir. Israel votes on Tuesday.

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei told ARD Tehran had "never walked away from the negotiating table" and that messages were passing via mediators, while Washington sought "complete surrender".

CENTCOM said U.S. forces had helped Gulf states export over 1.5 billion barrels through Hormuz since summer, with over 95% of 3,000-plus transits safe.

IEA chief Fatih Birol said he saw no "credible pathway" back to pre-war energy markets in 2027. The war began with US-Israeli strikes on Feb 28.