{"id":432568,"date":"2026-02-18T16:30:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T16:30:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/432568\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T16:30:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T16:30:09","slug":"ftse-100-surges-to-record-high-after-inflation-figures-released","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/432568\/","title":{"rendered":"Ftse 100 surges to RECORD high after inflation figures released"},"content":{"rendered":"

Britain’s benchmark stock index surged to unprecedented heights on Wednesday, climbing above 10,650 for the first time in its history.<\/p>\n

The Ftse 100 advanced 1.1 per cent to reach 10,670 during morning trading, propelled by encouraging inflation figures released earlier in the day.<\/p>\n

Defence giant BAE Systems proved the standout performer, with shares jumping 3.6 per cent on the session.<\/p>\n

Mining companies and banking stocks also contributed meaningfully to the rally.<\/p>\n

The domestically-oriented Ftse 250 simultaneously reached its highest level in four years, reflecting broader optimism across British equities.<\/p>\n

The softer inflation reading has bolstered expectations that the Bank of England will reduce borrowing costs at its March policy meeting.<\/p>\n

\"Bank<\/p>\n

Cooling price growth boosts expectations for Bank of England rate cuts as defence and mining stocks drive rally<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

GETTY\/Google finance<\/p>\n

Many economists now anticipate rates falling to 3.5 per cent next month, with the possibility of two further cuts bringing them down to three per cent by year’s end.<\/p>\n

Supporting the case for monetary easing is the labour market’s deterioration.<\/p>\n

Unemployment has climbed to 5.2 per cent, representing the highest level in a decade outside the pandemic period.<\/p>\n

ING economist James Smith characterised the inflation data as “a bit of a mixed bag,” observing that food price increases have moderated sharply whilst services inflation remains more persistent.<\/p>\n

\"Bank<\/p>\n

The Bank are expected to reduce the interest rate<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

GETTY<\/p>\n

Smith noted that “the real action will come in April” when updated figures could make policymakers “more comfortable with the inflation outlook.”<\/p>\n

British equities have dramatically outpaced their American counterparts this year, with the Ftse 100 gaining more than seven per cent whilst the S&P 500 has slipped 0.5 per cent.<\/p>\n

This marks a continuation of the trend established in 2025.<\/p>\n

Investors are increasingly treating UK blue-chip companies as a haven from the turbulence surrounding artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n

Many market participants have grown wary of technology and software stocks, placing them in what the late Charlie Munger termed the “too hard” bucket.<\/p>\n

The Ftse 100, by contrast, comprises businesses largely insulated from AI disruption.<\/p>\n

Companies such as Glencore, GSK and National Grid cannot simply be replicated through new technology, and their shares have each risen more than 20 per cent this year.<\/p>\n

Tesco has surged 20 per cent in under a month alone.<\/p>\n

BAE Systems announced an increased dividend following a year of record defence orders, buoyed by heightened military expenditure across Europe and the United States.<\/p>\n

\"Ftse\"\/<\/p>\n

The Ftse continued to surge today<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

Google finance<\/p>\n

The company recommended a final dividend of 22.8 pence, lifting the total annual payout to 36.3 pence, a 10 per cent rise on the previous year.<\/p>\n

Additionally, the firm repurchased 30 million shares at a cost of \u00a3502million during the period.<\/p>\n

Glencore delivered a more mixed performance, with full-year earnings declining despite copper prices reaching historic highs.<\/p>\n

The mining giant’s adjusted Ebitda fell six per cent to $13.5billion as weakening coal profits offset gains elsewhere.<\/p>\n

Revenue nonetheless increased seven per cent year-on-year to $247.5billion, though adjusted Ebit dropped 14 per cent to $6billion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Britain’s benchmark stock index surged to unprecedented heights on Wednesday, climbing above 10,650 for the first time in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":432569,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[102644,84,1294,2222,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-432568","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-best-of-britain","tag-business","tag-economy","tag-money","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/432568","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=432568"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/432568\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/432569"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=432568"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=432568"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=432568"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}