Source: Sharecast
After briefing topping the psychologically important milestone in early deals, the FTSE 100 was down 0.15% at 8,978.85 by lunchtime.
The benchmark, which hit a record closing high of 8,998.06 on 14 July, has been relatively rangebound over the past week, following a near-3% increase over the past month and a 17% surge since the yearly lows of around 7,700 reached in early April.
Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said there were "no major catalysts to send the index one way or another".
Monday was set to be a quiet day for corporate earnings, economic data and tariff-related newsflow – though the latter is likely to stay in focus ahead of the 1 August deadline for duties on imports into the US (from countries that do not already have a trade deal in place with the US).
In recent comments, commerce secretary Howard Lutnick reiterated that 1 August was a "hard deadline", saying: "Nothing stops countries from talking to us after 1 August, but they're going to start paying the tariffs on 1 August."
In other news, figures from Rightmove released on Monday showed that the average house price in the UK fell by 1.2% in July to £373,709. The slide – the biggest monthly drop recorded for July since Rightmove began collating data in 2001 – was attributed to an ongoing jump in the amount of homes coming to market.
Meanwhile, the S&P Global UK consumer sentiment index came in at 45.1 for July, little changed on June’s 45.0 and well below the neutral 50.0 benchmark, as concerns about household finances continued to weigh heavily.
BP names former CRH boss as new chair
Energy major BP edged higher after announcing that former CRH boss Albert Manifold will succeed Helge Lund, following the chair's resignation in April. BP said that Manifold was the "ideal candidate" following a "rigorous and comprehensive global search".
Strong gains from the mining sectors were supporting markets, with Glencore, Antofagasta, Rio Tinto, Anglo America and Fresnillo among the best performers.
EasyJet was also on the rise after low-cost carrier peer Ryanair more than doubled first-quarter profits, driven by a sharp jump in fare rises.
Molecular technology business Oxford Nanopore surged 15% after delivering a "strong" first-half performance, with reported revenues expected to be up by a quarter year-on-year – comfortably ahead of analysts' predictions.
MoneySuperMarket-owner Mony Group was a heavy faller, dropping 9% despite reiterating its full-year guidance as the company reportted ongoing weakness in the car insurance market. Group revenues in the six months to 30 June nudged up just 1%, to £225.3m, but insurance revenues fell 2%.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 8,978.85 -0.15%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 21,921.01 0.10%
techMARK (TASX) 5,164.51 -0.50%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Anglo American (AAL) 2,304.00p 3.18%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,926.50p 3.10%
Glencore (GLEN) 312.90p 3.08%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 4,594.00p 2.37%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 294.80p 1.80%
SSE (SSE) 1,913.50p 1.59%
Tesco (TSCO) 422.80p 1.59%
Entain (ENT) 961.40p 1.50%
Land Securities Group (LAND) 585.00p 1.12%
Centrica (CNA) 155.00p 1.11%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
BAE Systems (BA.) 1,894.00p -2.37%
Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 22,480.00p -1.49%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) 10,710.00p -1.11%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,325.00p -1.08%
Relx plc (REL) 3,914.00p -1.06%
Airtel Africa (AAF) 185.00p -1.02%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 10,192.00p -0.99%
Bunzl (BNZL) 2,282.00p -0.95%
Haleon (HLN) 355.30p -0.95%
Diageo (DGE) 1,911.50p -0.91%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) 168.30p 14.80%
Rank Group (RNK) 157.40p 6.93%
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 1,072.00p 2.49%
Volution Group (FAN) 648.00p 2.21%
Shaftesbury Capital (SHC) 157.10p 2.15%
IP Group (IPO) 58.30p 2.10%
Coats Group (COA) 74.20p 1.92%
FirstGroup (FGP) 224.20p 1.91%
Just Group (JUST) 133.20p 1.83%
Raspberry PI Holdings (RPI) 474.80p 1.76%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Mony Group (MONY) 199.70p -8.90%
Bridgepoint Group (Reg S) (BPT) 323.20p -5.22%
Harworth Group (HWG) 179.50p -2.97%
Future (FUTR) 721.50p -2.70%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,285.50p -2.43%
NCC Group (NCC) 145.20p -2.29%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 265.60p -2.28%
Indivior (INDV) 1,174.00p -2.00%
Senior (SNR) 192.00p -1.94%
Wickes Group (WIX) 224.50p -1.75%