US President Donald Trump said it was “highly unlikely” that he would launch new strikes on Iran, lifting hopes of an end to the conflict. The FTSE 100 was up 0.48% at 10,724.

Oil prices also fell to $97 a barrel as Trump played down the prospect of further attacks on Iran, despite continued incidents involving oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz and strikes on Saudi Arabia.

The blue-chip leaderboard was dominated by mining stocks, with Antofagasta leading the gains, up 3.6% at £32.37. Endeavour Mining followed, rising 3.5% to £42.30, while Anglo American gained 2.8% to £10.35. Glencore was up 2.4% at 507p and Rio Tinto rose 1.6% to £63.85.

Meanwhile, the FTSE 250 rose 0.25% to 24,564, with mining stocks also boosting mid-cap shares. Atalaya Mining climbed 4.7% to 866p, Meridian Mining gained 4.1% to 90p, Hochschild Mining rose 3.1% to 502p and BlackRock World Mining advanced 2.1% to 896p.

However, technology stocks remained under pressure following last week’s heavy sell-off, which pushed the Nasdaq into correction territory, which saw $2.5 trillion wiped from the stock exchange on Thursday amid fears over the sustainability of the AI investment boom.

Nvidia shares fell almost 5% in pre-market trading amid reports concerning chief executive Jensen Huang and an alleged relationship with a woman believed by US intelligence to be a Chinese spy.

Susannah Streeter, chief investment strategist at Wealth Club, said the controversy threatened “to charge the tech sector with fresh volatility”.

Nvidia’s board said there was no reason to believe any national security secrets or sensitive company information had been compromised.

Streeter added that Huang was unlikely to leave the business he founded, given “his superstar tech status” and position as “the architect of its dominance in the semiconductor market”.

“That expectation may reassure investors that, while headline-dominating, the affair won’t be a big bump in the road for the company,” she said.