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Stocks opened higher at the start of the week, with gold performing well in the aftermath of Friday’s US jobs data, while focus was on Japan and France amid political uncertainty. Japan’s prime minister announced he will step down and the future of his French counterpart hangs in the balance also. In the UK, eyes remain on Westminster after UK PM Keir Starmer last week completed a reshuffle of his senior ministers after Angela Rayner resigned from the government for breaching the ministerial code. The FTSE 100 index edged up 7.21 points, 0.1%, at 9,215.42. The FTSE 250 was up 68.90 points, 0.3%, at 21,644.44, and the AIM All-Share was up 4.89 points, 0.6%, at 770.52. The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.1% at 924.12, the Cboe UK 250 was up 0.5% at 18,956.42, and the Cboe Small Companies was 0.2% higher at 17,087.85. In Paris, the CAC 40 was up 0.3%, before a no-confidence vote which could see France’s Prime Minister Francois Bayrou step down. In Frankfurt, the DAX 40 was up 0.8%. The pound traded at $1.3523 early Monday, down from $1.3527 late Friday. The euro bought $1.1731, falling from $1.1743. Against the yen, the buck rose to JP¥147.57 early Monday from JP¥146.94 at the time of the London equities close on Friday. The yen faded after Japan’s PM Shigeru Ishiba said on Sunday he would step down. ING believes the political nerves in France and Japan are ‘limiting the euro’s and yen’s chance to rally against the softer dollar’. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 ended up 1.5% on Monday. Sydney’s S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.2%. The Shanghai Composite was up 0.4%, while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong added 0.9%. In New York on Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 0.5%, the S&P 500 lost 0.3% and the Nasdaq Composite ended slightly lower. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury widened to 4.08% early Monday, from 4.07% at the time of the London equities close Friday. The yield on the 30-year eased to 4.77% from 4.79%. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, US nonfarm payroll employment increased by 22,000 in August, easing from 79,000 in July. The July reading was upwardly revised from 73,000, however, June’s reading was knocked to 14,000 from 27,000. The latest data fell short of the FXStreet cited consensus of 75,000. ‘In short, we’ve gone from a jobs market that was last year going gangbusters, to one that is now undeniably stalling. Market participants reacted to the data in the dovish manner that one would expect, as front-end Treasuries rallied hard, the dollar rolled over against all peers, and gold rallied to fresh record highs. Initially, equities also advanced, benefitting from that rally at the front-end, though gains fizzled out as trade progressed in a realisation that, perhaps, bad news actually is bad news,’ Pepperstone analyst Michael Brown commented. ‘The jobs report, to be clear, shan’t change the calculus for the September FOMC meeting, where a 25bp cut remains the base case, though it could result in a handful more policymakers dissenting in favour of a larger 50bp move. The data does, however, raise the potential for consecutive, as opposed to gradual, cuts from the Fed through year-end.’ Elsewhere on the central banking front, the European Central Bank announces a rate decision on Thursday. It is expected to hold. Analysts at Lloyds Bank commented: ‘The confidence vote in the French government (Monday) means the start of the week is set to be busier than usual for markets. Fitch’s scheduled review of the French sovereign rating is due at the end of the week too (Friday). EU President Von der Leyen’s State of the Union address (Wednesday) may make reference to the fallout, and it could be a topic for the press conference following the September ECB Governing Council meeting (Thursday), depending on the political and market ripples.’ A barrel of Brent rose to $66.42 from $65.14. Gold fetched at $3,609.71 an ounce, up from $3,589.49. Gold topped $3,613 an ounce, another record high. XTB analyst Kathleen Brooks commented: ‘The gold price was a clear winner last week, and it rose by 4%. ‘One of the reasons why the bond market may not be worried about inflation is due to the oil price. Over the weekend, Opec+ confirmed that they would add to their scheduled production increase next month. This move was expected by the market and the price of WTI oil fell 4% last week, while the price of Brent dipped by 3.8%. The Brent crude price is struggling to gain traction above $65 per barrel, and momentum is to the downside. A break below $65 per barrel would open the door to a deeper decline, back to the lows of May around $60 per barrel.’ In London, Phoenix Group fell 4.6%. It said it plans to change its name to Standard Life PLC next year after reporting better than expected operating profit but total cash generation below market hopes. The London-based retirement savings firm swung to a pretax profit of £8 million in the first half of 2025, from a loss of £669 million a year prior. Total income declined 30% to £8.60 billion from £12.33 billion. Adjusted operating profit shot up 25% to £451 million from £360 million, while operating cash generation improved 9% to £705 million from £647 million. Total cash generation declined 17% to £784 million from £950 million. Panmure Liberum analyst Abid Hussain said adjusted operating profit was 3% ahead of expectations, but total cash generation was 3% below consensus. Marks & Spencer added 1.9%. Citi lifted the retailer to ’buy’. Treatt jumped 17%. The extracts and ingredients manufacturer has agreed to a £156.6 million takeover from Natara. Natara is a maker of ‘aroma ingredients products’ and serves the flavour and fragrance industry and its majority owner is Exponent, a UK and European private equity firm. Both Natara and Exponent ‘have been following Treatt for some time and have long admired the business and its strong heritage’, a statement said. Natara will pay 260p cash per Treatt share, a 16% premium to its closing price of 224p on Friday. The sum values the entire issued and to be issued ordinary share capital of Treatt at approximately £156.6 million. ‘While the Treatt directors recognise that improvements in market dynamics and Treatt’s execution of its evolving strategy should support a recovery in Treatt’s operating and financial performance, they also acknowledge that this could take some time and remains subject to significant uncertainty as to the external factors affecting Treatt’s business and the delivery of internal systems and organisational improvements,’ a statement said. Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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