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Stocks in London were mostly higher at the start of the week, with Ceres Power, which joined the FTSE 250 last week, up markedly as Goldman Sachs hiked its price target. The FTSE 100 index opened up 21.21 points, 0.2%, at 9,738.46. The FTSE 250 was up 16.37 points, 0.1%, at 22,187.34, and the AIM All-Share was up 1.41 points, 0.2% at 773.79. The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.2% at 972.04, the Cboe UK 250 was 0.1% higher at 19,271.51, and the Cboe Small Companies was up 0.3% at 17,966.34. In European equities on Monday, the CAC 40 in Paris was 0.2% higher, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was up 0.6%. Focus in the UK this week will be on the interest rate call at the Bank of England, due on Thursday. Softer inflation data means the decision is more finely balanced than previously thought. While a hold is still broadly expected, the vote is expected to be close, and a quarter point cut far from ruled out. With the headline consumer price index still at 3.8%, and concerns around potential second-round effects, the BoE’s Monetary Policy Committee may adopt a wait-and-see approach for now. With ’dovish’ Monetary Policy Committee members Swati Dhingra and Alan Taylor expected to vote for rate cut, the outcome will likely depend on the decisions of BoE Governor Andrew Bailey, Deputy Governor Sarah Breedon and Dave Ramsden. Sterling was at $1.3119 on Monday morning, down from $1.3135 at the London equities close on Friday. The euro was lower at $1.1511 from $1.1536. Against the yen, the dollar was slightly higher at JP¥154.14 versus JP¥154.06. In China, the Shanghai Composite was up 0.6%, while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong was 1.0% higher. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney was up 0.2%. Financial markets in Tokyo were closed for Culture Day. In the US on Friday, Wall Street ended higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.1%, the S&P 500 gained 0.3% and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.6%. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury was unchanged from Friday’s close at 4.09% on Monday morning. The yield on the 30-year was unchanged at 4.66%. In London, shares in BP were 0.9% higher after it said it has sold non-controlling interests in the Permian and Eagle Ford midstream assets for $1.5 billion. The London-based oil major said it has sold the interests to funds managed by private investor Sixth Street. The consideration is structured in two phases, with around $1 billion paid upon signing with the balance expected by the end of the year, subject to regulatory approval. The midstream assets encompass bpx energy’s pipelines and facilities in the Eagle Ford and Permian basins, including four Permian central processing facilities. bpx Energy is BP’s US onshore oil and gas business. The ownership interest in the Permian midstream assets will move to 51%, from 100%, while its Eagle Ford ownership interest will fall to 25% from 75%. Sixth Street will hold the remaining, non-operating interests. ‘We recognised early on that investing in midstream would be an important ingredient to our success in these basins in terms of driving value, flow assurance, and lowering emissions,’ said bpx Energy Chief Executive Officer Kyle Koontz. ‘This transaction reinforces that we are on track to maximise the return on our investment in these basins and allows us to continue operating them safely and efficiently.’ Vodafone was the worst performer on the FTSE 100 index and sank 2.6%. UBS cut its rating on the telecommunications provider to ’sell’ from ’neutral’ but raised its price target to 80 pence from 72p. Ceres Power jumped 9.2% on the FTSE 250 index. Goldman Sachs hiked its price target on the stock to 480p from 246p and maintained its ’buy’ rating. Ceres Power joined the FTSE 250 index last week on Thursday. Empiric Student Property shares were down 0.8% while Unite shares fell 1.8%. Empiric said the booking cycle for the 2025/26 academic year has ‘continued to moderate’ with occupancy standing at 89%, compared to 95% in October 2024. Like-for-like rental growth is in line with guidance at 4.5%, the London-based student accommodation provider said. The firm noted that there has been a slowdown in the pace of reservations since September 9. ‘Assuming that current conditions do not change, delivery of the company’s occupancy target for this academic year will be challenging,’ it said. The company said it has experienced a reduction in the number of Chinese students booking stays this year. Unite noted the update and said it had assumed lower occupancy and rental growth than the previous academic year. Unite said Empiric’s occupancy for the academic year is ‘slightly below’ these expectations while rental growth is in line with its expectations. Empiric in August agreed to a takeover offer from Unite, valuing Empiric at roughly £710 million, or £723 million including dividends. Empiric says it continues to expect the takeover to become effective in the first half of 2026. The UK Competition & Markets Authority started a phase one investigation into the merger last month. Ryanair shares were down 1.6% in Dublin after it lifted its annual traffic growth view amid ‘strong’ demand in the first half, but it cautioned that comparisons get trickier as the year progresses. The budget carrier added that it is ‘too early provide meaningful’ profit guidance but it does expect to ‘recover all of last year’s 7% full-year fare decline’. Dublin-based Ryanair said pretax profit in the first half ended September 30 increased 40% to €2.89 billion from €2.07 billion. Revenue rose 13% to €9.82 billion from €8.69 billion. Net profit increased 42% to €2.54 billion from €1.79 billion. ‘Fares benefitted from having the full Easter holiday in Q1 (with weak prior-year comps) and we achieved a full recovery of the 7% fare decline we suffered in last years Q2. Ancillary revenue was solid,’ Chief Executive Officer Michael O’Leary commented. Ryanair expects full-year traffic to increase by more than 3% to 207 million passengers, up from a previous forecast of 206 million. This is due to ‘earlier than expected Boeing deliveries and strong H1 demand’. On the AIM index, shares in Kazera Global jumped 11%. The mining investment firm said it has been notified that an objection to a mining right for its subsidiary Whale Head Minerals for the area known as 2A has been withdrawn. The company said it believes there are no further obstacles to the mining right being granted and expects this to occur soon. ‘We are extremely pleased to have been notified that an objection relating to the 2A mining right has been withdrawn, which clears the way for the mining right to be granted soon,’ said Chief Executive Officer Dennis Edmonds. ‘2A is a highly prospective [heavy mineral sands] area, and its development will materially expand Whale Head’s operational footprint, creating the opportunity to dramatically scale HMS production.’ Shares in Shuka Minerals sank 18%. The Africa-focused mine operator and developer said funds from Kenya-based Gathoni Muchai Investments to finance a deal to buy Zambian mining and exploration company Leopard Exploration and Mining and the Kabwe zinc mine are yet to be received. GMI previously said the $1.4 million payment would proceed by last Friday. Most recently, it advised Shuka that ‘administrative issues’ prevented the payment last week, though it is now confident the payment will start this week. Gold was higher at $4,015.60 an ounce early on Monday from $3,982.25 late Friday. Brent oil was trading higher at $64.67 a barrel from $64.45. Opec+ plans to expand production again in December and pump out an additional 137,000 barrels daily, the eight member states led by Russia and Saudi Arabia said in a statement. However, production will not be further increased in the first quarter of 2026 ‘due to seasonality,’ members agreed in a meeting. Still to come on Monday are manufacturing purchasing managers’ index figures from the UK, US and Canada. Data from the UK is due shortly at 0930 GMT. Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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