|
London’s blue chip index kicked off the festive week lower, but gold miners were boosted as the precious metal reached a new record high. The FTSE 100 index traded down 31.59 points, 0.3%, at 9,865.83. The FTSE 250 was down 45.96 points, 0.2%, at 22,266.75, and the AIM All-Share was up 1.23 points, 0.2%, at 758.62. The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.4% at 989.06, the Cboe UK 250 was down 0.3% at 19,364.81, and the Cboe Small Companies was 0.1% lower at 17,232.71. The CAC 40 in Paris was down 0.3% and Frankfurt’s DAX 40 was up 0.2%. Sterling advanced to $1.3415 early Monday from $1.3373 at the time of the London equities close on Friday. The euro was higher at $1.1728 against $1.1715. Against the yen, the dollar faded to JP¥157.41 from JP¥157.46. The UK economy suffered a growth slowdown in the third quarter of the year, numbers from the Office for National Statistics confirmed on Monday. UK gross domestic product nudged 0.1% higher quarter-on-quarter in the three months to September 30. GDP had risen 0.2% in the second quarter, downwardly revised from a previously-reported 0.3% advance. ‘In output terms, growth in the latest quarter was driven by increases of 0.2% in services and 0.2% in construction; the production sector fell by 0.3%,’ the ONS said. On-year, GDP rose 1.3%, easing from a 1.4% rise in the second. The ONS confirmed that over the course of 2024, UK GDP rose 1.1%. ‘The level of real GDP in quarter 3 2025 compared with quarter 4 2023 is now estimated to be 2.9% higher, revised down slightly from the first estimate of 3.0%,’ the ONS added. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury widened to 4.16% from 4.14% at the time of the closing bell on the London Stock Exchange late Friday afternoon. The 30-year yield stretched to 4.84% from 4.82%. In New York on Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 0.4%, the S&P 500 up 0.9% and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.9%. The Dow shed 0.7% all of last week, while the S&P rose 0.1% and the Nasdaq 0.5%. Before Friday’s rally, however, the S&P and tech-heavy Nasdaq were set for a weekly decline. In Tokyo on Monday, the Nikkei 225 surged 1.8%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was up 0.7%, and the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong was 0.4% higher. In Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 added 0.9%. A barrel of Brent rose to $60.94 early Monday from $60.16 late Friday afternoon in London. Gold traded at $4,411.72 an ounce, up from $4,348.80. The precious metal traded as high as $4,420.47 on Monday, a new record high. Geopolitical tensions boosted gold and oil. The US Coast Guard was pursuing another allegedly sanctioned tanker on Sunday, a US official told AFP, as Washington ramps up its pressure campaign targeting Venezuela’s vital oil sector. The ‘active pursuit’ in the Caribbean Sea was happening a day after the Coast Guard seized its second vessel off Venezuela in two weeks. US President Donald Trump announced on December 16 a blockade of ‘sanctioned oil vessels’ sailing to and from Venezuela, demanding the return of allegedly stolen US assets in the oil-rich South American country. He has also deployed a large navy armada in the Caribbean with a stated mission of combatting drug trafficking, but which Caracas says is a pressure campaign to oust President Nicolas Maduro. Tracking gold higher, Endeavour Mining and Fresnillo rose 2.6% and 1.4%, among the best FTSE 100 performers. Elsewhere on the geopolitical front, US and Ukrainian envoys issued a joint statement on Sunday that hailed ‘productive and constructive’ talks in Miami, but did not announce any apparent breakthrough in efforts to end the war with Russia. Top representatives of Ukraine and Russia, as well as Kyiv’s European allies, have been in southern Florida over the past several days for a series of separate talks hosted by US President Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff. Despite a flurry of high-level meetings in recent weeks, there have been no clear signals of imminent resolutions to key hurdles on ending the nearly four-year war. The diplomatic blitz came after Washington last month presented a 28-point plan on the war that was widely seen as echoing the Kremlin’s demands. Peace hope lifted shares in London-listed iron ore pellet producer Ferrexpo. Shares in the firm, which operates in Ukraine, rose 4.3%. Shares in defence stocks were lower. BAE Systems fell 0.6% in London, while Rheinmetall fell 0.8% in Frankfurt. Elsewhere, gambling firm Rank Group shed 7.0%. It said its Spanish arm has been the victim of payment fraud. The Grosvenor casino and Mecca bingo owner said its Enracha and Yo businesses in Spain suffered from payment fraud totalling around €7.1 million. ‘The group has reported the matter to the relevant law enforcement agencies and is supporting their investigations, as well as carrying out its own internal investigation with the help of an external law firm’ Rank adds. ‘Given the exceptional nature of this incident, Rank Group expects to treat the financial impact as a separately disclosed item in relation to its 2025/26 performance.’ Online wine retailer Naked Wines climbed 2.4%. It announced a new £2 million share buyback to begin and end on Monday. Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
|
