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London stocks were little changed at the open on Monday in quiet, pre-holiday trade, as investors looked ahead to US data and Fed minutes while mining shares found support from higher metals prices. The FTSE 100 index was down just 4.10 points at 9,866.58. The FTSE 250 was up just 7.47 points at 22,321.97, and the AIM All-Share was down 0.86 of a point, 0.1%, at 759.37. The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.1% at 989.40, the Cboe UK 250 was down 0.1% at 19,430.84, and the Cboe Small Companies was up 0.3% at 17,423.57. Over in Paris, the CAC 40 was marginally lower. The DAX 40 in Frankfurt was down 0.1%. Against the dollar, sterling faded to $1.3489 early Monday, from $1.3510, where it stood at the time of the early London equities close on Wednesday. The euro declined to $1.1777 from $1.1790. Against the yen, the dollar rose to JP¥156.22 from JP¥155.92. Late Friday, around the time of the closing bell on the New York Stock Exchange, the pound traded at $1.3504, the euro at $1.1780, and the dollar bought JP¥156.50. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury narrowed to 4.11% early Monday from 4.16% on Wednesday. The 30-year yield eased to 4.79% from 4.82%. The yields were at 4.13% and 4.81% late Friday. In New York on Friday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 ended marginally lower, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.1%. Financial markets in London close early on Wednesday, before the New Year’s Day holiday on Thursday. The market reopens on Friday for a full trading day. This week’s global economic calendar has minutes from the December Federal Open Market Committee meeting on Tuesday, before a raft of manufacturing PMI prints on Friday. Elsewhere, US initial jobless claims data are released on Wednesday. According to consensus cited by FXStreet, a pickup in new claims to 220,000 is expected, from 214,000 in the prior week. A barrel of Brent declined to $60.83 early Monday, from the $62.58 it fetched at the time of the early London equities close on Wednesday. However, it was up from $60.32 at the time of the New York equities close on Friday. Gold bought $4,881.79 an ounce early Monday, down from $4,492.58 on Wednesday and from $4,528.06 on Friday. Gold had hit a record high above $4,549 an ounce on Friday. As the year winds down, commodities have come into focus, with gold rallying again. Bullion has broken multiple records this year, driven partly by expectations of looser US monetary policy, robust safe-haven demand, strong central bank buying and geopolitical tensions. ‘Precious and industrial metals exploded to new highs across the board. Gold, silver, platinum, and copper all ripped, and this was not a single story rally. This was a convergence trade. Easier global monetary policy pulled investors back in as real yields softened. Fiscal drift pushed retail buyers toward hard assets. Central banks stayed steady on gold accumulation as part of longer term dollar diversification. Supply constraints and geopolitical frictions added a structural bid. The result was a perfect setup for metals to behave less like trades and more like balance sheet insurance,’ SPI Asset Management analyst Stephen Innes commented. In London early Monday, gold miner Fresnillo advanced 4.5%, the best large-cap performer. Elsewhere in the mining space, Glencore added 1.5%, and Anglo American shot up 1.1%. At the other end of the large-caps, defence firms Babcock and BAE Systems fell 2.0% and 1.8%, as investors track geopolitical developments. US President Donald Trump on Sunday said a deal was closer than ever to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine but reported no apparent breakthrough on the flashpoint issue of territory after new talks with the warring countries’ leaders. Trump, who had promised a peace deal on day one of his nearly year-old presidency, said it would become clear within weeks whether it was possible to solve the conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people. In a pre-New Year’s diplomatic sprint, Trump brought to his Florida estate Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who described a peace plan as 95% complete despite Russia unleashing major new attacks a day before on Kyiv’s residential areas. Much like when Zelensky last met Trump in October, Russian President Vladimir Putin also spoke shortly beforehand by telephone with the US leader, who immediately insisted that Moscow was ‘serious’ about peace despite the assault. ‘I really believe we’re, president, probably closer than far closer than ever before with both parties,’ Trump said with Zelensky at his side in the tea room of his Mar-a-Lago estate. ‘Everybody wants it ended,’ Trump said. Back in London, International Personal Finance added 5.7%. It has agreed a £543 million all-cash takeover by BasePoint Capital, with the acquisition expected to complete in the third quarter of 2026. Under the terms of the offer, IPF shareholders will receive 235 pence in cash for each share, valuing the provider of credit products and insurance services at around £543 million. Shareholders will also be entitled to receive a final dividend of up to 9 pence per share in respect of the financial year ending December 31. The offer represents a premium of around 31% to IPF’s closing share price of 179.2 pence on July 29, the last trading day before the company entered an offer period. Secure Trust Bank spiked 9.7% after some dealmaking of its own. On Wednesday, it agreed to sell its Consumer Vehicle Finance business to private equity funds for just under £460 million, some of which the lender said it will return to shareholders. Secure Trust is a Solihull, England-based business and consumer lender. The sale of its vehicle finance arm comes amid requirements to provide customer redress for undisclosed commission payments. Secure Trust back in October raised its provision for redress to £21 million, saying a consultation paper published by the UK Financial Conduct Authority meant the impact was likely to be ‘towards the extreme end’ of previously expected outcomes. In July, Secure Trust had said it would stop new lending in its Vehicle Finance business and run-off the remaining portfolio of loans. On Wednesday, it said it agreed to sell that portfolio and associated assets to funds managed by LCM Partners, a London-based alternative investment fund manager. The sale price of £458.6 million represents a slight premium to the portfolio’s book value of £442.5 million on September 30. In Tokyo on Monday, the Nikkei 225 ended down 0.4%. In China, the Shanghai Composite rose slightly, while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong was 0.7% lower. Sydney’s S&P/ASX 200 shed 0.4%. 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