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London shares edged modestly higher on Tuesday, but trading remained subdued as the holiday-shortened week rolled on with few new drivers, leaving investors waiting for Federal Reserve minutes later in the day for clues on the US interest rate outlook. Tuesday is the last full-day of trading in the London equity market this year. There is an abbreviated trading day on Wednesday. Markets then re-open on Friday, after the New Year’s Day holiday on Thursday. The FTSE 100 index was up 10.15 points, 0.1%, at 9,876.68. The FTSE 250 was up 20.52 points, 0.1%, at 22,428.03, and the AIM All-Share added 0.93 of a point, 0.1%, at 760.51. The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.2% at 990.21, the Cboe UK 250 was up 0.1% at 19,518.36, and the Cboe Small Companies was 0.1% lower at 17,555.51. Over in Paris, the CAC 40 was 0.1% lower. The DAX 40 in Frankfurt was flat. Sterling rose to $1.3510 early Tuesday in London, from $1.3491 at the time of the London equities close on Monday. The euro rose to $1.1771 from $1.1757. Against the yen, the dollar edged down to JP¥155.93 from JP¥156.04. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury was unchanged at 4.12%, while the 30-year yield widened slightly to 4.81% from 4.80%. A barrel of Brent edged up to $61.51 early Tuesday from $61.48 at the time of the London equities close on Tuesday. Gold traded at $4,369.41 an ounce, up from $4,336.60. ‘Oil prices increased modestly for the second consecutive day, with WTI and Brent crude attempting to stabilize above $58 and $61 per barrel, respectively,’ XS.com analyst Samer Hasn commented. ‘The increase in oil prices comes amid multiple signals of escalating geopolitical tensions across several regions, which could pose risks of supply disruptions.’ ‘Despite a recent meeting between US and Ukrainian leaders indicating closer diplomatic engagement, allegations concerning attacks on Russian leadership property have introduced additional uncertainty regarding the potential for significant escalation.’ Russian President Vladimir Putin has told US President Donald Trump that he intends to revise his position in negotiations for an end to the war in Ukraine after an alleged attack by Kiev on one of his residences, according to the Kremlin. Putin’s foreign policy adviser, Yuri Ushakov, said Trump and Putin had spoken again on Monday, following a meeting between the US president and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Florida the previous day to discuss a possible peace plan. During the call, the Russian leader informed Trump that Ukrainian forces had supposedly tried to attack one of his presidential residences in the western Novgorod region with dozens of drones, a claim that was swiftly rejected by Kiev. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the attack overnight from Sunday to Monday did not result in any damage or injuries, with Russian air defences destroying all 91 drones. He accused the Ukrainian leadership of resorting to state terrorism and said targets for retaliatory strikes in Ukraine had already been identified. Trump confirmed that Putin had informed him of the alleged attack on Monday morning. Tuesday sees the release of Federal Reserve meeting minutes at 1900 GMT. A quarter-point cut in December, the third in successive meetings, took the Federal Reserve’s target range for the federal funds rate to 3.50%-3.75%. Nine of the 12-strong Federal Open Market Committee’s voters backed the rate reduction. Kansas City Fed President Jeff Schmid and Austan Goolsbee of the Chicago Fed pressed the case for the status quo, while Trump ally Stephen Miran once more supported a jumbo half-point cut. Fed Chair Jerome Powell told reporters after the decision that the Fed funds rate is now ‘within a range of plausible estimates of neutral, and leave us well-positioned to determine the extent and timing of additional adjustments’. In New York on Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.5%, the S&P 500 fell 0.4% and the Nasdaq Composite shed 0.5%. In Tokyo on Tuesday, the Nikkei 225 ended down 0.4%. In China, the Shanghai Composite closed flat, while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong was up 0.9%. Sydney’s S&P/ASX 200 ended down 0.1%. In London, Fresnillo was the best FTSE 100 performer, tracking the gold price higher. The stock was up 2.7%. Elsewhere in London, Gulf Marine Services rose 2.9%. It has secured a two-year contract extension for a mid-size vessel currently operating in the Gulf Cooperation Council region. The GCC comprises Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman. The extension comprises a one-year firm agreement, with the option of another year. ‘With this extension secured, the company’s backlog has increased to $607 million,’ the operator of self-propelled self-elevating support vessels for the offshore energy industry said. Eurasia Mining slumped 35%. It has agreed to sell its West Kytlim mining operations in the Urals to a Russian company for $9 million, saying the decision reduces the risk the mine will be nationalised by Russia without compensation in response to the freeze of Russian assets in Europe. Eurasia said late Monday that the sale of the producing, but loss-making, operations will also allow the company to concentrate on its more resource-rich, and better legally protected, Arctic assets in Russia. It explained that the Arctic assets, including the ‘cornerstone’ Monchetundra-NKT cluster, benefit from an agreement signed in 2021 with state-owned Far East & Arctic Region Development Corp. Eurasia called a general meeting of shareholders for January 15 to approve the deal, saying company directors and management will vote in favour for their aggregate 19% stake. Eurasia said it will sell the West Kytlim assets to LLC KS Logistics, ‘a non-sanctioned infrastructure company in Russia working in transportation, infra-structure development, retail sales and information technology development and management.’ Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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