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Stock prices in London were boosted by rising stocks in miners amid a jump in the gold price; meanwhile UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced ‘good progress’ on talks on tariffs and visa-free travel to China as he met President Xi Jinping. The FTSE 100 index opened up 62.90 points, 0.6%, at 10,217.33. The FTSE 250 was up 66.21 points, 0.3%, at 23,456.84, and the AIM all-share was up 4.55 points, 0.6%, at 836.64. The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.3% at 1019.33, the Cboe UK 250 was up 0.2% at 20,726.71, and the Cboe small companies was up 0.5% at 18,646.15. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he made ‘good progress’ on talks on tariffs and visa-free travel to China in his meeting with Xi Jinping. He said he and the Chinese leader had discussed how ‘huge opportunities’ in China could benefit people back in the UK. Starmer had told the president he wanted a ‘more sophisticated’ relationship with China at the start of the meeting, while Xi said relations had been through some ‘twists and turns’ in recent years. He met Xi at the Great Hall of the People on the first morning of his trip to China, the first by a UK prime minister since 2018. Afterwards, the prime minister said: ‘We made some really good progress on tariffs for whisky, on visa-free travel to China and on information exchange and co-operation on irregular migration, focusing particularly on small boats and engine parts. ‘So a very good, constructive meeting with real outcomes and that’s very much in our national interest.’ China had said, in its own readout of the meeting, that it was willing to ‘actively consider’ implementing unilateral visa-free entry for the UK. In European equities on Thursday, the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.9%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was down 0.4%. Sterling was quoted at $1.3822 early Thursday, higher than $1.3778 at the London equities close on Wednesday. The euro traded at $1.1966 early Thursday, higher than $1.1935 late Wednesday. Against the yen, the dollar was quoted at JP¥153.35, down versus JP¥153.63. Gold climbed to a fresh record above $5,500 an ounce after the Federal Reserve opted to leave interest rates unchanged. Gold was quoted at $5,509.10 an ounce early Thursday, higher than $5,282.35 at the London equities close on Wednesday. The jump in gold prices supported mining stocks in London, despite some producers reporting lower output. Glencore was up 3.6%, and Antofagasta rose 6.2%. Glencore reported mostly lower production in 2025 and said its marketing arm remains on track to deliver adjusted Ebit around the midpoint of its $2.3 billion to $3.5 billion guidance range. Copper output fell 11% to 851.6 kilotonnes from 951.6 kt a year earlier, while gold production declined 18% to 604,000 ounces from 738,000 ounces. However, zinc production rose 7% to 969.4 kt and silver output improved 6% to 20.4 million ounces. Antofagasta posted lower fourth-quarter copper production of 177.0 kilotonnes, down 12% from a year earlier, although output improved from the third quarter. Other miners were also among the top gainers, with Endeavour Mining up 4.9%, Anglo American up 4.1%, Fresnillo up 2.6% and Rio Tinto up 2.5%. However, the top performer on the FTSE 100 was 3i Group, up 13%, after a positive trading update. The company said Action operating Ebitda rose 14% to €2.37 billion in the year to December 28, while Action sales increased 16% to €16.00 billion. It also cited a positive foreign exchange translation impact of £766 million and said net asset value per share rose to 3,017 pence from 2,857 pence. Brent oil was also trading higher at $68.76 a barrel early Thursday, up from $68.01 late Wednesday, supporting London-listed oil majors BP and Shell, both up 1.4%. On the FTSE 250, Wizz Air Holdings rose 7.7% after reporting a narrower third-quarter net loss as passenger numbers and revenue increased. Passengers carried rose 13% to 17.5 million, revenue climbed 10% to €1.30 billion, and the net loss narrowed to €139.3 million. The airline said summer bookings are currently tracking ahead of last year and reiterated full-year capacity growth expectations. Among smaller caps, Fevertree Drinks was up 5.3% after saying full-year results will come in ahead of market expectations. The mixer maker expects 2025 adjusted revenue of £375.3 million and adjusted Ebitda above consensus, and confirmed a further £30 million tranche of its share buyback will begin in February. In the US on Wednesday, Wall Street ended mixed, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average marginally higher, the S&P 500 marginally lower and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.2%. After the market closed on Wednesday, attention turned to a busy slate of Big Tech earnings. Tesla shares rose 2.8% in after-hours trading after reporting better-than-expected fourth-quarter results despite a sharp fall in net income. Meta Platforms shares jumped 7.2% after beating revenue expectations and issuing an upbeat outlook, while Microsoft saw shares fall 5.4% after revenue in its More Personal Computing division disappointed. Apple will update the market with its full-year results today. The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was quoted at 4.26%, unchanged. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury was quoted at 4.88%, stretched from 4.87%. In Asia on Thursday, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo was marginally higher. In China, the Shanghai Composite was up 0.2%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was up 0.5%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed down 0.1%. Still to come on Thursday’s economic calendar are the eurozone economic sentiment index, Ireland’s gross domestic product, Canada’s trade balance, the US trade balance and weekly jobless claims, as well as US factory orders and wholesale inventories. Copyright 2026 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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