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Stock prices in London, Paris and Frankfurt were higher at Friday midday after US President Donald Trump nominated former Federal Reserve governor Kevin Warsh to succeed Jerome Powell as Federal Reserve chair; meanwhile gold and silver prices fell. The FTSE 100 index was up 47.87 points, 0.5%, at 10,219.63. The FTSE 250 was up 48.32 points, 0.2%, at 23,316.76, and the AIM all-share was down 6.73 points, 0.8%, at 81,819. The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.5% at 10,20.87, the Cboe UK 250 was up 0.2% at 20,607.58, and the Cboe small companies was down 0.2% at 18667.34. A few minutes ago, US President Trump on Friday nominated former Federal Reserve governor Kevin Warsh to succeed Jerome Powell as chair of the central bank. ‘I have known Kevin for a long period of time, and have no doubt that he will go down as one of the GREAT Fed Chairmen, maybe the best. On top of everything else, he is ’central casting,’ and he will never let you down,’ Trump said in his announcement, which he posted to Truth Social. The pound was quoted at $1.3780 at midday on Friday in London, lower compared to $1.3797 at the equities close on Thursday. The euro stood at $1.1947, lower against $1.1950. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JP¥153.87, higher compared to JP¥152.87. Sharply lower gold and silver prices triggered a retreat from the mining sector but failed to prevent the FTSE 100 from advancing overall. Gold was quoted at $5,133.20 an ounce midday Friday, lower than $5,256.30 on Thursday. Silver was quoted at $103.00, down from $114.43 on Thursday. The reversal in safe-haven metals followed speculation around Trump’s intention to nominate Warsh as the next Federal Reserve chair. The decline in commodities weighed on London-listed miners, with Fresnillo down 3.8%, Endeavour Mining off 3.3%, Antofagasta lower by 3.1% and Anglo American down 2.3%. The weakest blue-chip stock was Airtel Africa, down 7.8%. Financial stocks fared better, with Experian leading the FTSE 100, up 3.3%, after announcing a $1 billion share buyback programme and saying it continues to ‘trade strongly’. In European equities on Friday, the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.7%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was up 0.9%. Eurozone economic growth beat expectations at the end of last year, while unemployment fell unexpectedly, according to figures published on Friday. Eurostat said eurozone gross domestic product rose 0.3% in the fourth quarter of 2025 from the third quarter, above the FXStreet-cited forecast of 0.2%. Growth in the third quarter was also 0.3%. On a year-on-year basis, GDP was 1.3% higher in the fourth quarter, easing from 1.4% in the third. For 2025 as a whole, Eurostat estimated growth of 1.5%. Separately, the eurozone unemployment rate fell to 6.2% in December from 6.3% in November, contrary to expectations for it to remain unchanged. Bert Colijn, chief economist at ING, said: ‘For 2026, the mood is becoming more upbeat as investment plans should result in a modest cyclical improvement, but beware of structural concerns.’ He added: ‘But the eurozone economy seems set to show accelerated growth over the coming quarters, and if the European Commission’s economic sentiment indicator is anything to go by, we could already see this happening quite soon. January sentiment was buoyant and reached the highest level in three years, which was a broad-based improvement between countries and large sectors.’ In Germany, economic growth was stronger than anticipated in the fourth quarter, while unemployment climbed past 3 million in January. German GDP rose 0.3% quarter-on-quarter in the final quarter of 2025, beating expectations of a 0.2% increase and improving from flat growth in the third quarter. On-year growth accelerated to 0.4% from 0.3%. Full-year GDP rose 0.2% in 2025, avoiding a third consecutive year of recession. Meanwhile, Germany’s unemployment rate jumped to 6.6% in January from 6.2% in December, with the number of unemployed rising by 177,000 on the month to nearly 3.1 million. Stocks in New York were called lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was called down 0.4%, the S&P 500 index down 0.5%, and the Nasdaq Composite down 0.6%. Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell, said: ‘The decline in US futures prices and uptick in the dollar reflect the thinking that Warsh won’t be a marionette for the Trump administration. It implies the chances of aggressive rate cuts in 2026 regardless of the backdrop, something which Trump has not been shy in calling for, are slimmer. The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was quoted at 4.25%, widening from 4.24%. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury was quoted at 4.88%, widening from 4.87%. Back in London, Greencore rose 3.0% on the FTSE 250 after Carrion Enterprises disclosed a 10.68% stake as of January 19, up from none previously reported. Chrysalis Investments was the worst performer in the mid-cap index, down 5.5%, after flagging further updates ahead of a shareholder vote on its three-year realisation plan. The company said it has reviewed portfolio companies ahead of a potential wind-down and plans to exit Klarna once its lock-up expires on March 9. Chrysalis said Klarna accounted for a 4.8p per share drop in net asset value, with NAV per share falling 3.7% to 165.36p at December 31 from 171.65p at September 30. Among smaller caps, Empyrean Energy more than doubled to 0.10 pence from 0.035 pence after agreeing a settlement with Conrad Asia Energy to resolve a cash dispute linked to the Duyung PSC and the Mako gas field. Conrad has withdrawn its notice of ’forced withdrawal‘ and remains operator of the assets. Empyrean will pay $706,777, split between cash and dividends from a new Singapore vehicle in which it will hold an 8.5% stake. Brent oil was quoted at $69.09 a barrel at midday in London on Friday, down from $69.40 late Thursday. Ireland’s annual harmonised consumer price index inflation rate eased in January, data from the Central Statistics Office showed. Harmonised CPI inflation slowed to 2.6% from 2.7% in December, while prices fell 1.0% on the month after a 0.6% rise previously. Still to come on Friday’s economic calendar are German consumer prices, followed by US and Canada producer price figures. Copyright 2026 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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