London’s FTSE 100 made a solid start to 2025, shaking off underwhelming trade in Asia.
The FTSE 100 index opened up 17.71 points, 0.2%, at 8,190.73. The FTSE 250 was up just 9.30 points, at 20,631.91, and the AIM All-Share was up 2.11 points, 0.3%, at 721.74.
The FTSE 100 added 5.7% over the course of last year.
The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.3% at 821.34, the Cboe UK 250 was 0.1% higher at 18,078.53, and the Cboe Small Companies was flat at 15,925.36.
The CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.2%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was 0.4% higher.
The pound faded to $1.2504 early Thursday, from $1.2535 at the time of the London equities close on Tuesday. The euro fell to $1.0353 from $1.0402. Against the yen, the dollar faded to JP¥156.62 from JP¥156.74.
A barrel of Brent rose to $74.87 from $74.21. Gold climbed to $2,634.01 an ounce from $2,610.61.
On the up in London in early trade, gold miner Fresnillo rose 1.9%, tracking bullion higher. Oil major BP climbed 1.3%, tracking a rise in the Brent price.
Revolution Beauty shot up 11%, after a claim by Chrysalis Investments was settled. Chrysalis traded down 0.6%.
Chrysalis Investments said it has entered into a ‘settlement agreement’ with Revolution Beauty. Chrysalis, a former shareholder in the beauty products seller, said Revolution will pay ‘a non-material sum’. The figure is less than 1% of the Chrysalis market capitalisation of around £613.3 million at the time of Tuesday’s close in London.
Back in April, Chrysalis said it had issued legal claims for a total of £45.2 million against Revolution Beauty. It said it was not ‘satisfied with the limited responses received from Revolution Beauty and its legal advisers to date’. Revolution Beauty on Thursday said Chrysalis ‘did not subsequently, and has not, filed any claim with the court’.
Revolution said: ‘Revolution Beauty and Chrysalis have now reached a confidential settlement without any admission of liability by either party. Chrysalis will not proceed with any claim against the company. The company has agreed to pay Chrysalis a non-material sum which will not have a material impact on the company’s financial and cash position.’
In February, with its annual results at the time, Chrysalis said it has ‘potential claims’ under the UK financial services & markets act against Revolution Beauty. Chrysalis bought into the AIM listing in July 2021, purchasing around £45 million worth of shares, and sold its holding in ‘late 2022’ for roughly £5.7 million, so about £40 million off what it initially paid.
‘The original share purchase was made on the basis that information provided to the company by Revolution prior to the company’s purchase of the shares in Revolution, and during the period in which the shares were held prior to their sale, contained misstatements and material omissions,’ Chrysalis claimed at the time.
Revolution Beauty had ‘strongly’ contested the allegations, it said in April.
Annual UK house price growth accelerated last month, in a strong end to the year, according to figures from Nationwide on Thursday.
House prices rose 4.7% on-year in December, picking up speed from a 3.7% rise in November. On-month, prices rose 0.7% in December, after a 1.2% rise in November from October.
‘Mortgage market activity and house prices proved surprisingly resilient in 2024 given the ongoing affordability challenges facing potential buyers. At the start of the year, house prices remained high relative to average earnings, which meant that the deposit hurdle remained high for prospective first-time buyers. This is a challenge that had been made worse by record rates of rental growth in recent years, which has hampered the ability of many in the private rented sector to save,’ Nationwide analyst Robert Gardner said.
‘As a result, it was encouraging that activity levels in the housing market increased over the course of 2024 with the number of mortgages approved for house purchase each month rising above pre-pandemic levels towards the end of the year.’
Looking ahead to 2025, Gardner expects to see ‘volatility’ stemming from stamp duty changes.
The Shanghai Composite in China slumped 2.7% in a weak start to 2025. The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong fell 2.2%. In Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 was up 0.5%. Financial markets in Tokyo are closed on Thursday.
China’s manufacturing sector remained in expansion territory at the end of the year, but the pace of growth ebbed, according to survey results on Thursday.
The Caixin manufacturing purchasing managers’ index fell to 50.5 points in December, from 51.5 in November, sliding closer to the 50 mark that separates growth from decline.
‘The latest data signalled that conditions in the manufacturing sector improved for a third consecutive month. The fall in the PMI however indicated that the pace of growth eased since November and was marginal overall,’ survey publisher S&P Global said.
‘Manufacturing production in China increased for a fourteenth successive month in December. That said, the rate of expansion decelerated to a marginal pace as new order growth slowed. While improvements in underlying demand and successful business development efforts led to incoming new orders rising for a third straight month, the rate of growth eased on the back of softening external demand. Indeed, export orders contracted after increasing at the fastest pace in seven months in November.’
In New York on Tuesday, stocks rounded off a strong year with a decline. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.1%, the S&P 500 lost 0.4% and the Nasdaq Composite shed 0.9%.
On Thursday, eyes turn to a slew of purchasing managers’ index readings, including one from the UK at 0930 GMT, after the eurozone at 0900.
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