Stocks in London opened mixed but the blue chip FTSE 100 was in the green early Monday, with Pershing Square up as it announced it will pay dividends for every quarter of 2025.
Financial markets are closed in the US on Monday to mark Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, and as president-elect Donald Trump prepares to officially take office.
The FTSE 100 index opened up 16.47 points, 0.2%, at 8,521.69. The FTSE 250 was down 45.49 points, 0.2%, at 20,551.93, and the AIM All-Share was up 1.13 points, 0.2%, at 720.20.
The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.2% at 854.17, the Cboe UK 250 was down 0.1% at 17,960.63, and the Cboe Small Companies was down 0.6% at 15,632.11.
Pershing Square was the second-highest FTSE 100 constituent, up 1.1%.
The closed-ended investment fund announced that it will pay a dividend of 16.46 US cents per share for all four quarters of 2025.
John Wood was the highest FTSE 250 firm, up 2.0% after it announced a new contract with Esso Australia for mining asset maintenance work.
It said the contract zone covers the joint venture between Esso and Woodside Energy, and will create 250 jobs.
Grainger was the second-biggest loser, down 2.3% after Peel Hunt cut it to ’hold’ from ’add’ and lowered the price target to 220 from 270 pence.
In small caps, Reach surged 22%.
The publisher, which owns the Daily Mirror and Express newspapers, said it expects 2024 results to exceed market expectations, which forecast a £97.8 million adjusted operating profit. It also said it has completed refinancing of its banking facilities, consisting of a £145 million revolving credit facility maturing in 2028.
Sanderson Design dropped 18%, after saying it expects 2025 group sales to decrease on-year to £101 million, and Brand product sales to fall 9%. It is eyeing underlying pretax profit of between £4.0 million and £4.8 million.
The interior design and furnishings company noted that its previous full-year expectations ‘were reliant on a projected improvement in the trading environment’, but said that since its first-half results trading conditions have worsened and customer demand is subdued, ‘particularly for fabric’.
In European equities on Monday, the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.4%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was up 0.1%.
According to the Federal Statistical Office in Germany, producer prices increased 0.8% in December from a year before, with PPI inflation accelerating from 0.1% for November but below FXStreet-cited market consensus for a 1.1% increase. On a monthly basis, prices decreased 0.1% in December, missing consensus for a 0.3% rise.
The pound was quoted higher at $1.2197 early on Monday in London, compared to $1.2189 at the equities close on Friday. The euro stood higher at $1.0311, against $1.0292. Against the yen, the dollar was trading lower at JP¥156.05 compared to JP¥156.34.
In Asia on Monday, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo was up 1.2%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was up 0.1%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was up 1.8%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed up 0.5%.
The People’s Bank of China has announced that it would leave key interest rates unchanged, maintaining its one-year loan prime rate at 3.1% and the five-year LPR at 3.6%.
In the US on Friday, Wall Street ended higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.8%, the S&P 500 up 1.0% and the Nasdaq Composite up 1.5%.
Brent oil was quoted higher at $80.42 a barrel early in London on Monday from $80.05 late Friday.
Gold was quoted lower at $2,705.63 an ounce against $2,715.22 on Friday.
Still to come on Monday’s economic calendar is eurozone construction output data.
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