30th Jan 2026 17:05
(Alliance News) - The FTSE 100 ended the week on the front foot, despite hefty falls for mining stocks, as investors weighed the confirmation of Kevin Warsh as the next US Federal Reserve chair.
The FTSE 100 index closed up 51.78 points, 0.5%, at 10,223.54. The FTSE 250 ended down 15.08 points, 0.1%, at 23,253.36, and the AIM All-Share closed down 7.39 points, 0.9%, at 817.53.
For the week, the FTSE 100 was up 0.8%, the FTSE 250 was down 0.3%, and the AIM All-Share was 0.7% lower.
The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.4% at 1,019.25, the Cboe UK 250 was down 0.2% at 20,526.99, and the Cboe UK Small Companies was down 0.1% at 18,695.63.
Stocks in New York were lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.9%, the S&P 500 index was 0.5% lower, and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.7%.
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.
Trump has been a huge critic of current Chair Powell, whom he appointed, arguing he should have lowered interest rates sooner.
But Samuel Tombs said "looser policy" was "no sure thing" with Warsh's appointment.
"For a start, Warsh now must get through a Senate Banking Committee hearing, maintaining the confidence of both markets and the President in the process. He then must pass a confirmation vote in the Senate with a simple majority," Tombs explained.
Referencing this, Goldman Sachs pointed out that Senator Tillis, a member of the Senate Banking Committee, reiterated Friday that he will oppose the confirmation of any Fed nominee, including a potential chair, until the Department of Justice's investigation into Chair Powell is resolved.
Opposition from one Republican member of the committee is enough to stall the nomination if no committee Democrats support it, Goldman said.
Tombs at Pantheon said Warsh's appointment also might not shift the balance of voters on the Federal Open Market Committee towards lower interest rates.
"If Powell breaks with tradition and remains on the board after his term as chair ends in May, the president will need to use Stephen Miran's seat on the board - his term expires on January 31 - to appoint Warsh."
Miran, a Trump appointee, has voted to reduce the funds rate at every meeting since he was appointed to see out the final months of Adriana Kugler's term in September.
Tombs added it is also "not certain" how Warsh will vote.
Wells Fargo agreed, noting: "We all should be mindful that there is also some degree of uncertainty associated with this pick if for no other reason than his public remarks on the economic outlook and the appropriate path for the federal funds rate have been fewer and farther between than the other finalists."
While US stocks sagged, the news put a spring in the step of the beleaguered dollar.
The pound was quoted lower at USD1.3719 at the time of the London equities close on Friday, compared to USD1.3797 on Thursday.
The euro stood lower at USD1.1881, against USD1.1950. Against the yen, the dollar was trading higher at JPY154.30 compared to JPY152.87.
The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was quoted at 4.25%, stretched from 4.24%. But the yield on the US 30-year Treasury was quoted 4.85%, trimmed from 4.87%.
Apple fell 1.0% despite a fourth quarter beat-and-raise driven by strong demand iPhone demand.
Chief Executive Tim Cook said demand for the iPhone was "simply staggering" with revenue growing 23% year-over-year, setting all-time records across every geographic segment.
But he cautioned that Apple exited the December quarter with low inventory and was in a "supply chase mode" to meet the very-high levels of customer demand.
Cook also expects to continue to see market pricing for memory increasing significantly, with the impact factored into March quarter gross margin guidance.
In European equities on Friday, the CAC 40 in Paris closed up 0.7%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt ended 0.9% higher.
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.
On the FTSE 100, Experian jumped 2.3% as it announced a USD1 billion share buyback programme, and said it continues to "trade strongly".
The consumer credit checking business expects to end this financial year in a "favourable leverage position".
Lloyds Banking Group rose 3.3% as positive comments followed Thursday's fourth quarter results.
Goldman Sachs, UBS, Citigroup and RBC Capital Markets all raised share price targets for the UK's largest mortgage lender.
Barclays, up 1.4%, and NatWest, up 1.7%, were also in favour ahead of their results the week after next.
But mining stocks were a sea of red, continuing their roller-coaster run, as metals prices slumped.
Gold was quoted lower at USD5,003.82 an ounce, down 4.8% against USD5,256.30 at the same time on Thursday.
The price of silver cratered 17%, and copper slid 3.7% from the day before.
Fresnillo fell 5.1%, Antofagasta fell 3.7%, Endeavour Mining fell 6.6%, and Anglo American fell 2.6%. On the FTSE 250, Hochschild Mining slid 6.4%.
Another prominent blue-chip faller was Airtel Africa, down 6.6%, despite impressive profit growth.
The telecommunications firm is based in London but operates primarily in Africa. Over the three quarters ended in December and based on reported currency, Airtel's pretax profit more than doubled to USD1.02 billion from USD494 million a year earlier.
Despite Friday's falls, investors have seen shares in the FTSE 100 listing more than double in the last 12 months.
Brent oil was quoted at USD69.76 a barrel at the time of the London equities close on Friday, up from USD69.40 late on Thursday.
The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Lloyds Banking Group, up 3.50p at 108.95p, Experian, up 63.00p at 2,758.00p, Diageo, up 37.50p at 1,675.50p, IAG, up 8.40p at 418.20p and Haleon, up 7.30p at 378.90p.
The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Airtel Africa, down 22.60p at 319.20p, Endeavour Mining, down 296.00 pence at 4,222.00p, Fresnillo, down 198.00p at 3,702.00, Antofagasta, down 138.00p at 3,648.00p and Anglo American, down 92.00p at 3,408.00p.
Monday's global economic calendar has a slew of manufacturing PMI readings.
Later in the week, interest rate decisions will be released by the Reserve Bank of Australia, the European Central Bank and the Bank of England. Friday sees US nonfarm payrolls data, which follows ADP jobs figures and the Jolts job vacancy report.
There are no significant events in Monday's UK corporate calendar. Later in the week, full-year results are due from pharmaceuticals group GSK and oil major Shell. Telecommunication firms BT and Vodafone update on financial third-quarter trading, while contract caterer Compass delivers a fourth-quarter trading update.
By Jeremy Cutler, Alliance News reporter
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