26th Jan 2026 06:57
(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set to open slightly higher on Monday, as Europe wakes up to sharp moves across commodity and foreign exchange markets.
IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 to open 8.7 points higher, or 0.1%, at 10,152.14 on Monday. The index of London large-caps closed down 0.1% at 10,143.44 on Friday.
A great deal of activity is playing out across commodities and currency markets, with gold surging to fresh historic highs and breaking above the USD5,000-an-ounce barrier amid heightened global uncertainty.
Market turbulence has been fuelled by US President Donald Trump's policies, with renewed concern surrounding his ambitions for Greenland and growing pressure on the Federal Reserve providing the most recent support for safe-haven assets.
Against the yen, the dollar was quoted at JPY154.08 early Monday, lower than JPY157.99 on Friday.
Commerzbank analysts said: "The Japanese yen ended Friday's trading as the strongest currency among the G10 and continues to appreciate this morning. The movement was driven by speculation that the Bank of Japan was about to intervene in the foreign exchange market to support the currency.
"This was fueled primarily by statements circulating in the press from some currency dealers who had received rate checks from the Bank of Japan and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York - a presumed sign of imminent intervention by the two institutions."
On Sunday, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi also warned that the government stood ready to take "all necessary measures" to curb what she described as "speculative and highly abnormal" currency movements.
Despite the firmer yen, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo was down 1.8%.
Elsewhere in Asia on Monday, the Shanghai Composite in China was up 0.1%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was down 0.1%.
Across other foreign exchange markets, "everything points to broad-based dollar selling," said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, Senior Analyst at Swissquote.
Sterling was quoted at USD1.3665 early Monday, higher than USD1.3567 at the London equities close on Friday. The euro traded at USD1.1861 early Monday, higher than USD1.1758 late Friday.
Ozkardeskaya added: "A softer dollar should, in theory, support US equities: it makes US assets cheaper for foreign investors and boosts overseas earnings when translated back into dollars. Whether that will be enough to draw buyers back in remains to be seen."
Regarding the euro, Commerzbank said: "The EUR-USD exchange rate has taken big steps toward the 1.19 mark and is thus on the verge of breaking last year's high. It is quite obvious that the movement is due to a depreciation of the dollar."
In the US on Friday, Wall Street ended mixed, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.6%, but the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.1% and 0.3% respectively.
Commodity markets were also buoyant, most notably gold, which pushed beyond the USD5,000 level. Gold was quoted at USD5,107.30 an ounce early Monday, higher than USD4,984.07 on Friday, having struck another record high at the end of last week.
Silver, which had already surged beyond the USD100 mark on Friday, continued to extend gains and was quoted at USD108.36.
Brent oil was trading at USD66.26 a barrel early Monday, higher than USD65.76 late Friday.
Supporting oil prices, Venezuela aims to boost oil production by 18% this year through planned reforms that would fully open the sector to private investors, the head of state oil company PDVSA said. "We had a law...that was not up to date with what we needed as an industry," company CEO Hector Obregon said.
Swissquote's Ozkardeskaya said: "What's striking is that this renewed flight to safe havens is unfolding without any major geopolitical headline this morning. There has been no new escalation over the weekend — no fresh breach of international law, no invasion, no immediate military threat."
The US did, however, threaten Canada with 100% tariffs after Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney approached China last week.
The US will slap 100% tariffs on Canadian imports should Ottawa finalise a new trade deal with China, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said. "We can't let Canada become an opening that the Chinese pour their cheap goods into the US," Bessent said on ABC's "This Week."
During a visit to Beijing on January 16, Carney announced a thaw in bilateral relations with China, saying the two countries had struck a "new strategic partnership" and a preliminary trade deal. Under the agreement, China is expected to reduce tariffs on canola imports from Canada by March 1 to around 15%, from 84% currently.
Back in London, Ryanair this morning raised guidance for full-year passenger numbers and flagged stronger fare growth than previously expected, but reported a sharp slump in third-quarter profit after booking a hefty provision related to an Italian fine.
The budget carrier said revenue in the three months to December 31 rose 8.6% to EUR3.21 billion from EUR2.96 billion a year earlier.
However, pretax profit plunged 83% to EUR24.4 million from EUR143.7 million, after Ryanair booked an EUR85 million provision covering around a third of a EUR256 million fine in Italy. The airline described the fine as "baseless" and said it is confident it will be overturned.
In Monday's corporate calendar, Big Technologies issues a trading statement, Costain Group posts a trading update, and Van Elle Holdings releases half-year results.
In the economic calendar on Monday, Spain producer prices, Germany's Ifo business climate survey, and US durable goods orders are due.
By Eva Castanedo, Alliance News reporter
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