2nd Feb 2026 06:58
(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set to open lower on Monday, as investors focused on sharp falls in the prices of precious metals.
IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 to open down 73.2 points, 0.7% at 10,150.34 on Monday. The index of London large-caps closed up 51.78 points, 0.5%, at 10,223.54 on Friday.
Sterling was at USD1.3670 on Monday morning, down from USD1.3719 at the London equities close on Friday. The euro was lower at USD1.1851 from USD1.1881. Against the yen, the dollar was higher at JPY154.63 versus JPY154.30.
Gold was in focus on Monday, as the yellow metal was sharply lower at USD4,448.40 an ounce early on Monday from USD5,003.82 late Friday.
Pepperstone analyst Michael Brown said: "Certainly, the final trading day of January was anything but calm, being dominated by what can only be termed a meltdown in the metals space. In terms of 'scores on the doors', spot gold ended Friday with losses of 9%, bullion's worst day since 2013, and fourth worst in the last 45 years. Silver, meanwhile, shed as much as 35% at the lows, before trimming losses to end the day a still-chunky 26% lower, the worst daily loss ever, at least per Bloomberg data.
"Obviously, the question everyone is now asking is what happens next? Here, I would flag that in a similar manner to the rally seen in recent weeks, there is now a solid argument that the pullback has also run 'too far, too fast'. This, at the very least, would suggest that something of a 'dead cat bounce' could well be on the cards in the short-term, even if that clearly isn't what we've seen during the APAC session, with both gold & silver having notched further losses."
The US government entered a partial shutdown as a midnight funding deadline passed without Congress approving a 2026 budget, though disruption was expected to be limited with the House set to move early this week to ratify a Senate-backed deal.
The funding lapse followed a breakdown in negotiations driven by Democratic anger over the killing of two protesters in Minneapolis by federal immigration agents, which derailed talks over new money for the Department of Homeland Security.
Meanwhile, US President Trump said he would "welcome" Chinese investment in Venezuela's oil industry as the South American country seeks to revive its battered economy following the ousting of leader Nicolas Maduro.
"China is welcome to come in and would make a great deal on oil. We welcome China," Trump told reporters on Saturday on Air Force One.
In the US on Friday, Wall Street ended lower with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.4%, the S&P 500 lost 0.4% and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.9% lower.
In Asia on Monday, the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo was down 1.2%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was 2.4% lower, while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong fell 3.2%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney was 1.0% lower.
Brent oil was trading lower at USD65.72 a barrel from USD69.76.
In Monday's corporate calendar are half year results from Cap-XX.
In the economic calendar on Monday is a slew of manufacturing PMI readings, as well as UK house price data, due shortly.
By Michael Hennessey, Alliance News reporter
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