5th Jan 2026 06:56
(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set to open higher on Monday, with geopolitical developments in focus in the wake of US intervention in Venezuela over the weekend.
IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 to open up 55.4 points, or 0.6%, at 10,006.54 on Monday. The index of London large-caps closed up 19.76 points, 0.2%, at 9,951.14 on Friday. It had earlier traded as high as 10,046.25, a record intra-day level.
Sterling was at USD1.3434 on Monday morning, down from USD1.3491 at the London equities close on Friday. The euro was lower at USD1.1690 from USD1.1745. Against the yen, the dollar was higher at JPY157.06 versus JPY156.64.
Geopolitical factors will be in focus on Monday after dramatic events in Venezuela over the weekend.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was in a New York jail on Saturday, hours after US special forces seized and flew him out of his country — which US President Donald Trump said would come under effective US control.
Trump said he was "designating people" from his cabinet to be in charge in Venezuela but gave no further details. In another surprise, Trump indicated US troops could be deployed, saying Washington is "not afraid of boots on the ground".
Venezuela's new leadership has signalled a willingness to cooperate with the US.
"Wene invite the US government to collaborate with us on an agenda of cooperation oriented towards shared development within the framework of international law to strengthen lasting community coexistce," Delcy Rodriguez, declared the interim president of Venezuela, said on Sunday in a statement posted on Instagram.
Gold was up at USD4,421.60 an ounce early on Monday from USD4,320.16 late Friday. Brent oil was trading slightly higher at USD60.32 a barrel from USD60.09.
Meanwhile, Trump doubled down on his claim that Greenland should become part of the US, despite calls by Denmark's prime minister to stop "threatening" the territory.
"We need Greenland from the standpoint of national security, and Denmark is not going to be able to do it," Trump said while aboard Air Force One on Sunday.
In the US on Friday, Wall Street ended mostly higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.7%, while the S&P 500 climbed 0.2% and the Nasdaq Composite ended marginally lower.
The yield on the 10-year US Treasury was at 4.18% on Monday, slimmed from 4.19% on Friday. The yield on the 30-year was at 4.86%, slightly narrowed from 4.87%.
In Asia on Monday, the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo was up 3.0%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was 1.3% higher, while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong gained 0.1%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney rose slightly.
There are no local corporate events scheduled for Monday.
Monday's global economic calendar has UK mortgage approvals data and the US ISM manufacturing PMI.
By Michael Hennessey, Alliance News reporter
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