20th Oct 2025 12:18
(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London were mostly higher at midday on Monday, recovering from last week's losses as optimism over renewed US-China trade talks lifted sentiment. Gains in financial and defence stocks offset weakness among housebuilders.
The FTSE 100 index was up 37.15 points, 0.4%, at 9,391.72. The FTSE 250 was up 63.43 points, 0.3%, at 21,846.46, and the AIM All-Share was down 2.41 points, 0.3%, at 770.24.
The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.4% at 938.89, the Cboe UK 250 was up 0.2% at 19,038.03, and the Cboe Small Companies was flat at 17,507.36.
In European equities on Monday, the CAC 40 in Paris was down 0.1%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was up 1.3 %.
Prices have rebounded across the board since Friday's low, as fears surrounding US regional banks eased and investors welcomed the news that Washington and Beijing have agreed to resume trade negotiations this week.
The FTSE 100 opened the week on a positive note, led by gains in defence and financial stocks. Babcock rose 2.5%, Prudential gained 2.2%, Rolls-Royce added 2.1%, and St James's Place climbed 1.8% to top the blue-chip index.
The upbeat tone followed positive signals from US-China trade talks, after both countries agreed on Saturday to hold another round of negotiations in the coming week in an effort to avoid a renewed tariff battle.
Sentiment was also lifted by the latest developments in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky left Washington empty-handed when US President Donald Trump declined to supply Tomahawk missiles, instead urging peace talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The pound was quoted at USD1.3416 early Monday, higher than USD1.3398 at the London equities close on Friday. The euro stood at USD1.1654, lower compared to USD1.1664. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JPY150.73, higher compared to JPY150.31.
The UK housing market showed little sign of its usual "autumn bounce," according to new data from Rightmove, amid uncertainty over potential property tax reforms in next month’s budget.
Rightmove said the average asking price of a property coming to market rose 0.3% in October, or GBP1,165, to GBP371,422. The increase was well below the ten-year average October rise of 1.1%.
"Speculation that the budget may increase the cost of buying or owning a property at the higher end of the market has given some movers, particularly in the south of England, a reason to wait and see what's announced in the budget," Colleen Babcock, of Rightmove, said.
The report weighed on London-listed housebuilders, with Barratt Developments down 1.9%, Redrow off 1.4%, Berkeley Group slipping 2.1%, and Persimmon declining 1.9%.
Across the Atlantic, stocks in New York were called higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was seen up 0.2%, the S&P 500 up 0.3%, and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.4%.
The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was quoted at 4.02%, widening from 4.00% on Friday. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury stood at 4.61%, widening from 4.60%.
Disruption affecting Amazon Web Services has led to a spike in reported outages across a wide range of internet services including for HMRC, Zoom and Snapchat.
Downdetector, a website which tracks complaints about online services, showed a spike in reports on Monday morning, including more than 2,681 at Amazon Web Services, AWS, and 500 reports of issues for the HM Revenue & Customs, HMRC, website by 0900 BST.
A service health update by AWS posted at 0751 BST on Monday said: "We can confirm increased error rates and latencies for multiple AWS Services in the US-EAST-1 Region.
Amazon shares were down 0.5% in pre-market trading in New York.
In Paris, Kering, the Paris-based luxury goods company and owner of the Gucci fashion house, rose 3.6% and L'Oreal gained 0.5% after the luxury group agreed to sell its Kering Beaute division, which includes the House of Creed perfume brand, to L'Oreal for EUR4 billion in cash.
The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2026 and aims to develop a long-term strategic partnership in luxury beauty and wellness.
Also in France, shares in BNP Paribas plunged 7.3% after a US court verdict on Friday found the bank liable for atrocities committed in Sudan.
A New York jury ruled that BNP Paribas had helped support the regime of former Sudanese ruler Omar al-Bashir, paving the way for potential compensation claims. The eight-member jury sided with three Sudanese plaintiffs, awarding a total of USD20.75 million in damages.
After Friday's verdict, a spokesperson for the bank said in a statement to AFP that the ruling "is clearly wrong and there are very strong grounds to appeal the verdict".
Back in London, B&M European Value Retail plunged 20% after saying its chief financial officer will step down as the company lowered profit guidance following the discovery of an accounting error.
Jefferies analyst Andrew Wade called the update "very poor optics" for B&M and said it "erodes trust further."
The retailer, which was relegated from the FTSE 100 to the FTSE 250 at the end of 2024, has had a difficult year following a February profit warning and the departure of its former chief executive, Alex Russo. Shares have fallen 57% in the past 12 months.
Among others, Mercantile Investment Trust rose 0.4% after reporting a 3.9% rise in net asset value per share to 273.4 pence as at July 31, from 263.2p six months earlier. The company declared a higher interim dividend of 1.55 pence per share, up from 1.50p a year ago.
However, its NAV total return of 6.0% underperformed its benchmark, the FTSE All-Share index, which returned 7.2% over the same period.
One of the biggest movers in London was Tap Global, up 23% as it reported a "major strategic milestone" as it launched its institutional bitcoin treasury service.
The provider of app-based cryptocurrency payment described the service offering as a comprehensive, institutional-grade platform that is designed for quoted companies adopting bitcoin as a primary treasury reserve asset.
Brent oil was quoted at USD60.89 a barrel early in London on Monday, up from USD60.03 late Friday.
Gold was quoted at USD4,258.00 an ounce early Monday, lower than USD4,270.10 on Friday.
By Eva Castanedo, Alliance News reporter
Comments and questions to [email protected]
Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
Related Shares:
BabcockPrudentialRolls-RoyceSt James's PlaceRightmoveBarratt RedrowBerkeley GroupPersimmonB&MMercantile Investment Trust PLCTap Global