16th May 2025 08:56
(Alliance News) - London stocks opened in the green on Friday ahead of defence pact talks with the EU next week, while California-based chipmaker Nvidia eyes the potential opening of a new research centre in China.
The FTSE 100 index opened up 42.15 points, 0.5%, at 8,675.90. The FTSE 250 was up 64.14 points, 0.3%, at 20,908.90, and the AIM All-Share was down 1.26 points, 0.2%, at 730.59.
The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.5% at 865.47, the Cboe UK 250 was up 0.4% at 18,296.08, and the Cboe Small Companies was up marginally at 15,845.38.
The EU and Britain will haggle to the wire over fishing rights and food checks as they seek a deal on closer defence ties at a landmark post-Brexit summit next week.
The meeting in London on Monday between UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and the EU's top officials was planned to bring the first results from London's much-vaunted "reset" in ties.
Diplomats in Brussels said negotiations were focused on getting Britain to keep its waters open for European fishermen, in return for the EU easing checks on some food imports from the UK. Other sticking points include an EU push for a scheme allowing young people to move more easily between the two sides that London fears threatens its red line on returning to free movement.
"They want everything and they're giving nothing," one European diplomat complained of the British stance, speaking like others on condition of anonymity.
The move is aimed at opening the door to closer cooperation as both the EU and Britain race to rearm in the face of the threat from Russia and fears US President Donald Trump will no longer help protect Europe.
In European equities on Friday, the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.5%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt rose 0.7%.
The pound was quoted up at USD1.3327 early on Friday in London, compared to USD1.3279 at the equities close on Thursday. The euro stood higher at USD1.1214, against USD1.1178. Against the yen, the dollar was trading lower at JPY145.13 compared to JPY145.81.
eEnergy Group shares rose 42% at London's market open.
The net zero energy services provider has partnered with energy-as-a-service and data solutions provider Redaptive to fund up to GBP100 million in eEnergy customer projects in the UK.
"This is a game-changing partnership," said eEnergy Chief Executive Officer Harvey Sinclair. "Redaptive's decision to provide up to GBP100 million unlocks a massive growth opportunity for eEnergy, giving us the firepower to deliver more funded decarbonisation projects, faster, and across every sector. As their lead UK delivery partner, we're not just accessing capital - we're joining forces with a global player to deliver scale."
At the other end, everplay fell 5.6%.
The developer and publisher of video games said Chief Executive Officer Steve Bell has stepped down with immediate effect, to be replaced by Non-Executive Chair Frank Sagnier as interim executive chair. The company will begin the recruitment process for a new CEO "in due course".
everplay reiterated that trading for financial 2025 remains in line with its recently-upgraded expectations, and that it believes the group to be well positioned for growth over the medium to long term. The company expects to issue an interim trading update in early July.
Vesuvius was down 5.3%.
The molten metal flow engineering and technology firm said revenue and profit in the four months that ended April 30 were in line with expectations, but that its end markets remain "challenging".
Vesuvius expects its full-year results to be "slightly lower" than previously guided, on a constant currency basis, though notes that the level of uncertainty remains high.
In Asia on Friday, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo was marginally lower. In China, the Shanghai Composite fell 0.4%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong faded 0.5%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed up 0.6%.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday he had little hope that Russia-Ukraine talks in Istanbul would produce a peace breakthrough after the two sides traded insults during a tense buildup to negotiations.
Russia's President Vladimir Putin decided against going to Istanbul and Ukraine's leader Volodymyr Zelensky sent the country's defence minister but it was unclear what kind of talks would be held between the rivals who have been at war for more than three years.
Turkish officials said that "trilateral talks between Russia, Ukraine and Turkey are on the agenda" for Friday and there would be talks between US, Ukrainian and Turkish officials.
But Rubio told reporters in Turkey "I want to be frank... we don't have high expectations of what will happen tomorrow".
US President Donald Trump also appeared to concede that progress on ending the war was unlikely until he could meet Putin.
Zelensky said that Russia was "not serious" about ending the war.
In the US on Thursday, Wall Street ended mixed, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.7%, the S&P 500 0.4% higher and the Nasdaq Composite down 0.2%.
California-based chipmaker Nvidia Corp is planning to build a research and development centre in Shanghai, the Financial Times reported Friday, as tighter export restrictions imposed by Washington threaten sales in the key Chinese market.
The tougher US controls in recent years have prevented the firm from selling certain AI chips – widely regarded as the most advanced in the world – to China.
As a result, it is now facing tougher competition from local players in the crucial market, including Huawei Technologies.
Nvidia Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang discussed plans to set up a research and development centre in Shanghai with its mayor during a visit to the city last month, the FT reported, citing two unnamed people familiar with the matter.
The site would "research the specific demands of Chinese customers and the complex technical requirements needed to satisfy Washington's curbs", said the report.
It added that "actual core design and production" would remain outside of China in order to comply with intellectual property transferral regulations.
Brent oil was quoted higher at USD64.56 a barrel early in London on Friday from USD64.28 late Thursday.
Gold was quoted lower at USD3,208.70 an ounce against USD3,213.28.
Still to come on Friday's economic calendar, eurozone trade data and the Michigan consumer sentiment index.
By Emily Parsons, Alliance News reporter
Comments and questions to [email protected]
Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
Related Shares:
eEnergy GroupEverplay GroupVesuvius