23rd Dec 2025 09:00
(Alliance News) - Stock prices in Europe opened in an underwhelming fashion on Tuesday, with minor gains registered in London and Frankfurt, while equities in Paris barely budged, on a lack of impetus ahead of US data in the afternoon.
The FTSE 100 index traded up 13.87 points, 0.1%, at 9,879.84. The FTSE 250 was up 27.23 points, 0.1%, at 22,369.95, and the AIM All-Share was down 0.81 of a point, 0.1%, at 759.67.
The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.1% at 990.45, the Cboe UK 250 was 0.1% higher at 19,456.04, and the Cboe Small Companies was also up 0.1% at 17,324.80.
The CAC 40 in Paris was flat and Frankfurt's DAX 40 was up 0.1%.
The pound advanced to USD1.3507 on Tuesday morning, from USD1.3452 at the time of the London equities close on Monday, topping the USD1.35 mark for the first time since October. The euro climbed to USD1.1780 from USD1.1759. Against the yen, the buck fell to JPY156.02 from JPY156.95.
A barrel of Brent was up at USD62.05 from USD61.87. Gold rose to USD4,487.33 an ounce from USD4,440.54, after hitting a record high above USD4,497 earlier Tuesday.
Pepperstone analyst Ahmad Assiri commented: "Geopolitical frictions have re-entered the narrative. The US seizure of oil tankers linked to Venezuela following President Trump's remarks about enforcing a blockade on sanctioned oil shipments, has reintroduced energy security and sanctions risk into the market psyche. These developments, while not triggering outright risk-off moves, undoubtedly add to the background demand for gold as a must have hedge.
"At the same time, US-China trade relations are in a phase of relative calm, but critical minerals remain a sensitive fault line beneath the surface even without political spotlight. That combination of quieter diplomacy on the surface and unresolved tensions underneath is keeping demand for precious metals well supported. Gold's move toward the USD4,500 level reflects the market's comfort with higher prices rather than pure speculative. Price action has been orderly, with breakouts followed by consolidation rather than sharp reversals suggesting flows are driven by longer-term positioning and hedging demand rather than short-term momentum chasing."
The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was quoted at 4.15%, narrowing from 4.17% at the time of the closing bell on the London Stock Exchange on Monday. The 30-year yield narrowed to 4.82% from 4.83%.
In New York on Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.5%, the S&P 500 added 0.6% and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.5%.
Focus on Wednesday will be on US gross domestic product data at 1330 GMT. It is expected to show growth eased to 3.2% on an annualised basis quarter-on-quarter, from 3.8% in the second quarter.
"Today we'll see the last batch of US data before Christmas. That includes the delayed Q3 GDP print, although that's backward-looking and covers the period before the shutdown. However, a more recent piece of data will be the Conference Board's consumer confidence reading for December. Remember that in November, the last reading was the lowest since the Liberation Day turmoil in April, so that will be in the spotlight given the recent downtick in sentiment indicators," analysts at Deutsche Bank commented.
In Tokyo on Tuesday, the Nikkei 225 ended flat. In China, the Shanghai Composite rose 0.1%, while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong was 0.1% lower. Sydney's S&P/ASX 200 added 1.1%.
In London, Metlen Energy & Metals rose 2.2% as it said it has sealed disposals in Chile. The sales include four projects with operational solar capacity of 588 megawatts, with a battery energy storage system asset that has capacity of 1,610 megawatt hours. The deal, signed back in April, is with a unit of energy and infrastructure asset developer Glenfarne Group.
The Athens-based aluminium producer and electricity generator said the disposal nets it USD865 million, reflecting the "value creation opportunities emerging in the Chilean market".
"The completion of the transaction supports deleveraging and further enhances Metlen's financial strength as of end 2025," the firm added.
Elsewhere in London, Videndum plunged 42% as the provider of broadcasting hardware and software set out a refinancing plan, which will see a "reduction in net debt of more than GBP90 million". Net debt stood at GBP143.3 million as of the end of last month.
Videndum said the main components of the refinancing have "now been agreed in-principle with the revolving credit facility lenders and the company's two largest shareholders".
It will raise around GBP70 million from placings and an open offer, with its two largest institutional shareholders offering their support.
It also reported there will be an "equitisation" of roughly GBP23 million of RCF debt. In exchange, it will hand new equity to Polus Capital, which has been an RCF lender for "some time".
Some GBP50 million of the fundraise proceeds will go towards repaying existing RCF debt and it announced the restructuring of the remainder of RCF financing.
"As a result of the refinancing, the group's pro forma net debt as at 30 November 2025 would have been [around] GBP52 million, including GBP26.5 million of finance leases, representing a reduction in net debt of more than GBP90 million," Videndum said.
Elsewhere in London, Christie Group added 5.0%. Professional services provider Christie Group said it expects to report a better full-year outturn than "previously envisaged". Christie said "encouraging activity levels" in its Professional & Financial Services division continued in the second half of 2025.
"Christie & Co will once again have advised on the sale or purchase of over 1,000 businesses in the UK, but at markedly improved levels of average fee compared to 2024, and its international brokerage operations will also deliver strong year-on-year growth in revenues. Valuation activity has been strong in both Christie & Co and Pinders, and the group's finance brokerage brand, Christie Finance, expects to deliver continued growth in both revenues and profit," Christie added.
By Eric Cunha, Alliance News news editor
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