19th Feb 2026 09:05
(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London opened mostly lower on Thursday, ahead of US jobless, trade balance and wholesale inventories data.
The FTSE 100 index opened down 31.46 points, 0.3%, at 10,654.72. The FTSE 250 was down 47.38 points, 0.2%, at 23,639.06, and the AIM all-share was up 0.44 points, 0.1%, at 812.18.
The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.3% at 1,061.09, the Cboe UK 250 was down 0.1% at 20,931.00, and the Cboe small companies was up 0.2% at 18,588.62.
Mondi led the FTSE 100, up 2.9%.
The packaging company chopped its final dividend to 4.92 euro cents in 2025, down sharply from 46.67 cents in 2024. It also reported a 29% slump in pretax profit to EUR269 million.
But revenue was EUR7.66 billion, up 3.2%, while underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation were down 4.7% to EUR1.00 billion, beating Jefferies' forecast of EUR990 million.
Centrica led the laggers, down 8.2%.
The British Gas owner increased its final dividend to 3.67p from 3.0p, despite pretax profit falling to GBP112 million from GBP1.68 billion. Revenue decreased 2.1% to GBP19.49 billion from GBP19.91 billion, while the average achieved gas price at Spirit Energy fell 19% to 107 pence per therm in 2025 from 132p in 2024.
In European equities on Thursday, the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.5%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was down 0.3%.
The pound was quoted lower at USD1.3513 early on Thursday in London, compared to USD1.3548 at the equities close on Wednesday. The euro stood lower at USD1.1803, against USD1.1813. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JPY154.77, higher compared to JPY154.38.
In Asia on Thursday, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo was up 0.6%. Hong Kong and China markets are closed for New Year celebrations. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed up 0.9%.
In the US on Wednesday, Wall Street ended higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.3%, the S&P 500 up 0.6% and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.8%.
The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was quoted at 4.10%, widening from 4.08%. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury was quoted at 4.73%, widening from 4.69%.
Brent oil was quoted higher at USD71.38 a barrel early in London on Thursday from USD69.62 late Wednesday.
"It’s extremely hard to tell what’s next," Swissquote's Ipek Ozkardeskaya said. "If Middle East tensions ease thanks to fruitful nuclear talks between the US and Iran, oil should give back its gains at current levels.
"If, however, the threat of war rises - a scenario that would seriously shake the Middle East - we could see the price spike turn into a persistent medium-term positive trend. In that case, US crude could reasonably reach $80 per barrel."
Gold was quoted higher at USD5,020.63 an ounce against USD5,002.90.
Still to come on Thursday's economic calendar, the eurozone has current account and construction data.
By Emma Curzon, Alliance News reporter
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