- FTSE 100 rises 23 points at 9,889
- Pets at Home appoints new CEO
- Gold and silver reach yet more record highs
4.40pm: FTSE 100 closes higher
The FTSE 100 added 23 points to close out the day at 9,889 points.
Meanwhile, copper prices hit a five-month high as gold and silver hit new record highs.
“Copper futures climbed to $5.5 per pound, their highest level since July, driven by renewed US tariff threats and ongoing supply disruptions, including mine suspensions and slowing output in key producers Chile and Peru, which have tightened the global market and pushed pricing power towards miners,” IG senior technical analyst Axel Rudolph said.
10.25am: Christmas is a time for.... pensions and tax returns?
On Christmas Day last year, when financial markets were closed, most businesss are shut and preparation or recovery from the big turkey dinner is the main order of the day, more than 100,000 people logged onto the UK's largest investment platform to check the state of their pension, ISA or share-dealing account.
This is from Hargreaves Lansdown, which said the busiest time seems to be around breakfast time, 8am last year and nearer 9am on previous Christmases.
Separately, HMRC has reported that 4,409 people did their tax return on Christmas Day (most around 3pm), and 40,072 over the festive holiday break, with Xmas Eve the most popular day.
This seems like people wanting to avoid the family, maybe in a sense of guilt as their partner slaves away in the kitchen, or just with money on the mind after spending too much on presents under the tree.
“When you think of fun Christmas activities, tax returns, checking your portfolio and paying into ISAs and pensions don’t tend to spring to mind," says Sarah Coles, HL's head of personal finance.
She says for some people the idea of getting some free time in the middle of the festivities is "laughable", but for those who don’t bear the brunt of the meal planning and don’t have smaller children around, "Christmas can be a break from the everyday hustle, and take the time to consider whether their portfolio suits their needs, whether it has performed as expected over the past year, and whether it’s a good idea to top up your ISA or SIPP".
Coles also conceded there’s another benefit to a festive tax return or financial check that nobody talks about: "The next time you’re offered an opportunity to pop round for a cup of tea with a distant relative or sit through an excruciating pantomime, you explain that you’d love to, but you have to sort out your finances instead."
9.27am: FTSE roughly flat, pound up, gold 'remarkable'
After almost an hour and a half of trading, the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 are both just above flat, or more precisely up 0.072% and 0.076% respectively.
Rank Group, Senior PLC, Metlen Energy and Close Brothers are top of the FTSE 350 leaderboard, all up just over 1.5%.
Down the bottom are DCC, down 2.4%, followed by Trustpilot, FirstGroup and Games Workshop.
The pound is more notable this morning, at its strongest level in three months verus the US dollar, up 0.3% to just above $1.35, and also near its strongest in two months against the euro.
Sentiment towards the UK currency has improved following the Budget but "broad dollar weakness is playing the starring role here," says market analyst Neil Wilson at Saxo.
Turning back to stocks, he hails record highs in Europe, with the Stoxx 600 at 588.45 in the final full session before Christmas, helped by Nordisk popping 7% after its GLP-1 weightloss pill won US regulatory approval, with sales set to commence in the new year.
With a very modest gains for the FTSE this morning, Wilson looks back at the strong run for the UK index this year, having added about 10% in the last five months.
"Bulls may well nudge it over the 10k mark before the year out, particularly if the Santa Claus rally comes to Wall Street. The DAX has traded sideways since May and has really failed to break out. It’s been a bit of a dud in H2."
As for gold, he says the remarkable year for precious metals has seen them go "from being much maligned as yield-less assets that do nothing into cornerstone assets for any portfolio. Gold led the rally but it's not done as well as silver, platinum or palladium.
"Central banks buy gold, not the others, so is it just industrial demand? Rather, I tend to think, it's a broad belief in an overly stimulative policy mix driving demand for 'real' assets."
8.48am: A love of pets and good timing
Some pithy thoughts on the timing and succession planning from the Pets at Home board, from independent retail analyst Nick Bubb.
"Well, we assume that James Bailey, the former Waitrose boss, likes pets, but it may also be safe to assume that he knew about the potential Pets at Home CEO position (the previous CEO Lyssa McGowan was sacked on Sept 18th) when he said back on August 21st that he wanted to step down from Waitrose..."
Worth noting that when McGowan parted company with the FTSE 250 company it was alongside the retailer's second profit warning of the year.
8.16am: FTSE opens higher
The FTSE 100 has opened higher, rising 17 points to 9,883 in initial trading.
There's not big moves among indiviaual shares, with Metlen Energy and 3i Group top risers, uyp 1.4% and 0.9%.
Despite the new record highs for precious metals, Fresnillo is up only 0.5% and Endeavour Mining is down 0.1%.
7.57am: Pets at Home hires ex Waitrose boss
Is Pets at Home Group PLC (LSE:PETS) going more upmarket?
It has appointed former Waitrose managing director James Bailey as its new chief executive, starting in March, filling the gap after the retailer parted company with previous CEO Lyssa McGowan in September after issuing its second profit warning of the year.
Chair Ian Burke, who stepped into an executive role as an interim measure, will return to his previous non-executive role upon Bailey's arrival.
7.40am: Gold and silver's best year since 1979
Gold and silver prices are up 71% and 140% respectively so far this year, notes Deutsche Bank's Henry Allen.
This is despite the rise in nominal and real bond yields, "which normally dampen investor appetite for precious metals that pay no interest".
By the close, gold was up 2.4% and hit a new record of $4,444 per oz, and silver was up 2.8% was also at a new peak of $69.04/oz.
Moreover, both have seen further gains this morning, with gold up another +1% to $4,487/oz, whilst silver is up 0.8% to $69.6/oz.
For both precious metals this is their strongest annual performance since 1979.
The bond sell-off was a "big story" yesterday, in Japan and elsewhere, says Allen, with German 10yr bund yields hitting their highest since October 2023 at 2.90%, taking them above their peak in March shortly after the fiscal stimulus announcements.
After ECB policymaker Isabel Schnabel saying "no interest-rate increase is to be expected in the foreseeable future", investors dialled back the likelihood of a 2026 rate hike even further, and it led to the more policy-sensitive 2yr German yield closing slightly lower.
For US Treasuries, it was "mostly a similar story of higher yields", with futures slightly dialling back their expectations for rate cuts next year, now pricing in 58 basis points of cuts (ie just over two quarter-point cuts) by December 2026, down from 60bps on Friday.
"In part, that was thanks to the ongoing rebound in oil prices, as that renewed concerns about inflationary pressures, with Brent crude (+2.65%) posting a 4th consecutive increase to $62.07/bbl."
7.28am: Markets summary
The week has "started on a mixed note" with a subdued mood in Europe after China announced tariffs of up to 43% on EU dairy imports, says market analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya at Swissquote Bank.
"Even the energy- and mining-heavy FTSE 100 failed to eke out gains yesterday, despite a rally in the energy and metals complex.
"Heightened tensions with China are nothing new, but the fact that Chinese producers are diverting exports to markets outside the US – including Europe – is clearly fuelling tensions across the Old Continent, which is already grappling with its own cost-of-living crisis.
"One could argue that cheaper Chinese imports help tame inflationary pressures. They certainly do. The problem, however, is that they make European-made products relatively more expensive than they already are, weighing on local businesses and jobs."
Ozkardeskaya says "European tariffs on Chinese goods are starting to backfire" and links this to the bloc's angst about major French and German carmakers, which are being outsold by cheaper and higher-tech Chinese EVs, and that Europe does not have enough irons in the AI fire.
"This escalation is unlikely to bode well for what lies ahead and could further weigh on European growth next year."
As for what’s next, she says the market consensus "still points to further rotation into cyclical names, an area where Europe could continue to benefit, supported by relatively lower borrowing costs"
"As for the Santa rally — typically defined as the last five trading days of the year and the first two of the next — which has delivered an average gain of around 1.6% since 1928, odds still favour upside. That said, any meaningful correction could well materialise in January.
"Much will therefore depend on the final data prints of the year and investors’ reaction. This year has been full of twists and turns: tech-led gains, but also a clear rotation toward non-tech segments. If anything can put a floor under a potential tech sell-off, it is the hope that the rally continues to broaden beyond technology."
7.16am: FTSE called flat
The FTSE 100 is expected to start just below flat on Tuesday, though the price of gold hit another new high overnight.
On the futures market, the London index has been called one point lower, a day after it dropped 31.45 points to end at 9,865.97.
Other European indices are also expected to open flat or down slightly, with US futures in a similar position.
This followed a positive session on Wall Street overnight, as the S&P 500 climbed 0.6%, while the Dow Jones and Nasdaq rose 0.5% as Oracle, Nvidia and Tesla pushed higher.
Today is quiet in terms of UK economic data but sees the last batch of US macro numbers before Christmas, including a delayed GDP print, a fresh consumer confidence reading and PCE price inflation.