London stocks ended in the black on Monday amid hopes of a trade deal between the US and China, but gains were muted after the recent rally.
The FTSE 100 closed up just 0.1% at 9,653.82.
US president Donald Trump and Chinese president Xi Jinping are due to meet in South Korea on Thursday to discuss trade matters.
On Sunday, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in an interview with NBC: “I believe that we have the framework for the two leaders to have a very productive meeting for both sides.”
Meanwhile, Trump told reporters on Air Force One on the way to Japan from Malaysia: “I’ve got a lot of respect for President Xi and I think we’re going to come away with a deal.”
Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG, said: “Expectations of a US-China deal have underpinned today’s bullish sentiment on Wall Street, where the Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq have all hit fresh highs. US companies have sailed through earnings season so far, trouncing estimates in robust fashion, proving the endless calls of a bubble are misplaced.
“It’s been a more subdued day in London, with the FTSE 100 failing to march to a fresh record high, but with gold under such heavy pressure and little news on the company front, the index seems likely to consolidate its recent gains rather than continue its strong run.”
On home shores, a survey from the Confederation of British Industry showed that retail sales fell again in October amid weak confidence and Budget concerns.
The CBI’s retail sales volume balance was -27 this month, versus -29 in September, with sales expected to fall at a faster pace in November.
Sales for the time of year were judged to be “poor”, with a balance of -15, down from -13 in September.
A balance is the weighted difference between the percentage of firms reporting an increase and those reporting a decrease.
CBI principal economist Martin Sartorius said: “The retail sector remains in a prolonged downturn, with October marking the thirteenth consecutive month of falling annual sales volumes. Firms reported that consumer confidence remains poor, compounded by elevated caution ahead of next month’s Autumn Budget. Weak demand conditions were also reflected in further sales declines across wholesaling and motor trades.
“Persistent uncertainty ahead of the Autumn Budget is deepening the strain on retailers and other distribution firms that are still grappling with the effects of last year’s fiscal decisions. To help rebuild confidence and encourage growth, the Chancellor should reaffirm her commitment to no further business tax hikes in November. Additionally, the government should rethink the Employment Rights Bill to ensure that it does not put undue constraints on flexible working, which could particularly impact young people who often look to retail for their first jobs.”
In equity markets, banks were among the best performers on the FTSE 100, with Standard Chartered, Lloyds, Barclays and NatWest all up.
GSK rose after saying it had bought the worldwide rights from French biotech firm Syndivia to develop and sell a treatment for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer.
Elsewhere, Trustpilot rallied after an initiation at ‘outperform’ by RBC Capital Markets.
Goodwin surged as the engineering firm said it expected to at least double annual profits on the back of a strong order book and that it would also pay a special one-off interim dividend of 532p a share.
On the downside, precious metals miner Fresnillo and gold miners Hochschild and Endeavour all lost their shine as gold prices fell back amid improving risk appetite.
HSBC ended flat after saying it will take a $1.1bn impairment charge in its third-quarter results after losing an appeal in a long-standing lawsuit in Luxembourg related to Bernard Madoff’s multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme.
HSBC Securities Services Luxembourg is defending a claim brought by Herald Fund SPC for the restitution of securities and cash, but was denied an appeal in respect of the securities restitution claim.
The $1.1bn provision, which was announced just one day before its quarterly results, will also dent the bank’s CET1 capital ratio by 15 basis points.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 9,634.25 -0.12%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 22,531.12 0.01%
techMARK (TASX) 5,567.95 -0.31%
FTSE 100 – Risers
Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,471.00p 3.23%
St James’s Place (STJ) 1,368.00p 2.17%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 87.68p 2.12%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 1,155.00p 1.81%
Barclays (BARC) 395.05p 1.74%
NATWEST GROUP (NWG) 582.20p 1.71%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,318.50p 1.70%
Schroders (SDR) 382.20p 1.27%
Legal & General Group (LGEN) 243.70p 1.25%
Hiscox Limited (DI) (HSX) 1,395.00p 1.09%
FTSE 100 – Fallers
Fresnillo (FRES) 2,078.00p -6.06%
Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 18,295.00p -3.02%
Diageo (DGE) 1,775.00p -1.99%
SSE (SSE) 1,868.00p -1.84%
Anglo American (AAL) 2,816.00p -1.64%
Croda International (CRDA) 2,961.00p -1.63%
Centrica (CNA) 176.50p -1.56%
Entain (ENT) 812.20p -1.50%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 5,234.00p -1.47%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,257.00p -1.33%
FTSE 250 – Risers
W.A.G Payment Solutions (EWG) 97.00p 4.98%
4Imprint Group (FOUR) 3,410.00p 3.18%
Ninety One (N91) 235.20p 3.07%
AJ Bell (AJB) 559.00p 2.95%
Foresight Solar Fund Limited (FSFL) 80.80p 2.67%
Polar Capital Technology Trust (PCT) 462.00p 2.67%
Abrdn (ABDN) 209.20p 2.35%
Jupiter Fund Management (JUP) 152.40p 2.01%
Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 326.00p 1.87%
Quilter (QLT) 181.90p 1.85%
FTSE 250 – Fallers
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 321.00p -7.71%
Endeavour Mining (EDV) 3,002.00p -5.54%
Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) 138.10p -3.70%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 240.30p -2.28%
Discoverie Group (DSCV) 585.00p -2.17%
Hays (HAS) 60.20p -2.03%
Rank Group (RNK) 123.40p -1.91%
Vistry Group (VTY) 684.80p -1.89%
Telecom Plus (TEP) 1,828.00p -1.83%
Dr. Martens (DOCS) 93.30p -1.79%