London open: Stocks rise as investors welcome Trump's Treasury Secretary appointment

London stocks rose in early trade on Monday as investors welcomed US President-elect Donald Trump's decision to appoint billionaire fund manager Scott Bessent as Treasury Secretary.
At 0820 GMT, the FTSE 100 was up 0.4% at 8,296.04.

Patrick Munnelly at Tickmill Group said: "The general investor sentiment is satisfaction that Bessent is a well-known candidate rather than an unknown one. Bessent's fiscally conservative rhetoric has pushed 10-year Treasury yields lower, but it is unclear if he will be able to reduce deficits while extending tax cuts that are about to expire.

"He has mentioned reducing spending and boosting economic growth in order to address the massive amount of US debt and bring the budget deficit down to 3% of GDP. Critics would point out that the United States has seen robust growth for a long time and that the deficit has only become bigger, and that the amount of discretionary spending that may be reduced is insignificant when compared to necessities like Medicare and defence. Though the tariff levels stated, like 60% on Chinese goods, were 'maximalist' stances that might be softened, Bessent has advocated for tariffs and suggested that they be 'layered in gradually'.

"In an apparent attempt to counter President-elect Donald Trump's prior experiment with devaluation as a means of reducing trade deficits, he has also expressed support for a strong dollar."

In equity markets, shares in ITV surged following a report over the weekend that potential suitors have begun circling the broadcaster again after a prolonged period of share price weakness and renewed questions about its long-term strategic destiny.

According to Sky News, a number of possible bidders for parts or all of the company, whose biggest shows include Love Island, have in recent weeks held early-stage discussions about teaming up to pursue a potential transaction.

Anglo American gained after agreeing to sell the portfolio of steelmaking coal mines that it operates in Australia to Peabody Energy for $3.77bn in cash as part of its pivot to be a copper, premium iron ore and crop nutrients business.

Rentokil Initial advanced as it appointed Paul Edgecliffe-Johnson as chief financial officer with effect from 1 January 2025.

He will succeed Stuart Ingall-Tombs, who is retiring and will step down from the board at the end of the year after 17 years with the company, most recently as CFO for four years.

On the downside, B&Q and Screwfix owner Kingfisher tumbled as it nudged down the midpoint of its full-year profit guidance after a mixed third quarter, in which group sales fell 0.6%.

The company said 2024 adjusted pre-tax profit is expected to come in between £510m and £540m, compared with a previous forecast range of £510m to £550m.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 8,296.04 0.41%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,680.39 0.48%
techMARK (TASX) 4,714.10 0.06%

FTSE 100 - Risers

JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 96.82p 3.60%
Anglo American (AAL) 2,413.50p 2.31%
3i Group (III) 3,633.00p 1.79%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,216.50p 1.76%
Weir Group (WEIR) 2,214.00p 1.75%
Glencore (GLEN) 386.45p 1.48%
Prudential (PRU) 643.40p 1.32%
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 350.80p 1.30%
easyJet (EZJ) 523.20p 1.28%
Intermediate Capital Group (ICG) 2,120.00p 1.24%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Fresnillo (FRES) 646.00p -1.00%
Diploma (DPLM) 4,442.00p -0.54%
Tesco (TSCO) 352.50p -0.40%
Halma (HLMA) 2,685.00p -0.33%
Haleon (HLN) 379.10p -0.32%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 2,525.00p -0.28%
National Grid (NG.) 991.80p -0.20%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 10,458.00p -0.15%
GSK (GSK) 1,340.00p -0.15%
SSE (SSE) 1,745.00p -0.11%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Ithaca Energy (ITH) 119.90p 3.72%
Urban Logistics Reit (SHED) 109.60p 3.01%
Primary Health Properties (PHP) 96.95p 2.81%
Elementis (ELM) 138.80p 2.66%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 911.00p 2.66%
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 1,331.00p 2.62%
Hays (HAS) 78.25p 2.56%
Close Brothers Group (CBG) 205.40p 2.50%
Pagegroup (PAGE) 354.00p 2.49%
Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 158.30p 2.46%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Bridgepoint Group (Reg S) (BPT) 318.80p -4.72%
Direct Line Insurance Group (DLG) 154.30p -2.34%
Hilton Food Group (HFG) 899.00p -2.28%
NCC Group (NCC) 153.40p -1.92%
Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 2,055.00p -1.67%
Essentra (ESNT) 147.60p -1.60%
Renewi (RWI) 580.00p -1.19%
The Global Smaller Companies Trust (GSCT) 162.40p -1.10%
Bytes Technology Group (BYIT) 450.00p -1.01%
Capital Gearing Trust (CGT) 4,730.00p -0.84%