London open: Stocks nudge up ahead of US-China trade talks
By Michele Maatouk
Date: Monday 09 Jun 2025
(Sharecast News) - London stocks nudged higher in early trade on Monday, with all eyes on US-China trade talks due to take place in London.
At 0825 BST, the FTSE was up 0.1% at 8,849.68 .
Commenting on the talks, Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, said: "Despite the President's previous rhetoric, there seems to be some possibility that some of this aggression will be dialled back, not least of which since China has an upper hand especially with regard to its near monopoly on rare earth minerals which are so vital for components in the high-tech industry.
"China may also be keen on conciliation since there are further signs that its economy is struggling to fend off the tariff pressures so far. There are signs of deflation, caused in part by weak consumer sentiment, while the country's exports growth fell sharply in May to 4.8% compared to 8% the previous month, with US shipments in particular decline."
Hunter said that taken together, these seem to give some grounds for optimism on the imminent talks.
In equity markets, M&G was the top gainer on the FTSE 100 after an upgrade to 'buy' at UBS.
Alphawave rocketed after agreeing to be bought by Qualcomm in a $2.4bn deal.
Advertising agency WPP lost ground as it announced that chief executive officer Mark Read will retire on 31 December after more than 30 years with the company, including seven as CEO. It said Read "has decided that the time is right for him to hand over to a new leader" and that the search for a successor is underway.
Homeware retailer Dunelm slumped after a downgrade to 'sector perform' from 'outperform' by RBC Capital Markets.
"We view Dunelm as a high quality business. It's cash generative, has executed well in recent years and expansion potential has stepped up," RBC said. "But we think this is now more reflected in its valuation."
Outside the FTSE 350, Revolution Beauty surged as it confirmed that Mike Ashley's Frasers Group was one of a number of parties conducting due diligence as part of plans to sell the cosmetic retailer, adding that there was no certainty it would result in a firm offer.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 8,849.68 0.13%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 21,160.86 0.02%
techMARK (TASX) 4,961.61 0.39%
FTSE 100 - Risers
M&G (MNG) 248.50p 1.93%
Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 18,740.00p 1.65%
Legal & General Group (LGEN) 258.70p 1.02%
3i Group (III) 4,307.00p 0.98%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 4,317.00p 0.84%
Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 3,894.00p 0.78%
Prudential (PRU) 883.40p 0.73%
Glencore (GLEN) 290.05p 0.68%
Bunzl (BNZL) 2,288.00p 0.62%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 8,562.00p 0.61%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
WPP (WPP) 551.00p -1.40%
BT Group (BT.A) 176.65p -0.76%
CRH (CDI) (CRH) 6,796.00p -0.47%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) 11,345.00p -0.40%
Aviva (AV.) 624.40p -0.38%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 1,053.00p -0.38%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,654.00p -0.38%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 881.80p -0.36%
National Grid (NG.) 1,035.00p -0.24%
Weir Group (WEIR) 2,430.00p -0.16%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Discoverie Group (DSCV) 700.00p 4.01%
Zigup (ZIG) 365.00p 3.25%
RHI Magnesita N.V. (DI) (RHIM) 2,915.00p 2.64%
FirstGroup (FGP) 200.00p 2.62%
Avon Technologies (AVON) 1,816.00p 2.60%
Moonpig Group (MOON) 255.00p 2.41%
Morgan Sindall Group (MGNS) 3,845.00p 2.40%
Serco Group (SRP) 196.30p 2.24%
Computacenter (CCC) 2,650.00p 2.24%
Mitie Group (MTO) 139.20p 2.20%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Dunelm Group (DNLM) 1,126.00p -5.62%
XPS Pensions Group (XPS) 382.00p -4.62%
Senior (SNR) 164.00p -4.09%
Diversified Energy Company (DEC) 1,010.00p -3.07%
Hays (HAS) 68.30p -2.84%
Rathbones Group (RAT) 1,600.00p -2.32%
Trustpilot Group (TRST) 231.60p -2.11%
CMC Markets (CMCX) 242.00p -2.02%
Workspace Group (WKP) 395.00p -1.86%
Kainos Group (KNOS) 730.00p -1.75%
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