London pre-open: Stocks seen up ahead of more Ukraine talks
By Michele Maatouk
Date: Monday 18 Aug 2025
(Sharecast News) - London stocks were set to gain at the open on Monday as investors eyed a meeting between EU leaders, Ukrainian president Zelensky and US president Trump on the Ukraine conflict.
The FTSE 100 was called to open around 15 points higher.
The meeting, which is due to take place in Washington, comes after Friday's summit between Trump and Zelensky failed to yield a ceasefire.
Danske Bank said: "US President Trump and Russian President Putin met to discuss the war in Ukraine. The talks ended earlier than expected and were unsuccessful in making any imminent progress towards a ceasefire. Steven Witkoff, Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, said that Putin agreed that the US could provide security guarantees to Ukraine as part of a deal, which would, though, also likely require territorial concessions.
"Following the meetings, Trump decided to hold back on further sanctions against Russia as well as 'secondary tariffs' on countries buying Russian energy such as India and China."
In corporate news, Land Securities said it had exchanged contracts for the sale of its Queen Anne's Mansions office block in London to Arora Group for £245m.
The disposal is part of the property firm's plan to release £2bn of capital from offices by 2030, as it focuses its portfolio on assets which can deliver sustainable income and EPS growth over the long term.
Great Portland Estates said it had secured three new fully managed leasing deals, totalling 11,720 square feet of "premium, refurbished office space".
Great Portland said the new leasing deals, which were across two London properties, had provided it with a further £2.5m in annual rent at an average of £212 per square foot, 2.8% ahead of March's estimated rental value.
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