London open: FTSE nudges lower; HICL-Trig merger called off
By Michele Maatouk
Date: Monday 01 Dec 2025
(Sharecast News) - London stocks nudged lower in early trade on Monday as investors mulled disappointing Chinese manufacturing data, while The Renewables Infrastructure Group slumped after its merger with HICL Infrastructure was called off.
At 0845 GMT, the FTSE 100 was down 0.1% at 9,714.29.
Investors were digesting the latest manufacturing survey out of China, which showed that activity unexpectedly deteriorated in November.
The RatingDog China general manufacturing purchasing managers' index fell to 49.9 from 50.6 in October. This was below the 50.0 mark that separates contraction from expansion and signalled the first deterioration in manufacturing sector conditions since July, albeit marginal.
Analysts were expecting a reading of 50.5.
The slowdown was attributed to a softening in the pace of new order growth to a near-neutral level. Where new business rose, survey respondents said this was due to the introduction of new products and improvements in overseas demand. New export orders expanded at the quickest pace in eight months amid reports of successful business development efforts.
Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, said: "Asian markets were mixed overnight, with weak factory activity numbers coming out of both Japan and China. For the former, there was evidence of contraction for the fifth month in a row, with the possibility that higher tariffs are casting a long shadow.
"In China, where the economy has struggled for most of the year under the weight of a beleaguered property sector, high youth unemployment and tepid consumer demand, factory activity also remained in contraction territory despite the more recent trade truce with the US.
"The slightly skittish investor sentiment heading into the new month gave UK markets little room for manoeuvre, and the main indices struggled to make headway at the open. Such caution is not necessarily a harbinger for the remainder of the month, where the bullish drivers of a potential interest rate cut and a traditionally strong run prior to the year-end are waiting to be unleashed."
On home shores, mortgage approvals and net lending figures for October are due at 0930 GMT, along with the S&P Global manufacturing PMI for November.
In equity markets, precious metals miner Fresnillo and gold miners Hochschild and Endeavour all shone as gold prices rose, while miners Glencore, Anglo American and Antofagasta pushed higher in tandem with copper prices.
Aerospace firm Melrose Industries slumped as it said its chief financial officer Matthey Gregory is to step down. Melrose said Gregory has informed the board he plans to retire in 2026, two years after taking up the role.
He will be replaced by Ross McCluskey, a vice president at testing and inspection specialist Intertek Group.
Defence firms were under the cosh, with Babcock and BAE Systems both lower after US Secretary of State Macro Rubio said talks between US and Ukrainian officials on Sunday had been "productive".
Trig fell sharply after its multi-billion merger with HICL Infrastructure was abandoned due to widespread opposition from shareholders.
HICL said in a brief statement that the proposed combination, first announced in mid-November, "will not proceed".
"Both boards remain convinced of the strategic rationale for the combination," it said. "However, following broad engagement with shareholders, the HICL board determined that it cannot progress the transaction without a substantial majority of support from its own investors."
HICL was among the top gainers on the FTSE 250.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 9,714.29 -0.06%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 22,030.37 -0.61%
techMARK (TASX) 5,555.65 -0.29%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Fresnillo (FRES) 2,730.00p 3.64%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT) 5,966.00p 1.95%
Glencore (GLEN) 366.40p 1.55%
Anglo American (AAL) 2,887.00p 1.26%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 2,792.00p 1.23%
Haleon (HLN) 374.00p 0.84%
Tesco (TSCO) 454.00p 0.82%
Unilever (ULVR) 4,581.00p 0.81%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 3,234.00p 0.81%
Convatec Group (CTEC) 237.20p 0.68%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Melrose Industries (MRO) 581.20p -2.32%
BAE Systems (BA.) 1,619.00p -1.91%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 1,112.00p -1.85%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 4,548.00p -1.69%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 4,753.00p -1.55%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 94.84p -1.35%
Mondi (MNDI) 857.00p -1.27%
Rightmove (RMV) 542.00p -1.20%
Spirax Group (SPX) 6,625.00p -1.19%
3i Group (III) 3,122.00p -1.14%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 421.00p 4.47%
HICL Infrastructure (HICL) 117.40p 3.71%
Greggs (GRG) 1,610.00p 3.21%
Patria Private Equity Trust (PPET) 619.00p 2.31%
Endeavour Mining (EDV) 3,554.00p 1.83%
Plus500 Ltd (DI) (PLUS) 3,232.00p 1.83%
Playtech (PTEC) 288.00p 1.77%
Discoverie Group (DSCV) 599.00p 1.18%
Ithaca Energy (ITH) 175.40p 1.15%
Energean (ENOG) 949.00p 1.06%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Ceres Power Holdings (CWR) 355.00p -4.26%
The Renewables Infrastructure Group Limited (TRIG) 71.20p -4.04%
IP Group (IPO) 63.00p -2.48%
Investec (INVP) 533.50p -2.38%
Chemring Group (CHG) 470.50p -2.28%
Raspberry PI Holdings (RPI) 318.60p -2.15%
Pagegroup (PAGE) 236.20p -2.07%
Bridgepoint Group (Reg S) (BPT) 277.20p -2.05%
JPMorgan Japanese Inv Trust (JFJ) 721.00p -1.90%
Baltic Classifieds Group (BCG) 232.00p -1.90%
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