London open: Stocks gain as miners, Next sparkle
By Michele Maatouk
Date: Tuesday 06 Jan 2026
(Sharecast News) - London's top-flight index pushed past the 10,000 mark in early trade on Tuesday, building on the previous session's record close thanks to a solid performance from miners and retailer Next.
At 0830 GMT, the FTSE 100 was up 0.5% at 10,049.54, having hit a new intraday high.
Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "Global equities are starting the day on the front foot, with markets largely brushing aside the uncertainty stirred up by US moves in Venezuela. European and UK indexes are trading higher, and US futures are pointing to a positive open, hinting at a broadly upbeat mood to kick off the day."
Investors were mulling the latest data from the British Retail Consortium, which showed that shop price inflation edged higher in December as food price growth accelerated strongly.
The BRC-NielsenIQ monthly shop price monitor showed a 0.7% year-on-year increase in prices at UK tills in December, up from 0.6% in November.
Food price inflation picked up to an annual rate of 3.3% from 3.0%, with fresh food inflation rising to 3.8% from 3.6% and ambient food inflation increasing to 2.5% from 2.4%.
Meanwhile non-food deflation held steady at -0.6%, with promotional activity ahead of the festive holidays partly responsible for ongoing price falls.
Despite the overall increase in prices, "shoppers still found plenty of value across many Christmas essentials including vegetables, cheeses, and alcohol", according to BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson. "Promotions were also widespread across popular gifting categories, including toys, books, and home entertainment."
However, the BRC said that, despite retailers' best efforts, inflation is likely to "remain sticky" in 2026 as a result of increased public policy costs and regulation.
"2026 must be the year that government works with business to create a policy environment that reduces the pressures bearing down on the industry. This will enable retailers to invest more in keeping their prices down, benefitting households all across the country," Dickinson said.
In equity markets, heavily-weighted miners rallied in tandem with copper prices, with Anglo American, Antofagasta and Glencore among the top performers.
Britzman said: "Copper pushed through $6 a pound to fresh record highs, driven by expectations that global supply will tighten further this year, and worries that potential new US tariffs on refined metals could squeeze major hubs like London and Shanghai.
"Demand remains solid too, with copper right at the heart of power‑grid upgrades, renewable energy build‑outs and the surge in data‑centre construction. It's a backdrop that plays neatly into the hands of the big miners, many of whom have been pivoting hard toward copper in recent years and now look well positioned to benefit from prolonged higher prices."
High street retailer Next was the standout gainer on the FTSE 100 as it lifted full-year guidance on the back of better-than-expected festive trading.
In the nine weeks to 27 December, full-price sales rose 10.6% year-on-year, comfortably ahead of forecasts for a 7% improvement across the entire quarter.
As a result, the company now expects total group sales in the year to 31 January to come in at £6.97bn and pre-tax profits of £1.15m. Next had previously guided for annual sales of £6.87bn and pre-tax profits of £1.14bn.
Insurance and investment giant Prudential gained as it announced the launch of a $1.2bn share buyback programme which it expects to complete by mid-December.
Rentokil was boosted by a rating upgrade at Morgan Stanley.
Rank Group rose after the Mecca Bingo owner said chief executive John O'Reilly had decided to retire on 29 January and will be replaced on an interim basis by chief financial officer Richard Harris.
Ocado surged after JPMorgan placed the shares on 'positive catalyst watch' as it pointed to improving fundamentals. The bank said it expects a strong message on free cash flow at the upcoming full-year results on 26 February.
Diageo fizzed higher after RBC Capital Markets upgraded the drinks maker to 'outperform' from 'sector perform'.
On the downside, Upper Crust owner SSP slumped after a downgrade to 'equalweight' at Barclays following a recent rally in the shares.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 10,049.54 0.45%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 22,639.18 0.20%
techMARK (TASX) 5,692.04 0.34%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Next (NXT) 13,975.00p 2.83%
Prudential (PRU) 1,206.50p 2.38%
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 454.00p 2.00%
Fresnillo (FRES) 3,560.00p 1.83%
Anglo American (AAL) 3,199.00p 1.81%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 3,519.00p 1.73%
Glencore (GLEN) 425.15p 1.40%
BP (BP.) 441.15p 1.36%
Smurfit Westrock (DI) (SWR) 2,969.00p 1.23%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 2,174.00p 1.21%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 84.66p -3.14%
Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 572.40p -2.12%
Games Workshop Group (GAW) 18,370.00p -0.81%
Relx plc (REL) 3,066.00p -0.78%
Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (DI) (CCEP) 6,440.00p -0.77%
Compass Group (CPG) 2,300.00p -0.69%
Unilever (ULVR) 4,668.50p -0.65%
Halma (HLMA) 3,534.00p -0.62%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 3,692.00p -0.59%
Rightmove (RMV) 512.20p -0.51%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Ocado Group (OCDO) 252.00p 6.55%
4Imprint Group (FOUR) 4,075.00p 4.22%
Paragon Banking Group (PAG) 895.00p 3.65%
Oxford Biomedica (OXB) 686.00p 3.47%
WPP (WPP) 348.00p 2.50%
C&C Group (CDI) (CCR) 136.40p 2.25%
AEP Plantations (AEP) 1,420.00p 2.16%
Pollen Street Group Limited (POLN) 958.00p 2.13%
Man Group (EMG) 237.60p 1.97%
RHI Magnesita N.V. (DI) (RHIM) 2,700.00p 1.89%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
SSP Group (SSPG) 193.00p -4.46%
Foresight Environmental Infrastructure Limited (FGEN) 65.60p -2.09%
W.A.G Payment Solutions (EWG) 114.00p -1.72%
Premier Foods (PFD) 165.20p -1.67%
RTW Biotech Opportunities Ltd (RTW) 2.16p -1.37%
Mony Group (MONY) 183.00p -1.35%
Playtech (PTEC) 268.50p -1.10%
Balfour Beatty (BBY) 713.00p -0.97%
Greggs (GRG) 1,740.00p -0.97%
Baltic Classifieds Group (BCG) 205.50p -0.96%
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