London open: FTSE nudges up as investors eye Trump inauguration

(Sharecast News) - London stocks nudged higher in early trade on Monday, having a hit record high at the end of last week, as investors mulled the latest house price data from Rightmove and awaited Donald Trump's inauguration as the 47th US president. At 0840 GMT, the FTSE 100 was up 0.1% at 8,515.49, having closed 1.4% higher on Friday at a record high of 8,505.22.

Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, said: "US markets registered their first weekly gain this year, ahead of what is likely to be a defining moment when the new President is inaugurated later today.

"Investors will not have the luxury of being able to react immediately, with markets closed for Martin Luther King Day, but the expected slew of executive orders which are likely to be announced within hours sets up an interesting start to trading tomorrow.

"Particular attention will be given to some of the measures promised during the election campaign, such as the potentially inflationary effects of tax cuts and tariffs in a show of American exceptionalism. The so-called 'Trump trades', which have ranged across the likes of the financials and smaller cap stocks, could be in sharp focus."

On home shores, data released earlier by Rightmove showed that the average price of a property coming to market rose by 1.7% in January to £366,189 - the largest increase in prices at the start of the year since 2020.

A record number of early-bird new sellers came to market since Boxing Day, the property portal said.

This meant that buyers had the highest level of choice at the start of a year since 2015, which has also contributed to an encouraging start to 2025 buyer activity.

The number of new properties coming to market was up 11% on the same start-of-the-year period last year.

The number of buyers contacting agents about properties for sale since Boxing Day was 9% higher, and the number of sales being agreed over the same period was up 11%

Nevertheless, new seller asking prices are still nearly £9,000 lower than May 2024's record, reflecting buyer affordability constraints.

Colleen Babcock, property expert at Rightmove, said: "New sellers have started the year with a bang, with a record number coming to market not only on Boxing Day itself, but across the start of the year to date. We've also seen a strong start to the year in new seller asking prices, though given the higher-than-anticipated seller competition, we would expect this to slow down over the next few months. The record number of sellers we're seeing is a double-edged sword.

"It's encouraging to see so many sellers with the confidence to come to market, providing buyers with fresh choice. However, with lots of homes for buyers to consider, sellers will need to work even harder to stand out from the crowd and attract a buyer. This could be with a tempting asking price, standout home features, immaculate presentation of the home, or a combination of all of these. It's vital that in a competitive market, sellers take on the recommendations of their agent, particularly when it comes to setting a realistic price."

In equity markets, Ladbrokes owner Entain fell following a report that the Financial Reporting Council has begun an investigation into KPMG's audit of the company for the year ended December 2022.

Wood Group gained after it won a contract to provide long-term maintenance for Esso's onshore and offshore assets in Australia's Gippsland Basin.

National Grid was boosted by an upgrade to 'buy' from 'neutral' at Citi.

Spirax was in the black after an upgrade to 'buy' from 'hold' at Jefferies, but Smiths fell after a downgrade to 'hold' from 'buy' by the same outfit.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 8,515.49 0.12% FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,625.80 0.14% techMARK (TASX) 4,704.42 0.18%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Fresnillo (FRES) 681.50p 2.33% Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 21,650.00p 1.36% National Grid (NG.) 974.60p 1.18% JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 85.86p 0.96% St James's Place (STJ) 898.00p 0.90% Barclays (BARC) 291.95p 0.90% Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 4,264.00p 0.85% Spirax Group (SPX) 7,330.00p 0.83% Experian (EXPN) 3,766.00p 0.78% easyJet (EZJ) 507.80p 0.75%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Entain (ENT) 662.20p -1.11% Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,845.00p -0.91% Rentokil Initial (RTO) 383.50p -0.72% F&C Investment Trust (FCIT) 1,170.00p -0.68% Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 1,039.00p -0.67% Severn Trent (SVT) 2,488.00p -0.56% CRH (CDI) (CRH) 8,004.00p -0.55% Alliance Witan (ALW) 1,296.00p -0.46% WPP (WPP) 743.40p -0.43% Associated British Foods (ABF) 2,005.00p -0.35%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Elementis (ELM) 153.00p 4.22% Wood Group (John) (WG.) 70.80p 3.51% FirstGroup (FGP) 170.00p 3.34% NCC Group (NCC) 140.00p 2.19% W.A.G Payment Solutions (WPS) 85.80p 2.14% Bridgepoint Group (Reg S) (BPT) 366.00p 2.12% Pagegroup (PAGE) 320.80p 2.10% Diversified Energy Company (DEC) 1,370.00p 2.01% Twentyfour Income Fund Limited Ord Red (TFIF) 108.00p 1.89% Pets at Home Group (PETS) 210.60p 1.74%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Workspace Group (WKP) 467.50p -2.30% Urban Logistics Reit (SHED) 103.00p -2.28% Grainger (GRI) 215.50p -2.27% Fidelity Emerging Markets Limited Ptg NPV (FEML) 684.60p -1.92% Templeton Emerging Markets Inv Trust (TEM) 167.20p -1.65% Trainline (TRN) 400.00p -1.28% Worldwide Healthcare Trust (WWH) 320.00p -1.23% Vietnam Enterprise Investments (DI) (VEIL) 588.00p -1.18% Impax Environmental Markets (IEM) 401.00p -1.11% VinaCapital Vietnam Opportunity Fund Ltd. (VOF) 475.00p -1.04%