London open: Stocks gain as Lloyds, Close Brothers rally

(Sharecast News) - London stocks rose in early trade on Wednesday, with gold miners shining as spot gold rose above $4,000 for the first time, while Lloyds and Close Brothers rallied as the Financial Conduct Authority's motor finance redress scheme came in lower than expected. At 0825 BST, the FTSE 100 was up 0.3% at 9,507.50.

Lloyds was the standout gainer on the top-flight index, while Close Brothers jumped just over 4%.

The FCA said late on Tuesday that it expects payouts on 14m finance agreements where there were "widespread failings" in how lenders disclosed commission payments to brokers, to start next year, with customers receiving around an average £700 in compensation per agreement.

Lloyds said it was "assessing the implications" of the announcement, which will see lenders pay up to £11bn compensation for unfair practices.

The bank said it was looking at "the impact of this consultation in the context of its current provision for this issue and will update the market as and when appropriate".

Danni Hewson, head of financial analysis at AJ Bell, said: "Lenders had already breathed a sigh of relief about the scale of the compensation they would have to dish up to motorists and today's update from the FCA brings the bar even lower.

"But 14 million car buyers do stand to receive a significant amount of compensation after the regulator said motor finance firms broke rules and didn't properly inform motorists of the commission that was being paid out to dealers.

"For those who have previously taken out loans it will require a shuffle through old paperwork to put in a complaint to lenders or brokers, while those who have already complained won't need to do so.

"This decision brings to an end a rather ugly chapter in car finance lending and consumers are warned that they could lose significant portions of any compensation due if they use third parties to make a claim.

"Whilst this scandal doesn't come close to that surrounding PPI it does leave a bad taste with many motorists."

Elsewhere, precious metals miner Fresnillo and gold miners Endeavour and Hochschild all shone as gold jumped past $4,000 an ounce for the first time, hitting a fresh high of $4,035 as investors sought a safe haven amid the ongoing US government shutdown and concerns about the broader economy.

Student accommodation provider Unite Group fell as it said that 95.2% of beds for the 2025/26 academic year were now sold, down from 97.5% at the same time a year earlier.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 9,507.50 0.25% FTSE 250 (MCX) 22,016.08 0.06% techMARK (TASX) 5,535.01 0.20%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 85.36p 2.47% Fresnillo (FRES) 2,350.00p 2.17% Experian (EXPN) 3,577.00p 1.27% Antofagasta (ANTO) 2,714.00p 1.27% St James's Place (STJ) 1,300.00p 1.21% Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 17,580.00p 1.09% NATWEST GROUP (NWG) 544.40p 1.08% Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,456.00p 0.87% Barclays (BARC) 381.75p 0.79% Beazley (BEZ) 932.50p 0.76%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Spirax Group (SPX) 7,000.00p -1.69% Associated British Foods (ABF) 2,103.00p -1.04% Bunzl (BNZL) 2,438.00p -0.89% Babcock International Group (BAB) 1,242.00p -0.88% WPP (WPP) 364.00p -0.68% Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 3,860.00p -0.62% Centrica (CNA) 169.05p -0.59% SEGRO (SGRO) 664.40p -0.51% Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 783.80p -0.51% LondonMetric Property (LMP) 182.20p -0.49%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Patria Private Equity Trust (PPET) 610.00p 6.27% Bakkavor Group (BAKK) 217.00p 4.33% Close Brothers Group (CBG) 517.50p 4.12% Bridgepoint Group (Reg S) (BPT) 323.40p 3.92% W.A.G Payment Solutions (EWG) 92.80p 3.11% Endeavour Mining (EDV) 3,252.00p 2.91% Diversified Energy Company (DEC) 1,030.00p 2.79% Hochschild Mining (HOC) 386.60p 2.28% Grafton Group Ut (CDI) (GFTU) 921.70p 2.13% Premier Foods (PFD) 185.60p 1.98%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Unite Group (UTG) 678.50p -3.96% Pinewood Technologies Group (PINE) 402.50p -3.48% THG (THG) 37.34p -1.74% Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) 150.00p -1.57% JPMorgan Emerging Markets Inv Trust (JMG) 129.00p -1.53% Empiric Student Property (ESP) 89.00p -1.11% Vietnam Enterprise Investments (DI) (VEIL) 745.00p -1.06% SDCL Efficiency Income Trust (SEIT) 56.30p -1.05% Ocado Group (OCDO) 223.50p -1.02% Big Yellow Group (BYG) 989.00p -1.00%