The FTSE 100 was relatively steady on Monday as investors took the continued US government shutdown in their stride and looked to US earnings for the next source of optimism.
There was, however, a marginal negative tone to trade as French stocks sank amid the latest bout of political uncertainty. The French CAC was down around 1% at the time of writing.
Trading just beneath 9,500 at the time of writing, the FTSE 100 was within touching distance of record highs after recording an intrady record in early trade.
“The FTSE 100 briefly touched new highs on Monday but soon became sluggish as investors continue to weigh the risks posed by shutdown in Washington,” explained AJ Bell’s head of markets, Dan Coatsworth.
The steady session in London followed more encouraging signs from the US equity market on Friday, which also seemed pretty comfortable with the US government shutdown and the potential strength of economic data points that will eventually be released when the shutdown ends.
“US futures point higher after the S&P 500 capped Friday with fresh all-time highs in a whipsaw session,” said Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown.
“Investors are navigating a data drought as the government shutdown drags on, but Fed minutes and policy chatter later this week will be key for rate expectations. Hopes of further cuts, even as sticky inflation looms longer term, combined with optimism for earnings season is keeping momentum alive, with nearly 70% of the largest US companies seeing their profit forecasts raised over the past three months.”
The US earnings season is set to gather pace over the coming days, and equity bulls will hope that slowing US job creation and economic uncertainty aren’t evident in the earnings releases of major US firms.
In the UK, mining shares showed signs of positivity with Fresnillo making gains in early trade. The precious metals miner is 270% higher year-to-date in 2025 with gold trading near record highs.
Firmer oil prices helped BP and Shell higher after OPEC+ announced a production increase that was less than economists had feared. BP rose more than 1%.
Mondi was the FTSE 100’s top faller after the papermaker said ‘Volumes were impacted by subdued demand and paper selling prices declined during the quarter’. It wasn’t what investors wanted to hear, and the stock plummeted 15%.