London stocks opened higher on Tuesday, lifted by upbeat results from Kingfisher and record-breaking gold prices.
The FTSE 100 index opened up 19.27 points, 0.2%, at 9,245.95. The FTSE 250 was up 163.67 points, 0.8%, at 21,760.60, and the AIM All-Share was up 4.10 points, 0.5%, at 781.63.
The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.2% at 926.57, the Cboe UK 250 was up 0.9% at 19,083.70, and the Cboe Small Companies was up 0.2% at 17,431.50.
In European equities on Tuesday, the CAC 40 in Paris improved 0.7%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt climbed 0.5%.
Gold continued to reach new record heights, quoted higher at $3,756.55 an ounce against $3,729.11. The yellow metal reached $3,759.14 earlier in the day.
Pepperstone analyst Michael Brown said: ‘Clearly, the bull case for the yellow metal remains a solid one, and not just another play for today.’
Brown added: ‘The erosion of Fed policy independence, the FOMC’s ’run it hot’ strategy, the risk of inflation expectations un-anchoring, lingering geopolitical risk, and a continued desire among [emerging markets] allocators to diversify reserves are all powerful forces which continue to propel bullion higher. Far from it being luck that leaves gold standing so tall, it’s a combination of that powerful fundamental bull case, as well as momentum strongly favouring further upside.
‘Given how we are now, quite literally, in uncharted territory, there are no notable resistance levels, certainly no high prison walls, besides psychological resistance around numbers.
‘Still, one record high tends to beget several more, meaning that the salad days for gold – and other precious metals, for that matter – likely lie ahead. $4,000/oz remains a reasonable medium-term target, with any pullbacks likely to remain buying opportunities, after the rush has gone, for the time being.’
In the US on Monday, Wall Street ended higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average rising 0.1%, the S&P 500 gaining 0.4% and the Nasdaq Composite improving 0.7%.
Wall Street gains were particularly buoyed by technology stocks, following Nvidia’s announcement on Monday of a $100 billion investment in OpenAI’s next-generation artificial intelligence infrastructure.
Nvidia closed up 4.0% on Monday, with technology peer Apple following suit, up 4.3%. Chipmaker peers Applied Materials and ASML were up 5.5% and 2.8% respectively.
The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was quoted at 4.14%, narrowing from 4.15%. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury was quoted at 4.76%, trimmed from 4.77%.
The pound was quoted up at $1.3513 early on Tuesday in London, compared to $1.3501 at the equities close on Monday. The euro stood higher at $1.1792, against $1.1773. Against the yen, the dollar was trading slightly down at JP¥147.78 compared to JP¥147.84.
Kingfisher jumped 19% at London’s market open, taking the top spot on the FTSE 100.
The London-based retail firm focused on home improvement reported pretax profit of £338 million for the six months that ended July 31, rising 4.1% from £324 million a year earlier. Sales grew 0.8% to £6.81 billion from £6.76 billion, and Kingfisher declares an interim dividend of 3.80 pence per share, unchanged on-year.
Kingfisher now expects full-year adjusted pretax profit at the upper end of its around £480 million to £540 million guidance range, which would be up 2.3% at best from £528 million a year prior. The firm anticipates free cash flow between around £480 million and £520 million, lifted from a prior guidance range of £420 million to £480 million. Free cash flow in the first half was up 14% on-year to £478 million from £421 million.
Oxford BioMedica was down 1.3%.
The Oxford, England-based gene and cell therapy developer posted a pretax loss of £26.0 million for the six months that ended June 30, narrowed from £35.7 million a year earlier. Revenue rose 44% to £73.2 million from £50.8 million, while operating costs reduced by 11% to £30.3 million from £33.9 million.
The company confirmed full-year guidance of £160 million to £170 million in revenue, which would be up 32% at best from £128.8 million the year before. Oxford BioMedica also guides for operating earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation in the low single-digit millions of pounds on a constant currency basis.
Over the medium-term, 2026 revenue is expected between £220 million to £240 million, with 25% to 30% on-year anticipated revenue growth in 2027 and 2028.
System1 Group tumbled 31% lower.
The London-based marketing firm expects first-half revenue around 5% lower than the year before, due to a planned reduction in its non-platform business, and noted lower ‘but ongoing’ spending from many of its largest clients as a result of US trade tariff uncertainty.
Full-year results for financial 2026 are expected ‘materially below’ current market expectations, with revenue expected in line with the £37 million reported for the year before and full-year adjusted pretax profit anticipated between £2.0 million to £2.5 million, down from £5.3 million in financial 2025.
In Asia on Tuesday, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo rose 1.0%. In China, the Shanghai Composite lost 0.2%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong shed 0.8%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed up 0.4%.
Brent oil was quoted down at $66.23 a barrel early in London on Tuesday from $66.48 late Monday.
Still to come on Tuesday’s economic calendar, UK and US composite PMI readings.
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