London’s blue chips were little changed as trading kicked off on Wednesday, with the FTSE 100 trading in and out of the black.
GSK PLC headed the early risers with a 6.3% gain after results saw its long-term sales target upgraded.
Sales were expected to exceed £40 billion by 2031, against £38 billion seen previously, following a "strong" 2024 on growth of its specialty medicines portfolio.
Fresnillo PLC was also among the initial gainers, climbing 1.4% as gold continued to push record highs on fears around deteriorating US-China trade relations.
A 1.9% jump took the yellow metal to US$2,865 an ounce come Wednesday morning, trouncing several records already notched up in 2025.
Banco Santander shares spiked over 6% on Wednesday after the lender unveiled plans for €10 billion (£8.3 billion) worth of buybacks on record full-year profit.
Profit jumped 14% to €12,574 million in 2024 on a 10% increase in revenue to €62.2 billion, Santander reported.
And in other news, sales of new cars across the UK declined once again in January, figures showed on Wednesday.
According to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, new car registrations sat at 137,000 over the month, against 142,876 a year earlier.
