Welcome to a brand new week here in London, where the FTSE 100 is off to a positive start after falling heavily on Friday.
The index is up around half a percent this morning, lifted by strong starts to the day for some big names like AstraZeneca, Flutter Entertainment and Rio Tinto.
London’s preponderance of mining stocks means that it is exposed to fluctuations in Asian market sentiment, and trading overnight was subdued ahead of a meeting between US President Joe Biden and Xi Jinping at the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit this week.
Back here on the FTSE 100 and it's British Gas-owner Centrica PLC (LSE:CNA) taking this morning’s biggest hit so far, down around one percent. Investors may be concerned by news from last week that the company is seriously considering taking a stake in the controversial £30 billion Sizewell C nuclear plant on the Suffolk Coast.
In housing, UK house prices fell by an average £6,000 or 1.7% last month, according to the latest survey by Rightmove PLC (LSE:RMV) - the largest monthly drop for five years.
Turning to the small cap sector now and there’s some positive news out of Silverstone, where electric drivetrain technology specialist Saietta Group PLC (AIM:SED) has landed a second deal via its Indian joint venture worth around £12.7 million. The new electric drive units have been designed here in the UK and will be built in New Delhi.
