London pre-open: Small gains expected ahead of economic data barrage

(Sharecast News) - UK stocks are expected to open with tepid gains on Thursday with traders showing caution as the first trading day of 2025 gets underway. Futures on the FTSE 100 were showing gains of around 0.2% by 0728 GMT after settling at a two-week high of 8,173.02 on Tuesday.

Nationwide reported that UK house prices rose 4.7% year-on-year in December to £269,426, up 0.7% over the month to sit just below an all-time high recorded in summer 2022. Robert Gardner, Nationwide's chief economist, said that the housing market "ended 2024 on a strong footing", but volatility is expected across the next few months due to upcoming changes to stamp duty, which will "make it more difficult to discern the underlying strength of the market".

With global financial markets closed on Wednesday for New Year's Day, Thursday will be a relatively busy session for economic data, with December manufacturing surveys due out in the eurozone, UK and US, along with US mortgage applications, construction spending and jobless claims.

However, Thursday is likely to be a quiet day for blue-chip corporate announcements, with volumes still likely to be low as traders returned to the desks following the festive holidays.

Among the few announcements made ahead of the open, Auction Technology Group reported the appointment of Sarah Highfield as its new chief financial officer, succeeding Tom Hargreaves, who was leaving to join a private equity-backed company. It said Highfield would bring over 15 years of senior financial leadership experience, having held roles at companies including Elvie, Costa Coffee, Tesco, and Away Resorts, currently chairing the audit and risk committee at Coats Group.

Chrysalis Investments on Thursday said it had reached a settlement with Revolution Beauty over its claim against the troubled AIM-listed cosmetics retailer. Under the terms of the settlement, Revolution Beauty has agreed to pay the former investor "a non-material sum, being less than 1% of the company's market capitalisation" on Jan 2. All other details of the settlement remain confidential.