Good morning from London, I’m Thomas Warner and this is the first market report of the new year.
The top story so far today is tension in the Red Sea, where an international naval pile-on continues. As always its the commodity markets that are telling the story, and oil and gold are both up a step today – no bad thing for the FTSE 100 which is up around 1% so far.
Staying in commodities and uranium is also continuing to do very well, with the Telegraph reporting over the new year that hedge funds having been investing heavily in the radioactive metal – backing the view that demand from nuclear power plants will outstrip supply over the next decade.
Among the big gainers on the FTSE 100 this morning are well-known household names Marks & Spencer, Rolls-Royce, B&M, and BAE Systems. On the alternative market it’s a slow start to the year but specialist contract research organization hVIVO has just announced a new £6.3 million deal to run a trial at its Canary Wharf facility.
And Harland & Wolff shares are up a few percent this morning, continuing to benefit from news that its been cleared by the Government to advance negotiations in relation to a proposed £200 million guaranteed loan facility with UK Export Finance (UKEF). The shipbuilder has a pipeline of contracts but needs to shore up its finances in order to meet them all.
That’s all for now, have a great start to the year.