London open: Defence stocks pace gains as investors mull Venezuela events

(Sharecast News) - London stocks rose in early trade on Monday, with defence firms pacing the gains following the US capture over the weekend of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.

At 0825 GMT, the FTSE 100 was up 0.3% at 9,982.43.

Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, said: "As we start the first full trading week of the year, it is Venezuela and the US's overthrowing of the Maduro regime that is dominating the airwaves, however, it is yet to dent market sentiment."

Oil prices fell in early trading, with Brent hovering around the $57 mark as traders assessed the weekend's events.

But Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, pointed out that the immediate price reaction isn't quite as extreme as some may have thought,

"That's because Venezuela may have the world's biggest reserves, but it's only pumping roughly 1 million barrels a day (under 1% of global output), so the shortterm barrel maths doesn't scream 'crisis'," he said. "The real market-moving question is the medium-term impact. If sanctions ease and serious investment flows back into creaking infrastructure, Venezuela could eventually add meaningful supply, but this won't be a quick process."

Looking ahead to the rest of the week, retailers will be in focus, with Next due to release a fourth-quarter trading statement on Tuesday, while Marks & Spencer will update on Christmas trading on Thursday and Sainsbury's releases a third-quarter trading statement on Friday.

"Together, these updates will help to paint a picture of consumer spending and whether retailers kept the tills ringing over Christmas," said Britzman.

In equity markets, defence firms BAE Systems and Babcock were among the top performers.

Precious metals miner Fresnillo and gold miners Hochschild and Endeavour also racked up strong gains, with gold and silver prices up as investors opted for safe haven assets.

Auction Technology surged after the online auction operator said it had rejected 11 unsolicited buyout proposals from its largest shareholder FitzWalter Capital. The most recent proposal received on 23 December 2025 at 360p per share in cash was rejected on the basis that it "fundamentally" undervalues the company.

"The ATG board believes that FitzWalter's proposals represent an opportunistic attempt to acquire the company at a time when ATG's public market valuation is currently disconnected from the company's fair value," it said.

Elsewhere, budget airline Wizz Air flew higher as it reported a sharp jump in passenger traffic last month, with 5.85m people flying its routes, an increase of 15.5% year-on-year.

Capacity surged 16.3% in December to 6.81 million seats, while the load factor for the month was 85.9%, down 0.6 percentage points.