(Sharecast News) - London stocks ticked lower on the final trading day of 2025, but the top-flight index still enjoyed its strongest yearly gain since 2009, closing just shy of the 10,000 mark.
The FTSE 100 ended down 0.09% at 9,931.38, having risen 21.5% in the year.
Investors were mulling the latest figures from China's National Bureau of Statistics, which showed the manufacturing sector returns to growth at the end of the year.
The official manufacturing purchasing managers' index rose to 50.1 in December from 49.2 the month before, beating economists' expectations for a flat reading and coming in above the 50.0 mark that separates contraction from expansion.
The composite PMI - which covers manufacturing and services - increased to 50.7 from 49.7. The non-manufacturing PMI - which covers services and construction - rose to 50.2 in December from 49.5 the month before.
Separately, a survey from RatingDog China also showed an improvement in the manufacturing sector.
The RatingDog China general manufacturing PMI rose to 50.1 this month from 49.9 in November. This marked the fourth improvement in the health of the sector over the past five months
Founder Yao Yu said that on a sub-index basis, slight overall improvements in supply and demand drove the fractional growth.
On home shores, the latest IPO Watch EMEA from PwC showed that London had its strongest year for IPOs in 2025 since 2021.
The London Stock Exchange saw 1.9bn raised from 11 IPOs this year. There was flurry of activity in the final quarter as fintech Shawbrook and food and drinks firm Princes Group priced their IPOs at the end of October for 348m and 400m, respectively.
Kat Kravstov, capital markets director at PwC UK, said: "Global IPO issuance rose in 2025 compared to last year, supported by the recovery of the US and Asian markets, with IPO volumes trending towards more normalised levels.
"London is also benefiting from a growing cohort of IPO-ready businesses, particularly in financial services and tech-enabled sectors. Combined with increasing private equity activity, this creates a favourable backdrop for new issuance. Provided the economic environment stays on track, London could be entering a more active listing cycle in 2026.
"Looking ahead, 2026 is shaping up to be another strong year for IPOs globally and in EMEA, driven by strong investor appetite for quality IPO stories, a backlog of issuers, including large unicorns, and overall constructive equity market sentiment, subject to continued stability. We also saw IPO activity by private equity sponsors strengthen in 2025 and we expect a stronger PE-backed issuance next year."
In equity markets, there was an unsurprising dearth of news, but precious metals miner Fresnillo and gold miner Hochschild both fell as gold and silver prices took a hit after the CME futures exchange increased its trading margins again.
Low liquidity holiday trading was also likely having an effect after a year of stellar gains for both metals.
Elsewhere, Harbour Energy was in focus after saying it has been appointed operator of the Zama oil project offshore Mexico after an agreement between the project's partners.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 9,931.38 -0.09%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 22,470.38 -0.39%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 4,844.00p 1.04%
Anglo American (AAL) 3,085.00p 0.95%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 330.00p 0.76%
Rightmove (RMV) 519.60p 0.46%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 4,214.00p 0.45%
Convatec Group (CTEC) 243.20p 0.41%
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 447.50p 0.40%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,238.50p 0.36%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 98.88p 0.35%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 588.40p 0.34%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Fresnillo (FRES) 3,328.00p -2.46%
Croda International (CRDA) 2,695.00p -2.21%
Experian (EXPN) 3,353.00p -1.64%
Beazley (BEZ) 832.00p -1.42%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 5,076.00p -1.28%
ICG (ICG) 2,050.00p -1.06%
DCC (CDI) (DCC) 4,626.00p -0.98%
Schroders (SDR) 407.00p -0.97%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 84.46p -0.96%
Smiths Group (SMIN) 2,352.00p -0.93%
FTSE 250 - Risers
RHI Magnesita N.V. (DI) (RHIM) 2,780.00p 1.83%
CMC Markets (CMCX) 299.00p 1.36%
Vietnam Enterprise Investments (DI) (VEIL) 795.00p 1.27%
Frasers Group (FRAS) 682.50p 1.26%
Caledonia Investments (CLDN) 383.50p 1.19%
Fidelity Emerging Markets Limited Ptg NPV (FEML) 1,066.00p 1.14%
PPHE Hotel Group Ltd (PPH) 1,788.00p 1.13%
AEP Plantations (AEP) 1,370.00p 1.11%
AO World (AO.) 113.20p 1.07%
Scottish American Inv Company (SAIN) 516.00p 0.98%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 513.50p -3.11%
Princes Group (PRN) 443.25p -2.69%
BlackRock World Mining Trust (BRWM) 804.00p -2.55%
Currys (CURY) 126.00p -2.25%
Pan African Resources (PAF) 121.00p -1.94%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 2,132.00p -1.93%
W.A.G Payment Solutions (EWG) 105.00p -1.87%
Diversified Energy Company (DI) (DEC) 1,065.00p -1.84%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 236.00p -1.83%
Investec (INVP) 551.50p -1.78%
9.33 (0.09%)
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