London close: Stocks hit fresh highs after GDP data

(Sharecast News) - London stocks hit fresh highs on Thursday as investors mulled better-than-expected GDP figures.

The FTSE 100 closed up 0.5% at 10,238.94, breaching the 10,200 mark and hitting a new intraday high of 10,250.

Data from the Office for National Statistics showed the economy grew more than expected in November.

GDP grew 0.3% following a 0.1% contraction in October, and versus expectations for just 0.1% growth. September's figures were revised to show growth of 0.1%, up from an initial estimate of a fall of 0.1%.

The services sector grew 0.3% while production expanded by 1.1%, but construction fell 1.3% in November.

The data showed that production of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers grew 25.5% in November following 9.6% growth in October and a 29.5% decline in September, when operations at JLR were hit by a cyberattack.

The ONS said the industry has now almost returned to August 2025 levels.

Liz McKeown, director of economic statistics at the ONS, said: "The economy grew slightly in the latest three months, led by growth in the services sector, which performed better in November following a weak October.

"This was partially offset by a fall in manufacturing, where three-monthly growth was still affected by the cyber incident that impacted car production earlier in the Autumn.

"However, data for the latest month show that this industry has now largely recovered.

"Construction contracted again, registering its largest three-monthly fall in nearly three years."

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: "Better-than-expected UK GDP growth in November is welcome news for the new year. While partially helped by Jaguar Land Rover getting back to work after a cyber-attack, the increase in services activity shows there is more to the GDP progression than just restarting car production.

"It's also positive to see GDP growth for a month where business and consumer decisions might have been put on ice pending the Budget.

"The GDP expansion is positive, yet UK economic activity is still pedestrian overall. There is still a reticence by many businesses to invest heavily, and that is evident by a fragile jobs market.

"Chancellor Rachel Reeves has long said that tough decisions in the near-term should pave the way for a stronger economy down the line. We're still in the waiting game for that strategy."

In equity markets, banks were among the risers, with NatWest, HSBC and Barclays all higher. Joshua Mahony at Scope Markets said the gains "bring a recovery from a sector that has been hit by Trump's recent move to limit credit card interest rates to 10%".

Schroders surged after the asset manager said full-year adjusted operating profit was set to be at least �745m, coming in ahead of market expectations.

Emerging markets asset manager Ashmore also shot higher as it said second-quarter assets under management rose 8% to $3.8bn.

Oxford Biomedica rallied after confirming late on Wednesday that it was in preliminary talks with private equity firm EQT, after it received unsolicited takeover proposals that were rejected for undervaluing the group.

Savills gained after saying it delivered a "good" performance in FY25 despite challenging markets.

Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey ended up, having fallen earlier in the session after it said annual profits looked set to narrowly miss expectations. Operating profits were slated to come in around �420m, up on last year's �416.2m but below the �424m forecast.

On the downside, luxury fashion brand Burberry slid. Bernstein said in a research note that luxury bears are concerned by falling growth in Chinese consumer demand and gold price inflation. It said consumers in China are becoming more discerning and "luxury brands may no longer rely on a steady stream of newly minted luxury consumers to drive growth in China".

Oil giant BP gushed lower as oil prices fell after US President Donald Trump toned down his language towards Iran's leaders over the killing of anti-regime protestors.

Homeware retailer Dunelm tanked after saying it expects full-year profits to come in at the lower end of market forecasts as a result of a "challenging environment" in the first half, in which sales growth slowed significantly towards the end of 2025.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 10,238.94 0.54%

FTSE 250 (MCX) 23,279.98 1.41%

techMARK (TASX) 5,875.42 0.50%

FTSE 100 - Risers

3i Group (III) 3,341.00p 10.08%

Schroders (SDR) 458.40p 9.82%

Persimmon (PSN) 1,406.50p 4.07%

Smiths Group (SMIN) 2,556.00p 3.90%

LondonMetric Property (LMP) 202.60p 3.68%

ICG (ICG) 2,030.00p 2.89%

Spirax Group (SPX) 7,255.00p 2.76%

Centrica (CNA) 181.35p 2.75%

Antofagasta (ANTO) 3,665.00p 2.49%

St James's Place (STJ) 1,506.00p 2.48%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,288.50p -3.16%

AstraZeneca (AZN) 14,026.00p -2.23%

Compass Group (CPG) 2,276.00p -1.94%

GSK (GSK) 1,848.00p -1.73%

BT Group (BT.A) 180.90p -1.50%

The Sage Group (SGE) 1,039.50p -1.38%

BP (BP.) 437.90p -1.26%

Haleon (HLN) 362.20p -1.07%

Unilever (ULVR) 4,780.50p -1.06%

Diageo (DGE) 1,678.50p -0.77%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Ashmore Group (ASHM) 225.40p 23.51%

Oxford Biomedica (OXB) 913.00p 13.56%

Savills (SVS) 1,114.00p 9.43%

Rathbones Group (RAT) 2,155.00p 7.75%

Abrdn (ABDN) 223.80p 6.77%

Trustpilot Group (TRST) 227.80p 6.75%

Safestore Holdings (SAFE) 817.50p 6.31%

Renishaw (RSW) 3,860.00p 5.90%

Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 1,294.00p 5.81%

Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 2,325.00p 5.44%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Dunelm Group (DNLM) 941.50p -19.53%

RTW Biotech Opportunities Ltd (RTW) 2.23p -3.88%

AO World (AO.) 108.00p -3.05%

Hays (HAS) 47.14p -2.56%

TBC Bank Group (TBCG) 3,845.00p -2.41%

THG (THG) 43.18p -1.86%

Energean (ENOG) 923.00p -1.81%

Ithaca Energy (ITH) 169.00p -1.74%

Future (FUTR) 511.00p -1.73%

WPP (WPP) 322.10p -1.62%