(Sharecast News) - London stocks nudged up on the final trading day of 2025, hovering at records highs and on course for their best year since 2009.
At 0830 GMT, the FTSE 100 was up 0.1% at 9,946.53, with markets set to close early for the New Year break.
Investors were mulling the latest figures from China's National Bureau of Statistics, which showed the manufacturing sector returned 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.
"Overall, the manufacturing sector regained growth at the end of 2025. However, the improvement was marginal, with the impact of promotions and new products appearing impulse-driven and their sustainability requiring observation.
"Looking ahead, while firms remain confident for 2026, optimism has eased and remains below the historical average. With the Central Economic Work Conference emphasising 'seeking progress while maintaining stability' and addressing 'Involutionary' competition, policy support is expected to facilitate a continued moderate recovery in 2026."
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."
On the corporate front, there was an unsurprising dearth of news but 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.
The Zama oil field, discovered in 2017 and successfully appraised in 2018 and 2019, is estimated to contain approximately 750 million barrels of oil equivalent of gross recoverable resources.
Harbour said the next step will be to complete engineering and design work in 2026 ahead of a final investment decision.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 9,946.53 0.06%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 22,527.03 -0.14%
techMARK (TASX) 5,634.13 0.14%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Vodafone Group (VOD) 99.20p 0.67%
BAE Systems (BA.) 1,724.00p 0.58%
Diageo (DGE) 1,611.00p 0.53%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 13,822.00p 0.52%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 4,213.00p 0.43%
Shell (SHEL) 2,742.00p 0.38%
Beazley (BEZ) 847.00p 0.36%
Weir Group (WEIR) 2,854.00p 0.35%
Haleon (HLN) 374.70p 0.29%
Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 4,808.00p 0.29%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Fresnillo (FRES) 3,298.00p -3.34%
Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 16,025.00p -0.80%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 5,983.00p -0.71%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 84.70p -0.68%
Metlen Energy & Metals (MTLN) 43.97p -0.62%
CRH (CDI) (CRH) 9,312.00p -0.62%
Croda International (CRDA) 2,741.00p -0.54%
Smurfit Westrock (DI) (SWR) 2,866.00p -0.52%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 2,131.00p -0.51%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 1,236.00p -0.48%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Senior (SNR) 202.00p 4.23%
FirstGroup (FGP) 199.00p 3.70%
Morgan Advanced Materials (MGAM) 225.50p 2.73%
Zigup (ZIG) 392.00p 2.62%
Kainos Group (KNOS) 1,039.00p 2.57%
Hays (HAS) 57.40p 2.32%
Fidelity Emerging Markets Limited Ptg NPV (FEML) 1,074.00p 1.90%
Raspberry PI Holdings (RPI) 308.20p 1.72%
Genuit Group (GEN) 333.00p 1.52%
Partners Group Private Equity Limited. (EUR) (PEY) 10.60p 1.44%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 506.50p -4.43%
Oxford Biomedica (OXB) 598.00p -3.55%
Bridgepoint Group (Reg S) (BPT) 278.00p -2.66%
Currys (CURY) 125.60p -2.56%
Watches of Switzerland Group (WOSG) 466.40p -2.47%
Pan African Resources (PAF) 120.40p -2.43%
Vesuvius (VSVS) 389.00p -2.41%
Ibstock (IBST) 138.40p -2.40%
Pennon Group (PNN) 520.50p -2.25%
RHI Magnesita N.V. (DI) (RHIM) 2,670.00p -2.20%
9.33 (0.09%)
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