Good morning and welcome back to the City AM liveblog.
It was another upbeat trading session for the FTSE 100 on Monday, ending the day 1.12 per cent higher at 10,122.73 and cementing its status above the 10,000 milestone.
The blue-chip index was helped by a handful of stocks, namely retail heavyweight Next who rallied four per cent after beating Christmas expectations and the City’s most valuable stock Astrazeneca, which soared five per cent after a positive analyst note from JP Morgan.
Lloyds Banking Group was also able to surpass the 100p mark to reach a 17-year high amid the wider rally.
It came as analysts also began betting on a rebound in IPO activity for the year ahead.
In the final quarter, the UK market saw 11 IPOs which raised £1.9bn – these included listings from Shawbrook Bank and The Beauty Tech Group bringing the total number of listings for the year to 23.
But despite the subdued revenue in 2025, analysts predict that London’s IPO pipeline will see an uptick of activity in the first half of 2026, off the back of recent reforms to the UK’s listing regime introduced in the Autumn Budget.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves launched a stamp duty holiday for new listings in the Budget as part of her latest efforts to galvanise new listings.
With a handful of listing hopefuls lined up for the year ahead, the proof will be in the pudding to see if her efforts pay off.
Here’s a few of our top stories from yesterday
London Stock Exchange poised for IPO rebound in 2026
Billionaire Hohn handed £60m dividend and ramps up philanthropy
Nvidia pitches ‘thinking’ cars as UK EV sales soar
Fiscal drag to push thousands of families into child benefit tax charge
Employers brace for more layoffs as headcount expectations drop