british FTSE100 The index on Friday surpassed the symbolic 10,000 points for the first time, extending its gains after a bumper 2025 harvest.
As of 8:39 a.m. London time (3:39 a.m. ET), the FTSE 100 index was trading 0.8% higher at 10,015 points, starting the year’s first trading day firmly in positive territory.
pan-european Stocks 600 Meanwhile, the index rose 0.6%, with most sectors and major exchanges in the green. Mining stocks were among the top gainers, rising about 0.9%.
The move comes as investors returned from the New Year’s Day holiday on Thursday with impressive annual gains.
of Stocks 600 Led by a surge in bank stocks and regional defense spending, the index rose nearly 16% in 2025, marking its third consecutive year of gains.
Looking at individual stocks, shares in Danish energy group Orsted rose 5.5% after the world’s largest offshore wind developer announced it would seek a court injunction to challenge the U.S. government’s lease suspension for the Revolution Wind joint venture.
In other regions, precious metals continued their upward trend from last year. In early European time, spot gold prices rose 1.6% to $4,385.4 an ounce, and spot silver prices rose more than 4.3% to $74.34 an ounce.
Gold and silver posted their best annual performance last year since 1979, supported by a number of factors, including the impact of U.S. interest rate cuts, tariff tensions, and strong demand from exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and central banks.
In Asia-Pacific trade, markets including Japan and mainland China remained closed for holidays, while South Korea’s Kospi rose to a new record.
Meanwhile, US stock futures rose in early European hours. S&P futures, Nasdaq 100 futures and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures are up at least 0.3% in recent days.
