London stocks were flat by midday on Monday as investors eyed this week's policy announcement from the US Federal Reserve amid expectations of a 25 basis point cut, with key UK data releases also due.
The FTSE 100 was steady at 9,661.95.

Derren Nathan, head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "On the domestic front, key UK data points to look out for this week include November's retail sales figures which are scheduled Tuesday. The previous month saw sales contract by 1.2% and with pre-budget caution likely to have dominated in November and accountants BDO playing down the success of Black Friday promotions, tomorrow's numbers could struggle to get back into positive territory.

"Turning to the wider economy, GDP numbers for October are expected to land on Friday. Forecasts are looking for a 10-basis point acceleration in monthly growth to 0.2% after a cyber-attack at Jaguar Land Rover weighed on the September numbers.

"But it's events in the United States that will take centre stage this week. Anything other than a quarter point cut to Fed Funds Rates on Wednesday will come as a big surprise but cast your eyes forward 12 months and the waters become much muddier.

"Markets see two further quarter point cuts as the most likely outcome but the probability of a doveish third cut, or just a hawkish single cut isn't that far behind. It's commentary for 2026 and beyond that's likely to be the key focus for markets."

Rate announcements are also due this week from the Reserve Bank of Australia, the Bank of Canada and the Swiss National Bank, all of which are expected to keep rates unchanged.

In equity markets, building materials group CRH shot higher after S&P Global announced on Friday as part of its quarterly rebalancing that it was among the companies set to join the S&P 500 index.

Defence firms Babcock, Rolls-Royce and BAE Systems were among the top performers, while Prudential rose after it said on Saturday that it had filed paperwork to float an Indian subsidiary.

Medical devices group Smith & Nephew gained as it unveiled plans to downsize its portfolio, alongside an increase in full-year guidance.

Long-term, it expects the rationalisation to reduce gross inventory by around $500m and lead to a "significant" reduction in capital requirements. It will, however, take a non-cash provision in the 2025 accounts of $200m as a result of the shake-up.

Kainos surged after an upgrade to 'buy' at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Oxford Nanopore Technologies rose as it appointed Francis Van Parys as chief executive, succeeding Gordon Sanghera, who has led the company since its inception in 2005. Van Parys is currently president and CEO of acute care diagnostics company Radiometer, part of Danaher Corporation.

On the downside, Unilever slumped as it completed the demerger of its ice cream business.

Admiral and M&G were weaker after JPMorgan downgraded the shares to 'underweight' from 'neutral' and to 'neutral' from 'overweight', respectively.

SDCL Efficiency Income Trust tumbled after it reported a drop in net asset value per share to 87.6p as at 30 September from 90.6p at the end of March and said that gearing had exceeded the investment policy limit of 65%.

The company has a continuation vote at its AGM next year but said on Monday that it was unlikely to recommend investors vote in favour without some "material" success in making disposals.

Rotork was knocked lower by a downgrade to 'equalweight' at Morgan Stanley.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 9,661.95 -0.05%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 22,015.78 -0.22%
techMARK (TASX) 5,603.57 0.34%

FTSE 100 - Risers

CRH (CDI) (CRH) 9,606.00p 6.12%
Prudential (PRU) 1,104.50p 2.46%
Fresnillo (FRES) 2,764.00p 1.84%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 95.42p 1.60%
Schroders (SDR) 395.20p 1.54%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 1,162.00p 1.40%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 1,099.50p 1.38%
Metlen Energy & Metals (MTLN) 41.50p 1.34%
BAE Systems (BA.) 1,693.00p 1.20%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 1,082.00p 1.17%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Unilever (ULVR) 4,233.00p -5.00%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 327.60p -2.12%
Mondi (MNDI) 855.40p -1.97%
Barratt Redrow (BTRW) 370.90p -1.93%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,321.00p -1.78%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 3,656.00p -1.56%
Whitbread (WTB) 2,365.00p -1.50%
Convatec Group (CTEC) 225.80p -1.48%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,215.00p -1.26%
Entain (ENT) 751.00p -1.08%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Kainos Group (KNOS) 1,160.00p 7.11%
Baltic Classifieds Group (BCG) 182.40p 3.99%
Trustpilot Group (TRST) 152.20p 3.96%
Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) 128.80p 3.29%
Oxford Biomedica (OXB) 635.00p 2.58%
Edinburgh Worldwide Inv Trust (EWI) 208.00p 2.21%
SSP Group (SSPG) 176.10p 2.21%
PayPoint (PAY) 448.00p 2.17%
Lion Finance Group (BGEO) 9,340.00p 1.85%
Paragon Banking Group (PAG) 802.50p 1.78%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

SDCL Efficiency Income Trust (SEIT) 51.90p -17.49%
Future (FUTR) 605.00p -4.57%
Unite Group (UTG) 515.00p -2.83%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 63.60p -2.83%
Rotork (ROR) 331.80p -2.70%
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 162.55p -2.52%
Vistry Group (VTY) 627.60p -2.06%
Hays (HAS) 53.10p -2.03%
Victrex plc (VCT) 659.00p -1.64%
IP Group (IPO) 61.10p -1.61%