London stocks edged higher early trade on Monday as investors mulled the latest UK house price figures and looked ahead to key inflation data later in the week.
At 0845 BST, the FTSE 100 was 0.3% firmer at 8,443.38.
Data released earlier by Rightmove showed that average house prices hit a new record of £375,131 in May, boosted by pent-up demand and momentum from the Spring selling season.
House prices pushed up 0.8% on the month following a 1.1% increase in April.
On the year, prices were up 0.6% in May following a 1.7% jump the month before.
Rightmove said pent-up demand from would-be buyers who paused their plans last year was a key driver behind increased home-mover activity despite mortgage rates remaining elevated for longer than expected.
Tim Bannister, Rightmove's director of Property Science, said: "Some predicted that property prices would suffer sharp falls and take a while to recover following the Bank of England increasing the Base Rate up to 5.25%, where it has remained since August 2023. However, the momentum of the Spring selling season has exerted enough upwards price pressure to reach a new record asking price.
"The top-of-the-ladder sector is still leading the way, while from a regional perspective the North East, with the cheapest average prices in Great Britain, has seen the strongest price growth. However, it's important to remember that prices overall are still only 0.6% ahead of this time last year. The market remains price-sensitive, and with prices reaching new records in the majority of regions and mortgage rates remaining elevated, affordability for many home-buyers is still stretched."
In equity markets, precious metals miners Fresnillo and Hochschild shone as gold prices hit fresh record highs after Iran's president was killed in a helicopter crash.
Kainos surged as it posted a rise in full-year profit and revenue and maintained a positive outlook.
Hilton Foods gained as it said trading in the year to date had been in line with expectations, with volumes and sales ahead of last year despite a challenging economic environment and lower raw materials prices in some of its markets.
AstraZeneca was little changed as it announced plans to build a $1.5bn manufacturing facility for antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) in Singapore, to enhance the global supply of its cancer treatments.
Ryanair flew a little lower after the budget airline reported higher annual profits but warned that summer airfares would be softer than anticipated.
Profit after tax climbed 34%to €1.9bn in the 12 months to March 30 as demand rose 9% to 184 million passengers. Revenue jumped 25% to €13.4bn.
The company also said it would start a €700m share buyback as it had "surplus cash".
Elsewhere, Keywords Studios surged more than 60% after saying it was "minded to accept" a £2.2bn takeover proposal from Swedish private equity firm EQT Partners if it makes a firm offer.
Following press speculation over the weekend, Keywords confirmed it was in "advanced discussions" with a fund which is part of the EQT Group about a possible cash offer of 2,550p per share. This represents a 73% premium to the closing share price on Friday.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 8,443.38 0.27%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,833.96 0.41%
techMARK (TASX) 4,803.11 0.46%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Fresnillo (FRES) 636.50p 3.50%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 5,846.00p 1.42%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 2,397.00p 1.35%
Centrica (CNA) 146.25p 1.18%
Intermediate Capital Group (ICG) 2,288.00p 1.15%
Haleon (HLN) 332.70p 1.12%
Entain (ENT) 729.80p 1.08%
Glencore (GLEN) 502.00p 1.01%
BP (BP.) 495.65p 0.89%
Weir Group (WEIR) 2,138.00p 0.85%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Sage Group (SGE) 1,093.00p -1.18%
easyJet (EZJ) 485.10p -1.16%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 359.50p -0.99%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 1,950.00p -0.79%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,093.00p -0.64%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT) 4,567.00p -0.57%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 4,934.00p -0.40%
Spirax-Sarco Engineering (SPX) 9,240.00p -0.38%
CRH (CDI) (CRH) 6,446.00p -0.34%
Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 728.00p -0.27%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Kainos Group (KNOS) 1,164.00p 9.60%
Rathbones Group (RAT) 1,818.00p 3.65%
Savills (SVS) 1,148.00p 3.42%
TBC Bank Group (TBCG) 2,750.00p 3.38%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 145.60p 3.12%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 172.80p 2.86%
Octopus Renewables Infrastructure Trust (ORIT) 73.40p 2.66%
Baillie Gifford US Growth Trust (USA) 201.00p 2.34%
Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 2,515.00p 2.24%
Elementis (ELM) 150.00p 2.18%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Ascential (ASCL) 340.00p -37.97%
Foresight Group Holdings Limited NPV (FSG) 440.00p -2.65%
Witan Inv Trust (WTAN) 263.00p -1.87%
Target Healthcare Reit Ltd (THRL) 80.60p -1.59%
Moonpig Group (MOON) 154.00p -1.41%
Assura (AGR) 42.24p -1.26%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 551.50p -1.25%
ICG Enterprise Trust (ICGT) 1,196.00p -0.99%
Wetherspoon (J.D.) (JDW) 799.00p -0.93%
Discoverie Group (DSCV) 730.00p -0.82%