London stocks were set for a flat open on Monday at the start of a busy week that will see earnings from four of the 'Magnificent Seven' across the pond and the last policy announcement from the Federal Reserve, as gold prices jumped past $5,000 an ounce for the first time
The FTSE 100 was called to open steady at 10,143.
Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote, said: "Gold surged past the $5,000 mark early Monday - a clear signal that risk appetite has not returned. Silver, which had already broken through the $100 level on Friday, continues to push higher.
"US and European equity futures are lower this morning, while FTSE futures outperform - holding roughly flat - as sustained inflows into precious metals support mining stocks.
"What's striking is that this renewed flight to safe havens is unfolding without any major geopolitical headline this morning. There has been no new escalation over the weekend - no fresh breach of international law, no invasion, no immediate military threat. The US did, however, threaten Canada with 100% tariffs, after Mark Carney approached China last week, defying the White House - a reminder that trade tensions remain alive and well. Beyond that, the news flow is thin. Yet the bid for precious metals suggests that market stress is far from over."
Investors will also be mulling a survey out earlier showing that private sector activity continued to weaken in the three months to January, weighing on sentiment.
According to the Confederation of British Industry's latest growth indicator, private sector activity fell in the three months to January, with a balance of -33, largely unchanged on December's -34. All sub-sectors reported falling activity, the CBI noted.
The weak performance also weighed on expectations, with activity forecast to continue faltering in the coming months.
The balance for activity expectations over the next three months was -20, although it was an improvement on December's -30.
The most pessimistic were consumer services providers, with a balance of -38 expecting business volumes to decline over the next three months. Professional services firms were more confident, with a balance of -11, giving the overall sector a balance of -16.
Away from the dominant services sector, business volumes in the distribution and manufacturing sectors were also slated to fall, with balances of -37 and -14 respectively.
Alpesh Paleja, CBI deputy chief economist, said: "The UK economy has not experienced a strong start to 2026.
"While there are tentative signs of stabilisation and resilience in some specific areas, the big picture remains similar to much of last year: businesses remain cautious, households are downtrading and confidence is still fragile.
"Recent geopolitical tensions will only have added to uncertainty at the margin.
"Worrying, our latest surveys show that persistently weak growth expectations are now accompanied by an uptick in price pressures, at a time when inflation is already uncomfortably high."
In corporate news, Spire Healthcare confirmed that private equity firms Bridgepoint and Triton are among the parties in talks with the company "in the context of the strategic review announced on 18 September 2025".
Spire said the discussions remain at a preliminary stage and there can be no certainty that any offer will be made for the group nor as to the terms of any such offer.
GSK said the European Commission has approved its respiratory syncytial virus vaccine for use in all adults.
The vaccine, called Arexvy, was already authorised for people aged 60 and above, as well as for those who are aged 50 and over and are at increased risk of RSV.
But the Commission has now given the drug the green light for all adults aged 18 plus.
An average of 158,000 adults are hospitalised due to RSV infections every year, GSK noted.
Elsewhere, residential landlord Grainger said its property joint venture with Transport for London has agreed to forward fund and buy a 195-home rental project at Chiswick Reach in West London to be developed in partnership by Barratt Redrow.
The £68.4m purchase price for the scheme will be split 51:49 between Grainger and TfL.