Jan 5 (Reuters) - London's FTSE 100 hovered near the 10,000 mark on Monday, underpinned by gains in precious metal miners and defence stocks after U.S. military strikes in Venezuela sparked
FTSE 100 Surpasses 10,000 Mark on Mining, Defence Boost
Jan 5 (Reuters) - The UK's FTSE 100 closed above the 10,000 mark for the first time on Monday, supported by gains in precious metal miners and in defence stocks after the U.S. capture of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 - which first hit the symbolic mark during trading on Friday - closed up 0.5% at 10,004.57 points, while the domestically focused mid-cap index added 0.8% to hit its highest since late October.
The London benchmark's new highs came off the back of a strong 2025 where it outperformed Europe's STOXX 600 and the U.S. S&P 500, primarily due to strong gains in commodity-linked sectors and expectations of more monetary policy easing by the Bank of England.
Monday's moves were broadly in line with European peers, with the STOXX 600 and the S&P 500 up around 1% each.
Safe havens such as gold and silver surged. An index tracking precious metal miners -which was among the top sector performers in 2025 [GOL/] - rose by 4.6%.
Geopolitical uncertainty also lifted aerospace and defence stocks by 3.8%, with BAE Systems and Babcock International up more than 5% each, while Chemring <CHG.L> added 4.1%.
Oil prices were higher in choppy trading as investors assessed the implications of the headlines from oil-producing Venezuela. Heavyweight energy stocks Shell and BP closed slightly lower.
Among individual stocks, Ashmore closed 6.7% higher, though well off its highs. The emerging markets fund manager holds Venezuelan debt that rallied following Maduro's capture.
Online auction operator Auction Technology jumped 25% after the company rejected several buyout proposals from top shareholder FitzWalter Capital, saying they significantly undervalue the company.
Bunzl fell 1% after brokerage Exane BNP Paribas downgraded its rating on the business supplies distributor to "neutral" from "outperform".
(Reporting by Tharuniyaa Lakshmi in Bengaluru; Editing by Leroy Leo and Andrew Heavens)
