London’s FTSE 100 climbs to record high on energy, defence gains 

[LONDON] The UK’s FTSE 100 climbed to a record high on Tuesday (Jan 6), holding steady above the 10,000-point mark, with oil and defence stocks extending gains after US strikes on Venezuela over the weekend.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 rose 0.5 per cent to 10,057.56 points by 1012 GMT, after it topped the five-digit-point milestone for the first time last week.

Meanwhile, the domestically focused mid-cap index dipped 0.1 per cent, while the pan-European STOXX 600 index was up just 0.1 per cent.

The London benchmark’s new high came off the back of a strong 2025, when it outperformed Europe’s STOXX 600 and the US S&P 500, driven by gains in commodity-linked sectors and expectations of more monetary policy easing by the Bank of England.

Shell and BP rose 1.3 per cent and 0.8 per cent, respectively, after oil prices edged higher on Tuesday amid uncertainty around Venezuelan crude output following the US capture of President Nicolas Maduro.

The index of Aerospace and Defence was up 1.9 per cent, benefitting from escalating geopolitical tension, with Rolls-Royce climbing 2.1 per cent, and Babcock International and BAE Systems gaining 2.4 per cent and 1.8 per cent, respectively.

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Meanwhile, a Deloitte survey showed British company executives have grown slightly more optimistic after Finance Minister Rachel Reeves’ budget, with CFOs more willing to raise investment despite overall sentiment remaining muted.

Among individual stocks, Next was up 2.5 per cent as the fashion retailer reported a better-than-expected increase in full-price sales for the nine weeks to December 27 and increased its annual profit outlook for the fifth time over the last year.

Ocado was up 6.3 per cent after Worldpanel said the online supermarket group recorded the highest sales growth in the Christmas quarter. REUTERS