Early market roundup: Stocks higher ahead of UK manufacturing PMI

European stocks were higher on Monday morning, with FTSE 250’s Kainos jumping after it reported that it delivered sequential improvement since April.

The FTSE 100 index opened up 28.73 points, 0.3%, at 9,216.07. The FTSE 250 was up 50.91 points, 0.2%, at 21,656.63, and the AIM All-Share was up 5.37 points, 0.7%, at 769.47.

The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.2% at 924.54, the Cboe UK 250 was up 0.1% at 18,994.80, and the Cboe Small Companies was up 0.4% at 17,325.33.

UK annual house price growth softened in August as affordability concerns continue to weigh on buyers, data from Nationwide showed on Monday.

The Nationwide house price index showed a 0.1% monthly decline in seasonally adjusted UK house prices in August, weakening from 0.5% growth a month earlier. This underperformed against an FXStreet-cited consensus of 0.2% growth.

In August, the average non-seasonally adjusted UK house price stood at £271,079, falling from £272,664 in July. Annually, the house price index rose by 2.1%, slowing from 2.4% growth a month earlier.

The pound was quoted up at $1.3517 early on Monday in London, compared to $1.3510 at the equities close on Friday. The euro stood higher at $1.1717, against $1.1699. Against the yen, the dollar was trading up at JP¥147.14 compared to JP¥146.92.

In European equities on Monday, both the CAC 40 in Paris and the DAX 40 in Frankfurt advanced 0.5%.

European Central Bank chief Christine Lagarde voiced concern Monday about the risks of the French government collapsing, warning that political turmoil in any eurozone country weighs on markets. Lagarde was responding to a French radio question about a September 8 confidence vote that could topple the minority government of Prime Minister Francois Bayrou.

‘All risks of government collapse in any eurozone country are worrying,’ Lagarde told Radio Classique.

‘Political developments, and the emergence of political risks, have an obvious impact on the economy, on how financial markets assess country risk, and are therefore a concern for us,’ she said.

Bayrou stunned France last week by calling a confidence vote following months of deadlock over his government’s plans to slash France’s mounting public debt.

Leading London’s FTSE 250, Kainos jumped 14%.

The London-based Workday partner and provider of IT services to public sector, commercial, and healthcare customers said it delivered a sequential improvement in the period from April 1 to date, building on a ‘solid’ fourth-quarter 2025 performance.

As a result, Kainos now expects revenue for the financial year ending March 31 at the upper end of the consensus range of forecasts of £378.0 million to £393.4 million, which would be growth of as much as 7.1% from £367.2 million the year prior.

The company said it is maintaining a ‘prudent’ outlook and anticipates delivering adjusted pretax profit in line with current consensus forecasts of £65.1 million to £74.7 million, growth of as much as 14% from £65.6 million the year prior.

Domino’s Pizza rose 4.2%, as the pizza brand on Monday launched a share buyback programme for up to £20 million. The programme is given no specific end date, but the company said it will be reviewed later in the year.

Domino’s said its expectations for 2025 remain unchanged from the time of its interim results, except that it now expects higher year-end net debt.

Early in August, the company lowered its annual guidance, citing ‘weak’ consumer confidence. It guided underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation of £130 million to £140 million. This would be down from £143.4 million in 2024. It also had guided year-end net debt of £260 million to £280 million but on Monday says it now expects this to be £280 million to £300 million.

At the other end, Team Internet fell 5.5%.

The London-based internet services company swung to pretax loss of $14.6 million for the six months that ended June 30, from $14.4 million in profit the year before. Revenue slumped 36% to $263.9 million from $409.7 million.

This reflected the firm’s planned transition away from legacy AdSense for Domains monetisation within its Search segment, Team Internet said. The board remains ‘confident’ in its outlook.

In Asia on Monday, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo shed 1.2%. In China, the Shanghai Composite improved 0.5%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong rose 2.1%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed down 0.5%.

In the US on Friday, Wall Street ended lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average edging down 0.2%, the S&P 500 falling 0.6% and the Nasdaq Composite fading 1.2%. US financial markets are closed on Monday for Labor Day.

The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was quoted at 4.23%, widening from 4.22%. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury was quoted at 4.92%, stretching from 4.89%.

‘US equity markets ended the week on a mixed note, with most major indexes closing modestly lower as investors entered the long Labor Day holiday weekend. Trading activity was relatively subdued, although small-cap stocks stood out: Russell 2000 posted its third consecutive week of gains, outperforming the S&P 500. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones Industrial Average touched a new record high midweek before retreating into negative territory by Friday‘s close,’ commented DHF Capital analyst Bas Kooijman.

Kooijman continued: ‘Political developments also weighed on sentiment. President Donald Trump announced the dismissal of Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook, citing allegations of mortgage fraud. Cook has filed a lawsuit to block the move, raising questions over the independence of the Fed.

‘Meanwhile, Fed Governor Christopher Waller reiterated his call for a 25-basis-point interest rate cut in September and signaled that further cuts could follow over the next six months, citing increased risks to the labor market and slowing economic activity.’

Brent oil was quoted up at $67.77 a barrel early in London on Monday from $67.41 late Friday. Gold was quoted higher at $3,470.60 an ounce against $3,445.38.

Still to come on Monday’s economic calendar, UK manufacturing PMI data shortly, as well as eurozone unemployment figures, and UK mortgage approvals data.

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