Blue chips began 2026 in positive fashion on Friday, although the FTSE 100 closed well below early highs which saw the index cross 10,000 for the first time.

The FTSE 100 index closed up 19.76 points, 0.2%, at 9,951.14.

It had earlier traded as high as 10,046.25, a record intraday level.

The FTSE 250 index ended up 61.17 points, 0.3%, at 22,409.21, and the Aim All-Share index closed up 2.44 points, 0.3%, at 768.83.

Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell, said: “Breaking through the 10,000 level is the best new year’s present Chancellor Rachel Reeves could want.

“She has been banging the drum about the merits of investing over parking cash in the bank, and the FTSE 100’s achievements just go to show what’s possible when buying UK shares.

“It also proves to cynics that the UK market is not stuck in the mud, and that the US stock market is not the only place to make money.”

Mr Coatsworth pointed out it has only been 171 days since the FTSE 100 hit 9,000, “so exceeding 10,000 at the start of 2026 makes it a record-breaking leap”.

“Previously, the fastest jump in blocks of 1,000 happened when the FTSE 100 went from 5,000 to 6,000, which took 229 days in the late 90s,” he said.

Jemma Slingo, pensions and investment specialist at Fidelity International thinks there could be more advances to come.

“Despite the milestone, valuations remain attractive – the FTSE 100 still trades at a discount to the US and Europe, even as sentiment towards UK companies improves,” she said.

“With around a quarter of FTSE 100 revenues coming from the US, investors are gaining exposure to global growth at a discount – and with a healthy dividend yield to match.”

Rolls-Royce, a top performer in 2025, was a prominent riser, up 4.1%, while another leading light in 2025, Airtel Africa, climbed a further 1.8%.

But Endeavour Mining, another star performer in 2025, shed 5.7% after Mali and Burkina Faso said they will bar US citizens from entering their countries in response to a similar move by the Trump administration.

The two West African states were recently placed under full entry restrictions under US President Donald Trump’s expanded travel ban.

Endeavour Mining primarily operates in West Africa and has significant gold mining assets in Burkina Faso.

With corporate news thin on the ground, the main early focus in London was on figures on house prices and manufacturing activity.

The final S&P Global UK manufacturing purchasing managers’ index rose to 50.6 points in December from 50.2 in November, a 15-month high, although below the earlier flash estimate of 51.2 points.

Chris Barlow, head of manufacturing at accountants MHA said the data confirmed that “at long last the UK manufacturing sector can look forward to 2026 with modest, albeit patchy, confidence”, following an increase in November and further improvement in December.

Meanwhile, the Nationwide house price index showed UK house price growth cooled to 0.6% year-on-year in December from 1.8% in November.

It is the slowest pace of annual growth since April 2024 and below FXStreet consensus which forecast an increase of 1.2%.

The building society said house prices fell 0.4% in December on-month, reversing a 0.3% gain in November and compared to market consensus which predicted a 0.1% rise.

Housebuilders were mixed after the report, with Barratt Redrow down 0.6% but Berkeley Group up 0.7%.

In European equities on Friday, the CAC 40 in Paris closed up 0.6% and the DAX 40 ended up 0.2% in Frankfurt.

Data showed the eurozone’s manufacturing sector contracted more than expected in December, hitting a nine-month low.

The final Hamburg Commercial Bank eurozone manufacturing purchasing managers’ index, compiled by S&P Global, fell to 48.8 points in December from 49.6 in November, pushing it further below the 50.0-point no-change mark.

The figure came in below the 49.2 flash reading reported in December.

The pound was quoted at 1.3491 dollars at the time of the London equities close on Friday, up from 1.3463 dollars at Wednesday’s close.

The euro was lower at 1.1745 dollars from 1.1754 dollars.

Against the yen, the dollar was trading at 156.64 yen, up slightly from 156.62 yen.

Stocks in New York were mixed at the time of the London close on Friday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.3%, the S&P 500 was flat and the Nasdaq Composite down 0.2%.

Tesla shares fell 1.3% as it reported lower sales than expected in the fourth quarter of 2025, ceding its position as the world’s biggest electric vehicle company in annual sales to Chinese auto giant BYD.

The American company led by Elon Musk logged 418,227 deliveries in the final three months of the year, taking its full-year sales figure to around 1.64 million EVs.

A day prior, BYD reported that it sold 2.26 million EVs last year.

Analysts had expected a more moderate decline in Tesla’s fourth-quarter sales, to 449,000 deliveries, according to a FactSet consensus.

The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was quoted at 4.19% on Friday, stretched from 4.11% on Wednesday.

The yield on the US 30-year Treasury was at 4.87%, widened from 4.80%.

Back in London, Spire Healthcare rose 1.1% after Sky News reported that the company has set a deadline for potential acquirers to signal takeover interest.

Boku rose 5.5% after launching a share buyback of up to 5% of its stock, saying the board believes the current valuation undervalues the business.

Brent oil was lower at 60.09 dollars a barrel at the time of the London equities close on Friday, down from 61.56 dollars late on Wednesday.

Gold was higher at 4,320.16 dollars an ounce at Friday’s close, against 4,315.0 dollars on Wednesday.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Rolls Royce, up 47.0 pence at 1,197.0p, Burberry Group, up 47.5 pence at 1,316.5p, Melrose Industries, up 21.6p at 610.0p, Centrica, up 4.8p at 174.3p and St James’s Place, up 39.0p at 1,423.5p.

The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Endeavour Mining, down 222.0p at 3,650.0p, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, down 222.0p at 6,570.0p, Sage Group, down 33.0p at 1,050.0p, Pearson, down 30.5p at 1,019.5p and Games Workshop, down 480.0p at 18,440.0p.

There are no local corporate events scheduled for Monday.

Later in the week, trading updates are due from retailers Next, Tesco, J Sainsbury and Marks & Spencer.

Monday’s global economic calendar has UK mortgage approvals data and the US ISM manufacturing PMI.

Later in the week, eurozone inflation figures and the US jobs report will be published.

– Contributed by Alliance News.