London pre-open: Stocks to edge up in quiet trade; FOMC minutes in focus

30th Dec 2025 07:33

(Sharecast News) - London stocks were set to edge up at the open on Tuesday, with little in the way of news to move markets as we head towards the New Year, although investors will eye the latest minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee.

The FTSE 100 was called to open around 10 points higher.

There are no UK data points due, but in the US, S&P/Case Shiller house prices for October are due at 1400 GMT, while the Chicago PMI for December is at 1445 GMT. The FOMC minutes will be released at 1900 GMT.

In corporate news, grocery technology firm Ocado said that mutual exclusivity had now ended with retailers in the majority of markets where its technology was currently live, including the USA with Kroger.

Ocado expects to roll off exclusivity arrangements by the end of the year in the majority of markets, enabling it to bring its "proven and much evolved technology offering" back to market in many of the largest grocery markets.

Lion Finance Group said Mikheil Gomarteli, deputy CEO and head of payments at its Bank of Georgia subsidiary, was stepping down from executive roles on 1 January after 28 years with the business.

Gomarteli will remain in a non-executive role across the group's various subsidiaries. Former bank executive Levan Kobakhidze has rejoined as Bank of Georgia's new head of payments after two years at Wells Fargo in New York.

Elsewhere, Edinburgh Worldwide Investment Trust hit back at demands by Saba Capital Management to replace its entire board, calling for the major stakeholder to be open about its intentions.

Over the past year, Saba, which owns just under 30% of EWIT, has been campaigning to remove all of EWIT's independent board directors and replace them with its own three US-based directors.

On Tuesday, EWIT published an open letter, saying Saba must provide shareholders with "full transparency and clarity" about whether it intends to change the investment manager (currently Baillie Gifford) and the investment strategy.