Earnings season is mostly done, so the tail end of summer means company news is somewhat thin. One significant change is afoot. On Aug. 25, FTSE Russell will publish its indicative quarterly changes to its FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 indexes. Last time around, Aberdeen ABDN was promoted, while Rightmove RMV was relegated from the main index after a housing-sector slump.
Otherwise, gold prices have started to rebound as global bond markets are pressured by massive AI debt sales, fiscal woes, and inflation concerns. One fund manager says the yellow metal is likely to continue rising.
FTSE Reshuffle: Who’s Up and Who’s Down?
This time, UK housebuilder Persimmon PSN is hovering at the bottom of the FTSE 100. The company’s stock is off 15% this year, trading around a pound below its fair value estimate of £12.80 per share.
Another relegation candidate is competitor Barratt Redrow BTRW, whose shares are down 18% this year. Notably, the firm has an activist investor on its case: Phoenix Asset Management is demanding share buybacks. The intervention has “improved the narrative around the stock and sector,” says Morningstar’s Jack Fletcher-Price. He adds that Phoenix’s forecast that the stock could be worth five times its current market value of £4 billion is on the optimistic end.
Index moves aside, London is still the focus of a mergers and acquisitions marathon. As private equity bids drive down the number of listed securities, attention turns to what might fill the gap.
The London Stock Exchange says investors have two new listings to look forward to in the next month. One is the new oil and gas acquisitions vehicle 1947 Oil & Gas. (Its name pays tribute to the year that the first-ever offshore oil well “beyond sight of land” was completed.) The other is textiles and materials conglomerate Aimia, which is already listed in Toronto. Both stocks will list on AIM, London’s junior market. 1947 expects to float with a small market cap of around £65 million.
Gold Outlook
Natural resources investment trust Baker Steel Resources was one of London’s best-performing trusts of 2025, and it’s up 71% so far in 2026 amid a rally in commodity stocks. Fund manager Mark Burridge recently wrote a piece on precious metals, which have fallen back after a strong start this year. He argues that the selloff is a “midcycle pullback,” rather than the start of an extended period of weakness. A natural resources manager would be expected to back the bullish argument, of course, but he notes that central banks buying gold remains a strong driver, with 289 tons bought in the second quarter. Burridge also notes a new cohort of gold buyers, including crypto firms such as stablecoin issuer Tether, which owns a former nuclear bunker in Switzerland to store it.
There’s also a link to soaring US debt, which hit USD 40 trillion this week. Burridge thinks US policymakers will dodge the issue, preferring to hold interest rates below inflation rather than tighten monetary policy. “History suggests governments facing excessive debt burdens rarely solve the problem through austerity,” Burridge says, predicting dollar weakness and “financial repression.” The weakening dollar limits the return savers and investors can achieve through interest, increasing the relative appeal of real assets like gold.
This Week’s Events
On Aug. 25, the UK Debt Management Office is due to auction £4 billion of UK government debt maturing in 2033.
The UK’s largest listed insurer, Prudential PRU, will release half-year results on Aug. 27.
Also on Aug. 27, the Office for National Statistics will publish data on economic activity in the labor market, with a focus on participation among young people.
