Equities listed in London exhibited stability on Monday as investors took a moment to reassess following a recent upswing, while HSBC experienced a decline after the lending giant announced that its quarterly results would be adversely affected due to a partial loss in a court appeal in Luxembourg. HSBC declined 1% after it said it will report a $1.1 billion provision in its third-quarter results, due on Tuesday, after losing part of an appeal tied to Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme. The broader banks index, however, traded flat.

More broadly, both the internationally-focused FTSE 100 and the domestically-focused FTSE 250 inched up 0.1% each as of 1208. The FTSE 100 reached unprecedented heights last week, while the FTSE 250 achieved levels not observed in nearly four years, as indications of easing price pressures heightened anticipations of forthcoming interest rate reductions by the Bank of England. “The market has had a good run and after the sort of sudden outbreak of popular enthusiasm about the UK with the CPI figures last week, hopes are that maybe we have turned a corner,” said Chris Beauchamp.

“There is a discernible sense of optimism regarding the UK; while it may not be overwhelming, individuals are nonetheless recognizing significant value in the index.” Global sentiment improved on the anticipation of the U.S. finalizing a trade agreement with China, resulting in a nearly 2% decline in safe-haven assets like gold. UK-listed precious metal miners also lost 3.1%. Among mid-caps, Goodwin surged 33% to a record high after the mechanical engineering company forecast annual profit above expectations and declared an unexpected one-off interim dividend.

Convenience food manufacturer Greencore dropped 2% after Britain’s competition regulator stated that the proposed 1.2 billion pound merger with peer Bakkavor might harm competition in the supply of own-label chilled sauces. In the interim, the trade organization reported that British manufacturers are currently allocating the lowest investment in new equipment relative to their sales since 2017. They have called on the government to simplify tax incentives in the upcoming annual budget next month.