British Equities Start Week on Positive Note; Auction Technology Group Surges

11:54 AM EST, 01/05/2026 (MT Newswires) -- UK stocks began the first full trading week of 2026 in the green, with the FTSE 100 closing 0.54% higher on Monday, led by mining and defense shares. On the economic front, Britain's M4 money supply gained 0.8% month over month in November 2025, reversing a 0.2% fall in the previous month, the Bank of England said, beating analysts' expectations for a 0.1% decrease. Moreover, net borrowing of consumer credit by individuals in the UK climbed to 2.08 billion pounds sterling in November 2025 from the revised 1.71 billion pounds a month earlier. Net mortgage approvals for house purchases came in at 64,530, compared with the revised 65,010 in the prior month and the expected 64,400. "[Mortgage approval] figures demonstrate the negative impact of the November Budget on the UK housing market," said RBC Capital Markets. "However, now the Budget is done and dusted we expect to see a strong spring selling season in 2026 as mortgage rates continue to fall and as those who had moving plans on hold put their plans back into action... With a shortage of existing homes on the market, we believe housebuilders are in a strong position to benefit from the increase in mortgage approvals and are likely to sell more homes." This week on the economic calendar, the new car sales data and the S&P Global composite PMI for December are due on Tuesday, while the construction PMI and the Halifax house price index reports will be released on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively. In corporate news, Auction Technology Group (ATG.L) zoomed up 24.07% after it turned down another takeover proposal of 3.6 pounds per share from funds managed by FitzWalter Capital. The curated auction marketplace received a total of 11 bids from FitzWalter, which were unanimously rejected by the board for fundamentally undervaluing the company. "ATG remains confident about achieving its ambitions as a publicly listed company and delivering significant shareholder value," said Auction Technology Group Chair Scott Forbes. "As a sector leader, ATG is in a strong position to extend its leadership and expand its footprint to capture more of the underserved and significant TAM for curated second-hand goods."