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Cobalt Holdings has said that it plans to list on the London market next month and that miner Glencore (GLEN.L) would be taking a 10% stake in the company.

In an announcement on Monday, Cobalt said that it was aiming to raise about $230m (£174.7m) from a global offer of shares and that it intended to make its initial public offering (IPO) on the London Stock Exchange in June.

The company was created primarily to buy and hold physical cobalt, aiming to give investors "pure-play" direct exposure to the price of the metal, which is used in renewable energy storage and electronic devices.

Cobalt said that Glencore had agreed to participate as a cornerstone investor, putting in about $24.3m, which would be the equivalent to around a 10% stake in the company following its admission onto the market.

Read more on Yahoo Finance UK

UK companies are increasingly targeting high-potential markets outside the EU, such as China, the US and Australia, while Ireland and Italy have fallen out of the top ten export destinations for the first time since 2022, according to a new report by Santander.

The research underscores a gradual but steady shift away from UK trade with the EU bloc toward more globally distributed trade relationships – though UK businesses will be paying close attention to a potential new UK-EU trade deal, which could reframe trading conditions within the bloc.

India is also back in focus following the signing of a new UK-India trade agreement, although 79% of UK firms currently trading with the market still face bureaucracy, inconsistency in policy, tax regime and industry regulations (34%) and difficulties finding trusted partners (32%).

Here's Bloomberg's take:

Gold prices fell on Monday as signs of easing trade tensions between the United States and China prompted investors to pivot away from safe-haven assets in favour of riskier bets.

Gold futures were down by 3.5% to $3,226.30 per ounce, while the spot gold price lost 2.8% to $3,234.59 per ounce.

The drop follows constructive trade discussions over the weekend that market participants interpreted as a potential turning point in strained relations between the world’s two largest economies.

China’s vice premier He Lifeng described the talks with US officials as “an important first step” in stabilising bilateral trade relations. US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent echoed that sentiment, saying the two sides had made “substantial progress.”

The more upbeat tone in trade diplomacy has eased fears over additional tariffs and contributed to the unwinding of positions in traditional safe-haven assets such as gold.

Nikos Tzabouras, senior market Analyst at Tradu.com, said: “Gold dips amid risk-on mood sparked by the US-China trade agreement that dulls demand for safe havens. The substantial rollback in duties, coupled with growing optimism about further trade deals with other partners, opens the door for a deeper pullback in gold prices.

“However, the relief may prove short-lived. The agreement represents a temporary pause, not a comprehensive resolution, and negotiations for a broader deal are expected to be more complex. As a result, trade uncertainty is likely to persist, potentially underpinning continued interest in gold as a hedge against geopolitical and economic volatility.”

Gold, which historically benefits during periods of economic and political uncertainty, also tends to perform well in low-interest rate environments. However, shifting expectations for US monetary policy and reduced geopolitical tensions have weighed on the metal in recent sessions.

On Friday, Cleveland Federal Reserve president Beth Hammack said the central bank needed more time to assess the economic fallout from Trump’s tariff measures before determining its policy response.

“In the near term, gold possibly [will] continue to decline as the dollar could appreciate and amid reducing geopolitical risk the haven demand too may drop hence, the yellow metal may decline to $3,200/oz in the near term,” Jigar Trivedi, senior commodity analyst at Reliance Securities, said.

Read more on Yahoo Finance UK

Yahoo Finance UK's Vicky McKeever writes:

The drop in Novo Nordisk (NOVO-B.CO) shares, as well as other pharmaceuticals stocks, came after president Trump vowed to cut US drug prices.

In a post on his social media platform Truth Social on Sunday, Trump said that he would be signing "one of the most consequential Executive Orders" in US history on Monday.

He said that US prescription drug and pharmaceutical prices would be reduced "almost immediately" by 30% to 80%.

Trump added: "They will rise throughout the World in order to equalize and, for the first time in many years, bring FAIRNESS TO AMERICA! I will be instituting a MOST FAVORED NATION’S POLICY whereby the United States will pay the same price as the Nation that pays the lowest price anywhere in the World."

Shares in FTSE-listed drugmakers AstraZeneca (AZN.L) and GSK (GSK.L) were down 4% and 2.4% respectively on Monday morning, while Swiss company Roche (ROG.SW) fell nearly 3% and French company Sanofi (SAN.PA) dipped 1.6%.

A handful of miners and investment firms are topping London's premier index, which is up 0.5% as of 10.15am. Companies at the top of the index include ⬆️:

• Glencore (GLEN.L)

• Standard Chartered (STAN.L)

• Anglo American (AAL.L)

• Antofagasta (ANTO.L)

• Polar Capital Technology Trust (PCT.L)

Meanwhile, bringing up the rear, are... other miners and pharmaceutical companies ⬇️:

• Fresnillo (FRES.L)

• Endeavour Mining (EDV.L)

• Hikma (HIK.L)

• AstraZeneca (AZN.L)

• United Utilities Group (UU.L)

Yahoo Finance UK's Pedro Goncalves writes:

Sterling weakened against the US dollar in early European trading on Monday, slipping 0.9% to $1.3177, as the greenback surged on renewed optimism following weekend trade talks between Washington and Beijing.

The US dollar index (DX-Y.NYB), which measures the greenback against a basket of six currencies, was up 1% to $101.32. The gains were driven by a weekend announcement from the United States that it had reached a preliminary trade deal with China after high-level negotiations in Switzerland, easing investor concerns about a potential recession in the world's largest economy.

Both sides said on Monday they would suspend 24% of additional ad valorem tariffs on goods from the other country for an initial period of 90 days, in a joint statement following trade talks in Geneva over the weekend.

The dollar's advance was further buoyed by the Federal Reserve's recent "hawkish pause" in interest rate policy, which supported expectations of tighter monetary conditions ahead and pushed the greenback to a one-month high.

"I suspect that talk of the demise of the US dollar as a reserve currency is premature and that we'll see a more normal trading pattern resume once we have some clarity around global trade," Michael McCarthy, chief executive officer of online trading platform Moomoo Australia, told Reuters.

"US inflation data is obviously going to be very important, and for the Aussie we'll be looking at the unemployment data this week, but I think it's trade talks that are very likely to dominate market action," he added.

The rate that UK businesses are laying people off gained pace in April, according to a new survey by the CIPD, with employer confidence levels at an all-time low following the legislated increase in National Insurance payments and rise in the national living wage.

The drop in confidence levels was matched by the fall to a record low, outside the pandemic, in the number of UK employers expecting to up headcount in the next three months. CIPD records go back to 2014.

Stock futures on Wall Street surged on Monday as the US cited "substantial progress" in trade negotiations with China, raising hopes of a potential deescalation in tensions between the world’s two largest economies.

Dow Jones Industrial Average (YM=F) futures rose by over 480 points, or 1.2%, while S&P 500 (ES=F) futures advanced 1.6%. Nasdaq 100 (NQ=F) futures led gains with a 2.2% jump.

The market-friendly momentum followed a weekend of high-level trade talks in Switzerland, which Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called "productive." While details remain scarce, Bessent promised further clarity during a briefing on Monday.

The rally in futures comes after a downbeat week for stocks. All three major indexes fell last week, with the Dow snapping a two-week winning streak in the latest volatile action on Wall Street.

Hello from London. Lucy Harley-McKeown here, ready to bring updates on the latest finance and markets news of the day.

This morning is relatively light on economic updates. Market watchers will have one eye on developments in president Donald Trump's trade negotiations as well as movements towards peace in the Russia-Ukraine war.

Let's get to it.