London open: FTSE dips in quiet pre-Christmas trade; BP in focus

(Sharecast News) - London stocks dipped in quiet trade early on Wednesday on what will be a shortened trading session ahead of the Christmas break, as investors continued to mull the latest US GDP figures. At 0840 GMT, the FTSE 100 was down 0.1% at 9,875.01.

Axel Rudolph senior technical analyst at IG, said: "Delayed US economic data painted a mixed but resilient picture, with GDP growth accelerating to a two-year high of 4.3% annualised in Q3 2025, well above expectations, supported by strong consumer spending, exports and government outlays.

"Solid job gains and a sharp rise in corporate profits reinforced the view that the Fed will hold rates steady in January and may delay further cuts, although weaker durable goods orders highlighted emerging pockets of softness in manufacturing."

Corporate news was unsurprisingly scarce, but BP gained after it confirmed the sale of a majority stake in its Castrol lubricants division to US infrastructure group Stonepeak in a deal that values the business at about $10bn including debt.

The energy giant is looking to make $20bn in divestments by 2027 in response to pressure from activist hedge fund Elliott Management, which wants the company to cut costs and lower debt. It started the sale process for Castrol in February.

Elsewhere, Metlen Energy rallied a day after completing the sale of its Chilean portfolio for $865m.

Morgan Stanley said in a research note that this marks one of the key asset sales and should help alleviate investor concerns on cash flow generation and deleveraging.

The bank, which rates Metlen at 'overweight', expects more progress on this front with the sale of the Australian and the UK portfolios, which are anticipated to be finalised in the near term.