Good morning from London where the FTSE 100 is down very slightly so far, and there is plenty going on.
The top three losers so far today are all companies reporting results that the market haven’t been impressed by and its investment group ABRDN as well as mining giants Glencore and Anglo American taking the biggest beatings.
Continuing with that gloomy theme KPMG have published a report this morning that blames soggy weather for limiting UK retail growth in July. They say usually busy month for retailers was dampened by rainy conditions, as shoppers avoided buying summer outfits, limiting growth to a mere 1.5%, compared to three three-month average of 3.5%.
Returning to the stock market now and Holiday Inn owner InterContinental Hotels Group reported strong growth in interim revenue and profit this morning, after the post-pandemic rebound in travel continued.
Tough macroeconomic conditions have hit housebuilder Bellway too, which hinted structural changes could see two of its divisions shut with the loss of up to 90 jobs.
In ironic news, Zoom has ordered its staff back into the office for at least two days a week, and in small caps Tirupati Graphite is back on the board after a brief suspension and is coming out swinging this morning, saying its ready to meet future demand for flake graphite.
That’s all for this morning, see you again tomorrow