- FTSE 100 rises 42 points to 8225
- Auto Trader zooms to new all-time high
- Dr Martens strides higher as numbers not as awful as expected
2.47pm: US stocks fall, UK rebounds
US stocks have opened lower but the Footsie is continuing to hold its nerve in the green.
The Dow Jones has fallen 345 points or 0.9% in initial trades to just under 38,100.
Salesforce is the biggest drag, down 18% after reporting earnigs after the closing bell overnight, with weak guidance concerning investors and analysts.
Microsoft, Amazon and IBM are the other major fallers, down 1.6%, 1.1%, 0.8% respectively.
The broader S&P 500 index dropped 0.27% and the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.19%.
Closer to home the FTSE 100 index is up 42 points or 0.5% at 8,225, while the FTSE 250 has stormed 260 points higher or 1.3% to 20,696.
2.24pm: Dollar falls after US data dump
European markets have remained in the green, with the FTSE 100 looking like breaking its six-day losing streak, after a torrent of US economic data and earnings.
The pound has risen tough, up 0.16% against the dollar to $1.2720.
Among the macro from across the pond, US GDP in the first quarter was up 1.3% quarter-on-quarter on an annualised basis, according to the second estimate, down from 1.6% in the first estimate as expected and the 3.4% growth in the fourth quarter.
The estimate of the core PCE deflator came in at 3.6% quarter-on-quarter versus 3.7% expected.
US initial jobless claims for last week came in at 219k, just above the 217k estimate and the prior week's 215k. The May non-farm payrolls report is due next Friday.
The US dollar index fell from 105.15 to 104.77.
US stock futures also pared losses slightly.
1pm: European markets up, US futures down
The FTSE 100 and wider European markets are moving higher as the US wakes up, even though Wall Street equity futures are indicating a lower start amid a swathe of retail sector earnings.
London's benchmark index is up 29 points or 0.35% to 8212, while its mid-cap sibling is up 183 points or 0.9% to 20,619.
Elsewhere, the DAX is back above the flatline after dipping earlier, with the biggest gains for Italy's FTSE MIB, up 0.6%.
The wider Euro Stoxx 600 is up 0.25%.
Dow Jones futures are pointing to a decline of 0.9%, with S&P 500 futures down 0.4% and those for the Nasdaq 100 falling 0.3%, according to our US market report.
Kohl's shares are down 21% premarket after the department store group reported a Q1 loss and, with revenues disappointing and much bigger losses than forecast.
Going the other way, Foot Locker stock has jumped 14% after earnings surpassed expectations as the sneaker retailer continued its turnaround plan.
12.03pm: Anglo should not ditch Yorkshire fertiliser mine, say MPs
Anglo American PLC (LSE:AAL) should rethink its plan to cut investment in the Woodsmith fertiliser project in North Yorkshire, local politicians have said as the company holds an internal meeting to discuss details on how work is to slow down.
As part of its rejection of a takeover proposal from Australia's BHP, the FTSE 100 group said it would sell De Beers and its platinum arm and regroup around copper and iron ore, also retaining its Crop Nutrients division.
A local Tory MP said the polyhalite mine "should not be used as a sacrificial lamb to fend off a takeover".
11.59am: RB Leeds?
Red Bull has bought into Leeds United Football Club, though the size of the equity investment in the second-tier club was not disclosed.
LUFC said the deal "brings in new commercial revenues as well as additional capital investment for a minority ownership stake that will further enable the club to compete on and off the pitch".
There was no detail regarding future ties to the Red Bull Football Group, though unlike RB Leipzig, FC Red Bull Salzburg and New York Red Bulls, the club said it will not result in any change to the club’s name or logo.
11.40am: Virgin Galactic shares flying too low for NYSE
Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc (NYSE:SPCE) said last night that it has plans in place to prevent it being ejected from the New York Stock Exchange, after its price fell below the required minimum.
The NYSE sent a message yesterday warning the space tourism group that the average closing share price was below $1.00 over 30 consecutive trading days, which is required for continued listing on the exchange.
Virgin Galactic told the NYSE that it intends to resolve this by getting approval at its annual stockholders meeting next month to complete a reverse stock split.
11.25am: Russia promises 'consequences' for 'escalation'
Some words from Russia that don't seem to bode well.
The Kremlin says the US and NATO have escalated tensions around Ukraine in recent weeks and appear determined to continue fighting Russia, Reuters is reporting.
Kremlin says such escalation will have consequences for the interests of the countries stirring tension.
Financial markets seem little moved.
11.10am: Flight demand rises
Passenger demand was up 11% in April, according to industry data.
The April load factor (how full planes were) was 82.4%, up one percentage point compared to April 2023, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) says.
Total capacity last month, measured in available seat kilometers (ASK), was up 9.6% year-on-year.
Airline stocks are in green (though most of them were earlier anyway), though Lufthansa has picked up.
10.58am: Another view on eurozone data
Rory Fennessy at Oxford Economics says the eurozone's economic sentiment indicator "offers some encouraging signals that growth in the eurozone is becoming more broad-based, even if services are continuing to outperform manufacturing".
The rise chimes with recent PMI data "and suggests that the eurozone's recovery is gaining traction", he says.
"We expect the eurozone economy will expand again in Q2 and growth should pick up further in the second half of 2024."
10.49am: Weak growth in Europe
The EC business and consumer survey points to weak economic growth and easing price pressures, says Lily Millard, assistant economist at Capital Economist.
"The EC business and consumer survey for May is consistent with weak growth in euro-zone GDP, while price pressures are still strong but are continuing to ease. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate ticked down in April, and we expect it to hover around its current level for the remainder of the year."
She said policymakers can take some comfort in the fact that selling price expectations have fallen, with selling price expectations for the manufacturing sector increasing slightly but in line with the long-run average, while services prices declined to their lowest level since August 2021.
"That said, the labour market still looks tight, with other data published today showing that the unemployment rate ticked down to a new record low of 6.4% in April. So wage growth and services inflation are likely to come down only gradually."
10.36am: European data improving
Euro zone labour market and economic confidence data has come out, both improving.
Unemployment in April unexpectedly fell to a record low of 6.4% from 6.5% previously, having not been expected to change.
Economic confidence rose to 96 this month, up from 95.6 in April, largely as expected.
The consumer confidence index remained at -14.3, while services confidence was unchanged and industrial confidence ticked up to -9.9 from -10.5 but not quite to the -9.6 consensus estimate.
10.31am: Rate-sensitive sectors lead FTSE rebound
Asked why the Footsie has recovered from a sluggish start to today’s trading session, Chris Peters, trading floor manager at Accendo Markets says: "Interest rate sensitive sectors are currently in the green, the housebuilders, banking stocks & insurers are broadly higher.
"This could be an indication that investors are betting on inflation slowing and the potential of interest rate cuts being sooner rather than later, despite some hawkish tones from the Federal Reserve over the past week."
For the next big potential macro triggers for markets, he says traders will focus on the US GDP read-out at 1.30pm today and tomorrow's personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index numbers.
10.13am: Royal Mail break up could be prevented, says Hunt
Speaking on the radio this morning, Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt backed the overseas takeover of Royal Mail's owner and said the promises made by Daniel Kretinsky not to break up the group could be extended.
After his £3.6 billion takeover offer for International Distributions Services PLC (LSE:IDS) was accepted this week, 'Czech Sphinx' Kretinsky's EP Group has offered legally binding undertakings to not sell off the more profitable GLS parcels arm and leave the struggling UK letters business behind.
Kretinsky guaranteed to keep the group together for three years, which led to the thought that Royal Mail would be broken up after that time has passed.
Hunt said this pledge should be examined by regulators "very carefully" but added that "three years is a very long time".
10am: FTSE and European markets in the green
European markets are pretty much all in the green now, having started Thursday in negative territory.
The FTSE 100 is now up 0.2% above the 8200 mark again, while Germany's DAX is up 0.1% and the CAC 40 in Paris up 0.3%.
Biggers gains in Italy and Spain, with the FTSE MIB up 0.5% and IBEX 35 surging 1.15%.
The wider Stoxx 600 is up 0.27%.
"European markets dug their heels in and tried to stop the declines that dominated yesterday’s headlines," says Dan Coatsworth, investment analyst at AJ Bell.
"Stability is welcome, but pre-market indicative prices point to another bad day on Wall Street so the jury is still out whether today is going to end up being another difficult session for equities or not."
He notes that ex-dividneds this morning were a big dent on the Footsie, Thursday being the day when companies begin trading without the right to their next dividend.
On this ‘ex-dividend’ day, Coca-Cola HBC, Centrica, Marks & Spencer and Severn Trent were all weak today.
9.34am: Auto Trader impresses analysts
"It’s hard not to be impressed with Auto Trader's rise since its 2015 IPO," says analyst Mark Crouch at eToro.
"The UK's largest online automotive marketplace has been shifting through the gears, generating increasing returns for its shareholders while showing no sign of slowing down."
"Auto Trader has made itself indispensable to buyers and sellers in recent years. With at least 80% of buyers using Auto Trader, this has resulted in franchise retailers, manufacturers and private sellers turning to Auto Trader as a matter of course."
Peel Hunt analyst Jessica Pok says both revenue and EPS beat forecasts by 4%, driven by strong growth in the core classifieds business.
"We view this as a strong set of results despite ongoing macro uncertainties, which is testament to Auto Trader's resilient model. However, with the shares on [23 times forecast earnings], we believe the valuation is full."
UBS said
9.25am: Bins binned, newspaper ads up
Rounding up some of the other stories around this morning, Renewi PLC has agreed to pay a net £57 million to exit UK bin collections with the business to be sold to private equity-owned rival Biffa.
On a cash basis, the total is even higher at £154 million including transaction and “capitalisation” costs. The shares are down 1%.
Shares in Scotsman and Yorkshire Post owner National World PLC shares are up over 12% following a trading update that showed half-year print advertising sales surged 22%.
De La Rue PLC (LSE:DLAR) is up 4% after posting a strategic update revealing its authentication division over £150 million of contracts.
Fire Angel Safety Technology Group PLC (AIM:FA.) is up 22% after saying its takeover can go ahead after final approvals under the National Security and Investment Act.
Overnight, the US Justice Department announced the successful dismantling of the "world’s largest ever botnet" and the arrest of its administrator, after the cyber network had infected over 19 million IP addresses, enabling widespread fraud, cyber-attacks and more.
9.03am: Stop press - stocks rise
The FTSE 100 has now broken into positive territory, joining the mid caps in the green for the first time in over a week.
It's just a three little points at the moment, but it suggests the market has reached a level it may be happy with - though we don't want to jump to conclusions.
Over half (58) of the index's 100 shares are in green at the moment.
Mid-caps are pushing higher too, with Dr Martens marching at the front of the FTSE 250 index, which is up 50 points at 20,486.
8.57am: Housing market data
House prices this month were down 0.1% on average compared to a year ago, according to Zoopla's house price index for May.
However, housing supply improved with the number of homes available for sale in UK reaching the highest level in eight years, apparently (though to me this seems hard to believe, judging by numbers of 'for sale' signs in the street).
There were also more sales agreed, which means market activity "continues to improve", the online housing market platform operator says.
"There remains a clear divide between continued small annual price falls across southern England and the rest of the UK, where house prices are posting modest gains," said Zoopla research director Richard Donnell.
8.41am: FTSE 100 pares losses
Stop press! The Footsie is almost flat, down just one point.
Auto Trader, up 12% to a new all time high, is helping things, while banks are doing some lifting to offset losses for miners and other commodity stocks.
8.24am: Dr Martens surprisingly higher
While London's blue-chip index is down, the mid-caps of the FTSE 250 are up.
Striding to the top is Dr Martens PLC (LSE:DOCS), up 6.3%, so those 'gets a kicking' headlines are kept for another day.
This is despite the final results being "largely as billed, coming in just below our forecasts", analysts at Peel Hunt say.
Net debt was lower than anticipated, they add, however, which presents an opportunity to deliver a £40 million stock reduction in the new fiscal year for debt alleviation, while a new cost-saving initiative worth £20-25 million was also announced.
"Further guidance has been provided, though it is unlikely to alter market expectations."
8.11am: FTSE opens lower again
No surprises, the FTSE 100 has got off to another rough start, on track to extend its losing streak to a seventh day.
In early trades, the index has dropped 14 points to 8169.
If it finishes in the red this will be the worst run since August last year, when the index fell for eight days, and before that the nine-day pandemic crash in May 2019.
Miners such as Anglo American, after suitor BHP walked away, along with Antofagasta and Rio Tinto are prominent among the fallers, while utilities such as Severn Trent and Centrica are also near the bottom as they go ex-dividend, along with Coca-Cola HBC and Marks & Spencer .
Top of the leaderboard is Auto Trader after its results beat expectations, with the shares up 7% so far.
British Airways owner IAG is up after being hit yesterday when transatlantic partner American Airlines cut forecasts.
8.01am: Shell and Exxon to sell North Sea gas fields
Shell PLC (LSE:SHEL, NYSE:SHEL) and Exxon Mobil are reportedly close to sealing a £394 million deal to sell their jointly-owned gas fields in the southern North Sea to British producer Viaro Energy.
This potential sale includes the Clipper and Leman Alpha field clusters. The move is part of a broader trend of major oil and gas companies exiting the ageing North Sea basin to focus on newer, more profitable ventures.
If the deal goes ahead would see Exxon mark a complete exit from the North Sea.
7.57am: Auto Trader says new car discounting is returning
FTSE 100-listed Auto Trader Group PLC (LSE:AUTO) has reported results that look ahead of expectations, showing revenue revved up 14% and operating profit vrooming 26% higher.
Core revenue grew 12% and operating profit 14%, with operating profit margins expanding, as the company said both its marketplace and competitive position have strengthened in the past 12 months, with record numbers of buyers and sellers.
"The used car retail market has been robust throughout the financial year, which we expect to continue. Demand is resilient with cars continuing to sell faster than before the pandemic and used car supply has gradually improved," the company says.
The new car retail market has been "more challenging and discounting has started to return", however, but it still sees the structural changes in this market as a "significant opportunity".
7.44am: Dr Martens sales nosedive
Shares in Dr Martens PLC (LSE:DOCS) are likely to get a kicking later, after it posted expectedly poor full-year results, with revenues and profits down. coming in worse than initially expected.
Chief executive Kenny Wilson said the results “reflect continued weak USA consumer demand”. He announced a group-wide “cost action plan” intended to save up to £25 million.
7.29am: Nightcap walks away from Revolution
Nightcap PLC (AIM:NGHT) said it will not pursue Revolution Bars Group PLC (AIM:RBG) any further after its takeover proposal was rejected earlier this week.
The Cocktail Club and Dirty Martini owner expressed its disappointment in a statement this morning, saying there had been encouragement from both Revolution and its own shareholders, and it invested significant time and resources to explore the possible offer.
Its board believes the proposal presented "an improved outcome for Revolution Bars' shareholders and a significantly de-leveraged position for its creditors" and "at no point did Nightcap receive legal advice to suggest that this non-binding proposal was not capable of being delivered".
7.15am: FTSE 100 on track for one of longest losing streaks
The FTSE 100 could equal its worst losing streak since 2019 as stock markets get bashed by rising bond yields, with analysts warning things could go either way today.
London's blue-chip index finished 71.1 points lower yesterday, down 0.9% at 8,183.07, with the losing streak in its sixth day.
It is currently predicted to fall 38 points by spread-betters. A seventh down day today would come close to the worst losing streak of the index in terms of consecutive losses in recent years, August 2023, which at eight days was longer than any losing run in the pandemic.
The UK is still cheap… pic.twitter.com/6cgv2SjC10
— Michael Brown (@MrMBrown) May 30, 2024
Overnight, Wall Street also felt the pain too, with the Dow Jones tumbling 1.1%, the S&P 500 sliding 0.7% and the Nasdaq dropping 0.6%, with the small-cap Russell 2000 plunging 1.5%.
Stock market sentiment is gloomy in Asia this morning too, with the Nikkei and Hang Seng both down 1.5% and China's and India's indices both lower too.
"Market mood further darkened yesterday," says market analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya at Swissquote Bank, pointing to another round of weak US Treasury bond sales.
The 2-year yield – which best captures the Federal Reserve rate expectations – shortly hit the 5% psychological mark, the 10-year yield spiked to 4.63% and the US dollar index advanced to the 50-day moving average and is consolidating near that level this morning.
"Things could get better or worse in the coming hours," she says. "All eyes are on the US GDP update due today, and the Fed’s favourite gauge of inflation – the core PCE number – due tomorrow."
"For now, the rising yields are taking a toll on stock valuations in the absence of other – and positive – catalysts."