- FTSE 100 up 51 points at 8,172
- Labour on brink of its largest ever majority
- Services sector slows on election caution
3.57pm: FTSE 100 to close higher
London's FTSE 100 is on track to finish the day around 0.6% higher as the markets prepare for the potential of a Labour government ahead of tomorrow's election vote.
Latest polling figures from Survation revealed the left-wing party was on track to win by a landslide, in what would be the largest-ever majority.
Keir Starmer's party is predicted to win 484 of the 650 seats up for grabs, outperforming the 418 taken by former party leader Tony Blair in his historic win back in 1997.
The Conservatives, which have been in control for 14 years, are set to win just 64 seats, the lowest amount since it was created back in 1834, Survation revealed.
Meanwhile, rent has climbed to a new all-time high, according to new industry figures.
For rent outside of London, on average Brits are looking at paying £1,316 per calendar month, which is the highest ever recorded, according to research by property website Rightmove.
In London, the price for renting on average lifted to £2,652 a month, marking nearly triple that of the £894 average seen in the north-east of England.
3.40pm: Commodities and currencies today
As the FTSE 100 moves towards the close, here's a look at how commodities and currencies have performed today:
- Bitcoin/USD: -2.8% at $60,317
- GDP/USD: +0.6% at $1.276
- GDP/EUR: flat at €1.181
- EURO/USD: +0.6% at $1.08
- Brent Crude: +0.5% at $86.66
- WTI Crude: +0.5% at $83.23
- Gold: +1.35% at $2,361
- Silver: +3.5% at $30.61
3.20pm: Water firms face new headwinds following court ruling
British water companies could face future headwinds, according to analysts, following a favourable Supreme Court ruling for the Manchester Ship Canal Company against United Utilities Group PLC.
The long-running litigation concerns discharges of foul water contaminated with untreated sewage by the North West supplier into the Manchester Ship Canal.
The Supreme Court was asked to decide whether the Manchester Ship Canal Company, as owner of the beds and banks of the canal, could bring a claim against United Utilities for the discharges.
United Utilities asked the court to rule against any right of action, but judges unanimously voted in favour of Manchester Ship Canal Company, paving the way for costly litigation against United Utilities.]
Despite the ruling, United Utilities shares have lifted close to 3% higher today.
2.56pm: Wizz Air president steps down
Wizz Air president Robert Carey is set to step down from his role at the budget airline in a move that has caused a domino effect across the company's management.
Carey, who has experience working at Delta Airlines and EasyJet, is set to leave the group in order to "pursue other interests".
Replacing the void left by the outgoing president will be chief operating officer Michael Delehant, who has been appointed the role of senior chief commercial and operations officer.
Delehant's vacant role of COO will be taken by the managing director of Wizz Air Malta Diarmuid O’Conghaile, who in turn will be replaced by head of operations control Mauro Peneda.
Chief executive József Váradi, who will take over Carey's commercial leadership role until October, said: "Today’s announcement marks significant and well-deserved career advancements for Michael, Diarmuid and Mauro.
"These promotions underscore Wizz Air’s steadfast commitment to promoting from within, based on performance and merit.
"Their leadership and contributions will continue to drive our success as we progress towards our WIZZ500 goals in the years ahead."
2.37pm: Wall Street flat
Wall Street has opened flat today as investors prepare for a shortened trading session and react to cooler-than-expected labour market data.
Ahead of Friday's highly important jobs report, ADP data revealed that private payroll growth was less than expected in June, while weekly jobless claims rose ahead of market consensus.
Private payrolls jumped by 150,000 in June, less than the 160,000 forecast by Dow Jones and down on the 157,000 in May.
Meanwhile, jobless claims reached 238,000 for the week ending June 29, ahead of guidance of 233,000 and up on the week prior's 234,000.
In company news, Paramount shares jumped more than 8% after it announced Skydance Media had issued a newly-revised bid.
Skydance, the independent studio created by David Ellison (son of Oracle's Larry Ellison), provided a rebuffed offer to attempt to secure the deal, months after Shari Redstone, who controls Paramount, ended the discussions abruptly, The Financial Times reports revealed.
1.56pm: Tory minister effectively concedes election
Comments from Conservative minister Mel Stride have added more pressure to the Tories' last day of campaigning after the Work and Pensions secretary said Labour was expected to have a large majority after tomorrow's vote.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, he said: " "I totally accept where the polls are at the moment means that tomorrow is likely to see the largest Labour landslide majority - the largest majority that this country has ever seen. Much bigger than 1997.
He then implored those to consider which party they would like to see as opposition to the government.
"I have accepted that where the polls are at the moment...that we are therefore tomorrow highly likely to be in a situation where [Labour has] the largest majority that any party has ever achieved."
Sunak played down his fellow party members comments, stating that he is "fighting hard for every vote".
"What Mel was doing was warning of what a very large Labour majority, unchecked, would mean for people," he said.
"So, everyone watching who thinks, 'oh, this is all a foregone conclusion', it's not."
1.37pm: Wall Street flat as Tesla gets its "mojo back"
Wall Street is still holding flat in premarket trading today, with shares in the S&P 500 looking to hold at the 5,500 mark, of which it closed on Tuesday at for the first time ever.
Shares in Tesla are set to open more than 1.5% higher after it continued to rally on the back of better-than-expected delivery figures, putting it on course for a seventh consecutive session of positive trading.
Wedbush analysts claimed the upturn in shares, signifies that the EV maker finally has its "mojo back".
"With the majority of price cuts in the rear-view mirror and demand stabilization globally for EVs especially in China, we believe Tesla's march towards two million units annual trajectory should be reached over the coming quarters," analysts at the tech broker said.
"The key for Tesla's stock is the Street recognizing that it is the most undervalued AI play in the market in our view with a historical Robotaxi Day on August 8 that will lay the yellow brick road to FSD and an autonomous future."
1.18pm: British stocks benefit from French uncertainty
British stocks are holding higher this afternoon and investors in the City believe part of the good performance could be driven by political turbulence in France.
Over the last couple of weeks, funds have flown into UK stocks as investors look to avoid the chaos caused by Macron's decision to call a snap election.
Isabel Albarran, investment officer at Close Brothers Asset Management, revealed there had been a sharp surge in demand for London-listed stocks, with global investors starting to increasingly view them as safe havens.
Uncertainty remains in France as it readies for its second round of voting, with the far-right National Rally set to face off against multiple allying left-wing parties.
Albarran said: “Sell-side firms we speak with have seen a steady pick-up in UK net inflows in the last month.
“One firm reported net inflows of c. $350m [£276m] last week, 20 times the net inflow of the week after the UK election announcement.”
Another bank is believed to have reported “a fourth straight week of outflows” from Europe's main index the Eurostoxx 50.
12.59pm: Hawksmoor placed on sale for £100 mln
Hawksmoor, a London-based restaurant chain, is up for sale in a deal that could value it at about £100 million, according to the Financial Times.
The paper said Investment bank Stephens is managing the sale process and has started discussions with potential buyers.
Graphite Capital, which has owned 51% of Hawksmoor since 2013, declined to comment, the FT said. Co-founders Will Beckett and Huw Gott will retain their shares and continue to lead the company.
The company expects sales to exceed £100 million this year and reports profits above £10 million for the past 12 months.
Rare Restaurants, the owner of fellow steak restaurant Gaucho, is also believed to be considering a sale.
12.31pm: Wall Street set for quiet start
Wall Street is poised for a mixed open today as the market reacts to the Federal Reserve becoming more dovish on the rate cut front and the growing belief that Biden won't win the upcoming election.
Both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq are on track to open flat, while Dow Jones's futures are indicating it will lift by 37 points.
"Last night Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell delivered a fairly dovish speech, with the headline being that the US central bank has made progress on reducing inflation," said David Morrison at Trade Nation.
"But he went on to say that he needs to see more evidence that inflation is on a sustainable path back towards the 2% target before he will be happy to loosen monetary policy.
"Despite this, the market continues to assign a high probability for two 25 basis point rate cuts before year-end."
Elsewhere, markets are betting that Biden won't win another term as president after his self-proclaimed loss in last week's live debate.
Odds for Biden to take office for a second term have dropped by 32% since the live debate, while bets on Trump have been on the rise, says political betting site PredicIt.
Biden claimed his poor performance was because of jet lag and said that he "wasn't very smart" for "travelling around the world a couple of times".
"I didn’t listen to my staff... and then I nearly fell asleep on stage,” he told reporters.
12.11pm: German automotive industry urges against EU import tariffs
The car industry in Germany is fighting back on the European Commission's plans to impose hefty tariffs on imports of Chinese-made EVs ahead of the new duties being imposed tomorrow.
In a statement, the VDA auto association said European and American carmakers that export from China would be hurt by the move, while it warned that the Chinese government could counter with its own tariffs.
This could cause the German automotive industry to suffer a severe hit as it exports a high volume of cars to the Asian country.
Car exports from Germany to China were valued at more than three times that of the imports from China, the VDA said.
The VDA implored the EU to focus on gaining a better grip on the production of raw materials required for making EV, of which China controls a large portion.
“Anti-subsidy tariffs are not an adequate measure to strengthen European competitiveness and resilience in the long term,” the VDA said.
11.51am: Labour on brink of historic victory
Stocks in London are continuing to hold higher this morning as the country prepares to head to polling stations in what is expected to be a historic election for the Labour Party.
Latest polling figures from Survation revealed the left-wing party was on track to win by a landslide, in what would be its largest-ever majority.
Keir Starmer's party is predicted to win 484 of the 650 seats up for grabs, outperforming the 418 taken by former party leader Tony Blair in his historic win back in 1997.
The Conservatives, which have been in control for 14 years, are set to win just 64 seats, the lowest amount since it was created back in 1834, Survation revealed.
Meanwhile, Farage's Reform UK is set to take just seven seats, despite having grown in popularity since the election was called.
However, it will be the Liberal Democrats truly placing pressure on the Conservatives as the threat of them becoming the official opposition grows.
Survation predicts they will win 61 seats, with the SNP taking 10, while Plaid Cymru and the Green Party both win three.
11.31am: Diageo on the up?
Diageo shares have ticked 2% higher today lifting it from its lowest point since the pandemic after it was upgraded by analysts at Citi.
With destocking headwinds settling down and the prospect of positive earnings momentum in the upcoming financial year, Diageo shares may currently offer a cheap round for patient investors, analysts said.
Persistent EPS (earnings per share) downgrades and concerns that the business model is structurally broken has driven PE (price to earnings) relatives to long-run lows,” wrote Citi.
“However, with earnings/valuations metrics troughing in our view, and destocking headwinds likely to give way to positive earnings momentum in (financial year 2025), we think an inflection point has been reached."
Analysts noted that investor positioning is largely supportive of Diageo shares, which could encourage a 20% re-rating to the upside in the next 12 months.
As such, City has upgraded Diageo to a buy with a 3,000p price target. The stock is currently priced at 2,520p.
Meanwhile, Russ Mould at AJ Bell believes the low valuation could garner the attention of institutional investors.
“That bargain valuation, at least relative to Diageo’s history, could make it a takeover target for an opportunistic rival with deep pockets or a private equity firm loaded up with cash to do deals," he said.
A prospective bidder might take the view that current problems are fixable and that now is a good time to swoop on a portfolio of well-known brands."
11.07am: France can avoid far-right majority, says PM
Shares in France's leading index the CAC 40 have rallied 1.2% this morning after the country's current prime minister claimed his party may be able to block Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally from taking power.
Gabriel Attal, a close ally of President Macron, said he thinks a cross-party alliance could help stop the far-right group from succeding power in the upcoming second round of elections.
Some 200 candidates across the political spectrum have pulled out of the election race in a bid to prevent National Rally from winning seats, clearing the path for whoever is most likely to beat them.
"What these withdrawals show is that we can avoid an absolute majority for the far right," Attal told France Inter radio.
10.31am: GSK take full control of flu vaccine programme
Shares in GSK held flat this morning after it said it will take effective control of a collaboration to create new mRNA vaccines for influenza and COVID-19 under a €1.45 billion deal.
Under a new agreement with Germany's CureVac, the UK drugs giant will be ceded the rights to develop, manufacture, and sell these vaccines generated by the partnership.
In return, CureVac will receive an upfront payment of €400 million, with potential additional payments of up to €1.05 billion based on development, regulatory, and sales milestones, along with tiered royalties.
Since 2020, GSK and CureVac have worked together on mRNA vaccines for infectious diseases.
10.10am: UK services sector slows to seven-month low
Britain's service sector saw its growth slow in June, a sign that both consumers and companies are remaining cautious ahead of the general election tomorrow.
S&P Global's UK services PMI slipped to 52.1 in June, down from 52.9 in May but importantly it was ahead of the 51.2 that the market had forecast.
It marks a seven-month low for the sector but remains ahead of the 50 mark, which separates the difference between growth and contraction.
The reading for the average PMI, which combines services output with the manufacturing sector, reached 52.3 last month, lifting from May's 53 and ahead of market guidance of 51.7.
"We are seeing some evidence of a pre-general election seize up across the UK services economy... as the prospect of a change in government led to the adoption of a ‘wait-and-see’ approach by some," said Joe Hayes at S&P Global.
"Nevertheless, we’re on track for another quarter of GDP growth, according to composite PMI data for the three months to June, albeit one that will be less punchy than the first quarter’s 0.7%.
"Prices still continue to show a high degree of stickiness across the UK service sector, although input cost inflation once again trended lower in June."
9.49am: Keywords Studios agrees takeover bid
Shares in Keywords Studios lifted more than 2.5% today to 2,383p after the video game ancillaries specialist accepted a takeover offer worth 2,450p per share.
Private equity firm EQT will buy the company for £2.1 billion or £2.2 billion including debt.
EQT's consortium includes two state-backed investment groups, Canadian-owned CPP and Rosa, a subsidiary of Singapore’s investment fund Temasek.
The consortium said this latest offer was final and would not be raised unless a third party makes a rival bid.
Directors at the company have recommended shareholders vote in favour of the deal.
Katie Cousins at Shore Capital said: "We have been supportive of the offer, seeing a decent premium above recent share price levels which has suffered headwinds from the threat of AI and softer organic growth.
"EQT has a long and successful track record of investing in services and global technology industries, and it believes that it can support KWS build on the Group’s existing dominance within a larger and growing video games industry, by unlocking growth at a greater pace by expanding into adjacent media and entertainment end-markets and fast-growing technologies."
9.25am: Topps Tiles tumbles on weak market backdrop
Topps Tiles shares have dropped more than 4% after it reported a further decline in sales in the third quarter, with market conditions remaining challenging.
Sales were down 6.2% in the first 39-weeks of its financial year, worsening from the 5.8% revenue decrease reported in its interim results.
Topps said it is continuing to take market share as it calculates that the UK tile market is down 10-15% year-on-year.
"Market conditions have remained challenging overall, with subdued demand in the domestic repair, maintenance and improvement (RMI) sector, especially for bigger ticket projects," it said.
9.04am: JD Sports tumbles ahead of AGM
JD Sports is leading the top FTSE 100 fallers today after it dropped close to 4%, with its shares down more than 10% in the week since Nike issued a sales warning.
Today's share price drop comes ahead of its annual general meeting on Thursday and is at a time when several clothing retailers have warned of tough conditions.
ShareAction, the campaign group fighting for responsible investment, is planning to attend JD's AGM to urge the company to increase hourly salaries for its lowest-paid employees in a bid to "protect living standards".
Yesterday, fellow retailer Shoe Zone warned annual profits would be lower than expected due to a multitude of headwinds, potentially offering negative read-across to the sports clothing group.
Shoe Zone said it "experienced weaker than expected spring/summer sales from April to June, due to unseasonal weather conditions”.
In the US last week, Nike was forced to warn investors that upstart rivals were starting to take larger chunks out of its sales.
As newer brands such as Roger Federer’s On and France’s Hoka look to steal market share, Nike said it expects a mid-single-digit percentage drop in sales during the current financial year.
8.42am: Morning so far
London's main index has opened higher this morning as election talks grows in both Europe and the US.
Tomorrow will see Brits head to polling stations to vote in what could be the Conservative's worst election since the turn of the century.
Keir Starmer's Labour is predicted to win 484 of the 650 seats up for grabs, outperforming the 418 taken by former party leader Tony Blair in his landslide win back in 1997 and also the most in its history.
Meanwhile, in the US, investors are starting to bet on the likelihood of a Trump presidency after Biden's self-proclaimed loss at the first set of debates last week.
Odds for Biden to take office for a second term have dropped by 32% since the live debate, while bets on Trump have been on the rise, says political betting site PredicIt.
In company news, Keywords Studios PLC (AIM:KWS, OTC:KYYWF) has agreed to an all-cash bid from a consortium led by Scandinavian private equity group EQT.
The deal values the video game ancillaries specialist at £2.1 billion or £2.2 billion including debt.
The offer, worth 2,450p per share, was flagged last week and follows an original approach worth 2,250p in May.
8.19am: Vodafone and Virgin Media O2 to network share
Shares in Vodafone have opened flat this morning after it and Virgin Media O2 announced a new long-term network-sharing agreement which extends the current arrangement for more than a decade.
The plans aim to significantly enhance network coverage, quality, and competition across the UK.
It is subject to the approval of the merger between Vodafone UK and Three UK by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which is anticipated to close by the end of 2024.
Post-merger, Vodafone and Three intend to invest £11 billion in network infrastructure over the next decade.
Ahmed Essam, chief executive of European markets at Vodafone, stated: "With this agreement and our planned merger with Three UK, we will transform the mobile experience for over 50 million customers in the UK for the next decade."
7.59am: Rentals in UK reach record highs
Private renting in the UK is at its most expensive, with the average tenancy for homes and flats at record highs, new research found.
For rent outside of London, on average Brits are looking at paying £1,316 per calendar month, which is the highest ever recorded, according to research by property website Rightmove.
Ahead of tomorrow's election, Rightmove is calling on whoever the next government is to help the industry by creating more rental properties.
In London, the price for renting on average lifted to £2,652 a month, marking nearly triple that of the £894 average seen in the north-east of England.
In May, rents outside London had increased by 7%, pushing ahead of the 2% inflation rate, Rightmove added. Meanwhile, those in the capital jumped by 4% year-on-year, slowing from 2022's peak of 18%.
Rightmove said it was urging the government “to accelerate housebuilding and incentivise landlords to invest in more homes for tenants” in a bid to rectify the issues in the rental market.
It believes some 120,000 new rental properties need to be added if rent growth was to return to "more normal levels" of around 2%.
7.40am: Paramount and Skydance renew merger talks
Overnight in the US, shares in media conglomerate Paramount lifted close to 8% after merger talks with Skydance Media resumed after the latter issued an improved offer.
Skydance, the independent studio created by David Ellison (son of Oracle's Larry Ellison), provided a rebuffed offer to attempt to secure the deal, months after Shari Redstone, who controls Paramount, ended the discussions abruptly, Financial Times reports revealed.
A special committee at Paramount, comprised of members of its board, have been tasked with reviewing the new offer, weeks after they initially leaned in favour of accepting the first Skydance bid, which was voided following Redstone's involvement.
In early June, it was revealed former Warner Music boss Edgar Bronfman Jr was working with private equity giant Bain Capital on a bid to buy Shari Redstone's National Amusements Inc, the owner of Paramount.
Reports said that Bronfman and Bain were mulling a possible offer of between $2 billion and $2.5 billion to buy move theatre operator National Amusements.
7.18am: FTSE 100 to open higher
London blue chips are set to start the day higher, up around 50 points at 8,175, as the UK move a day closer to the general election.
In company news, Topps Tiles PLC will be reporting resuts.
It always seems to be running hard to stand still and will be hoping it has some better news about the third quarter after what it said was a difficult first half.
Interim sales were down almost 6% and the group posted a modest loss against a similar-size profit a year ago.
Over in Asia, shares were boosted by the Federal Reserve's comments that interest rate cuts are not far away.
The broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares barring those in Japan lifted 0.64% higher, helped by tech stocks, while Japan's Nikkei rose 1.4%, nearing the record high touched in March.