- FTSE 100 down 16 points at 8,150
- Entain, Beazley and Hikma rally
- US unemployment eases in boost for markets
3.59pm: FTSE 100 recovers after morning's slip
London stocks are on track to close nearly 15 points down, after staging a recovery in the second half of the day, helped by a boosted US market.
The S&P 500 is up more than 1.9%, while the Nasdaq has surged 2%, both of which were helped by US data revealing that the rate of unemployment is slowing, helping lift the chances of a rate cut in September.
While the UK's blue chips experience an uplift from this, some of the stocks have forged a path higher on their own.
Included in this is Entain, up close to 7%, after it lifted its guidance on a Euros-boosted first-half performance.
The Ladbrokes and BetMGM owner's interims showed a “surprisingly early return to net gaming revenue growth”, said analysts at broker Shore Capital Markets.
“Given how much negativity appears to be baked into the share price, we see today’s update as a result,” they said, giving Entain stock a buy rating.
UBS also saw many positives in Entain’s results, with the bank’s analysts stating: “Entain is now guiding to a return to positive organic growth in its online division, as well as a stabilisation in earnings expectations, both of which the equity story greatly needed, in our view.”
Other top risers today included Beazley, Hikma Pharma, Persimmon and GSK.
Meanwhile, Spriax, BT, United Utilites and JD Sports were the top fallers.
3.44pm: Commodities and currencies today
The FTSE 100 has enjoyed a strong second half of the day, having at one point early in the day dropped around 100 points.
While stocks in Europe continue to have a quieter session compared to the start of the week, it's not been the same story in the world of currencies and commodities.
Britain's pound had looked like it was set to post another day of losses today but has since staged a recovery after dropping by as much as 0.1% at lunch.
Here's how some of the top currencies and commodities performed today:
- Bitcoin: +5.8% at US$58,354
- GDP/USD: +0.3% at $1.271
- GDP/EUR: +0.6% at €1.167
- EURO/USD: -0.3% at $1.089
- Brent Crude: +0.25% at $78.53
- WTI Crude: +0.6% at $75.66
- Gold: +1.4% at $2,418
- Silver: +3% at $27.44
3.22pm: Bitcoin looks to recover
Bitcoin (BTC) continued its recovery phase on Thursday following the brutal early-week sell-off that impacted the global risk markets.
The world’s largest cryptocurrency was batted down to a six-month low of $49,000 on Monday in response to escalating fears of a US recession, coupled with a mass repricing of large-cap technology stocks.
Whil, there is still water to traverse before fully reclaiming Monday’s losses, spot prices have since climbed higher.
The BTC/USD pair added another 4.5% in Thursday trades, bringing the pair above US$57,600.
Bitcoin still remains around 5% lower week on week, but signs are emerging that the Monday rout was more of a blip than a blowout.
2.49pm: FTSE 100 helped by Persimmon bounce
The FTSE 100 has recovered close to half of its losses from the morning after helped by some improved sentiment in the US.
Down around 0.4%, or 30 points, London's blue-chip index has been weighed by Spirax, BT, JD Sports and Fresnillo.
Only five companies were able to achieve gains of more than 1%, including GSK up 1% and a 2% gain for housebuilder Persimmon.
The latter was helped by optimism over looser planning rules, noting in its interim results that it was encouraged by the speed of approvals.
“It is positive to see that the recent election has not had a negative impact,” Daniel Austin, chief executive of property finance firm ASK Partners, commented.
Analyst Charlie Campbell at Stifel said: "Our estimates for 2025 and beyond look more and more conservative as interest rates fall and planning improves."
He added that Persimmon is one of his top picks in the sector due to its geographical bias towards the north of Britain and its lean towards first-time buyers.
The other risers above 1% today are Beazley, Entain and Hikma Pharma.
2.32pm: Wall Street opens higher
Wall Street has kicked higher at the open today, helped as unemployment figures helped ease concerns about a weakening US economy, in turn increasing the likelihood of an intrest rate cut at the Federal Reserve's next meeting.
The Nasdaq lifted close to 1.5% to 16,411, while the S&P 500 was 1% higher at 5,254. Meanwhile, the Dow Jones was unchanged at 38,763.
Speaking on the improved conditions after jobless benefit claims showed the sharpest slowdown in nearly a year last month was Michael Brown at Pepperstone, the Australian broker.
He said: "It’s only one datapoint, though this afternoon’s US jobless claims figures appear to have steadied some market nerves.
"Stocks have popped in reaction, as dip buyers emerge for a third straight day, though the rapid nature by which gains fizzled out yesterday may be some cause for concern."
"Over the medium-term, the path of least resistance should still lead to the upside for stocks, with earnings and economic growth both resilient and with the Fed set to begin policy normalisation from September onwards, albeit likely not to the extent of the 100bp of cuts markets price by year-end."
1.49pm: US helped by slowing unemployment
Investors in the States have been handed a slight boost before the markets open after those on unemployment benefits were fewer than expected.
Initial jobless claims in the week to August 3 rose by 233,000, lower than expectations for a 247,000 rise.
Continuing claims from the week prior increased by 1.86 million, lowered by 1.87 million a week earlier.
Investors and US consumers will be hoping this report can help show signs of an improving jobs market, offering a justification to hike interest rates in September.
US markets have taken to the news positively, with all three indexes now up in premarket trading.
The Nasdaq, which was forecast to open flat before the report, is now on track to kick 154 points higher when trading commences.
1.28pm: Wall Street to open flat
US markets are set to open flat today, with stocks struggling to stabilise as recession fears were renewed and carry trades continued to unwind.
The Dow Jones is shifting slightly lower in premarket futures, predicted to open 46 points lower at 38,864.
Both the Nasdaq and S&P 500 are flat.
“I think investors are still very much trying to figure out the state of the U.S. economy, the financial conditions of companies," said Joseph Ferrara at Gateway Investment Advisers.
Pharma giant Eli Lilly is expected to open more than 12.5% higher after it reported better-than-expected quarterlies, lifting its full-year outlook as its diabetes and obestity drugs recieve strong demand.
1.09pm: Beazley, Entain and Hikma defy FTSE 100
The FTSE 100 has remained lower, nearly 90 points down, as companies like JD Sports, Prudential, Ashtead and Segro fall 3%.
Spirax, the engineering group, is down a little over 7%, while BT Group has dropped 5%.
Meanwhile, enjoying a strong day is Beazley, up 12%, after it showed strong resilience against the CrowdStrike IT outage last month, doubling its profits in the first half.
“Investors could be forgiven for choosing to swerve exposure to those firms who run syndicates at Lloyd’s of London, especially after the early appearance of Hurricane Beryl, ongoing wars in Eastern Europe and the Middle East and a major cyber incident involving CrowdStrike and Microsoft, but Beazley is doing a great job of showing how those risks can be managed,” says AJ Bell's Russ Mould.
“The FTSE 100 member manages seven Lloyd’s of London syndicates which specialise in areas such as cybercrime and executive risk, marine, political risk, catastrophe and property and its profits and share price are booming."
Entain is also up after strong results, with shares jumping more than 8%, while Hikma Pharma surged 7% after it saw operating profit surge 43% to US$531 million.
12.50pm: Pound on track for worst session in months
London's blue-chip index is close to 100 points down as we move into the afternoon, with the pound set for one of its worst losses in the last year.
Dropping back to one-month lows suffered earlier in the week the currency tumbled on the same issue dampening the FTSE 100. US recession fears.
Sterling initially dropped around 0.1% to US$1.269, before returning to flat.
If it can't recover, it would mark a month of declines and means it is down close to 1% week-on-week.
The Euro hit its highest level against the pound since April jumping by as much as 0.1% to 86.1p before dipping back down to -0.1%.
This week's run is one of the worst since September last year.
12.27pm: Young investors pip their seniors
Younger investors are outperforming their seniors when it comes to generating high returns in the short term, new research from Interactive Investor found.
Those aged 18-24 consistently posted better performances after one year, achieving returns of 15% compared to the average of 12.6%.
Junior shareholders also outperformed the 12.02% returned by professional managers, the investment platform added.
Long term, however, it's the 35-44 age group which performed best, achieving 26% returns against the average 21.4%.
12.06pm: Pagegroup turns to job cuts amid sector slowdown
Choppy waters for the recruitment industry could be ahead after FTSE 250 firm Pagegroup's shares dipped 2% on the back of collapsing profits.
Profit before tax dropped by more than 56% on a year-on-year basis, as stalled hiring trends caused negative growth across all regions, with the UK the worst performer.
“Permanent recruitment continues to be impacted more than temporary, as clients seek more flexible options and permanent candidates remain reluctant to move jobs,” chief executive Nicholas Kirk explained.
To deal with the downturn, Pagegroup has launched stringent cost-saving measures, including shedding 3.6% (or 283 roles) from its workforce in the period.
11.37am: Helios Towers weighs on FTSE 250
The FTSE 100 has appeared to have found its floor today at around 8,085, nearly 80 points lower than yesterday's close, but still 162 points above the lows experienced on Monday.
In mid-caps, the FTSE 250 has fallen by around 255 points (1.2%), and while TI Fluid Systems enjoys a 10% pop on the back of strong earnings, quite a few of its constituents are in the red.
The index's biggest faller of the day is Helios Tower, the telecommunications company, as its lower first-half profits were too significant to be offset by hiked guidance.
Operating profit of US$132.3 million for the first half of the year was up 91% from a year ago but the second quarter was down 3% from the first three months of the year.
Helios is now expecting adjusted EBITDA of US$410-$420 million, up from US$405-420 million before.
Shares in the group are down 5% today at 116p.
11.18am: Persimmon feels benefit of Labour's housing push
Labour said it would push for more homes during its term in government, a choice which has resulted in a boost for the housing industry, lifting stocks like FTSE 100 housebuilder Persimmon.
The York-based building company saw its shares tick 2.7% higher after it said forecasts for its home completions in the full year would be at the top end of guidance, around 10,500.
Its current private forward order book is up around 28% at £1.12 billion.
On planning, Persimmon said it achieved detailed approval on roughly 6,000 plots so far this year, and that “encouragingly, circa 1,000 of these were achieved in July following the new government taking office”.
The company invested £195 million on land purchases in the first half, with a landbank now at 81,545 owned plots, of which 38,067 are owned with detailed planning.
10.57am: Gold rush as markets slump
Fears that the US may plunge into a recession within the next year has caused chaos to global markets, a day after some of the world's largest economies staged a recovery.
With nearly every main index in Europe down around 1%, including the FTSE 100, down 1.1%, it's little surprise investors have begun pumping funds into one of the world's most reliable assets.
Following the market's chaotic performance on Monday, the trading of gold has soared, with the Royal Mint revealing the buying and selling of the precious metal trebled at the start of the week.
When compared with this year's daily average for the number of investors making trades, the Royal Mint saw a 53% rise, with buying outpacing selling by 5:1.
Despite the growing demand for gold, its price has dropped around 2.5%, but remains up 0.5% in the last month.
It wasn't just investors rushing to buy gold this week, however.
The Royal Mint’s Stuart O’Reilly said: "On one side, traders were forced to reduce their holdings in gold and silver following recent market highs so that they could cover losses in global equity markets.
"At the same time, as precious metals prices dropped after this sell-off, UK retail investors viewed this as an opportunity to lock in lower prices while increasing their allocations to gold and silver.
"From our experience, gold and precious metals investing grow in popularity during more challenging times for the global economy as investors look to diversify their portfolios and hedge against inflation."
10.09am: Estate agent optimism highest since pandemic
Estate agents have said they are feeling more optimistic about the housing market than they ever have since the start of the pandemic, a new survey revealed on Thursday.
Most of the estate agents polled said they expect to sell more homes over the next quarter than currently, with a net 30% saying that revenues would rise between now and the end of autumn.
It marks an increase from the 22% that had a positive outlook back in July and is the most optimistic the industry has been since January 2020, the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors revealed in its survey.
“The new government’s focus on boosting housing development, alongside the recent quarter-point base rate cut, does appear to have shifted the mood music in the sales market," said Simon Rubinsohn, chief economist at the RICS.
Yesterday, Barclays cut the rates on several of its main mortgage products, including some below 4%, joining rivals like HSBC.
9.47am: Deliveroo achieves first profit
Outside of the FTSE 350, food delivery service Deliveroo has announced its first-ever profit in a half year, leading the way for it to launch a £150 million buyback.
A £1.3 million profit was recorded for the six months to June, against an £82.9 million loss a year earlier.
Positive free cash flow of £3.2 million was also recorded, following a £27.7 million deficit in the first half of 2023.
Chief executive Will Shu noted the return to profit and positive cash flow marked “two major financial milestones,” coming in part on a “stabilising” consumer environment.
Deliveroo added grocery sales had grown to take a larger share of its gross transactions, with a new premium subscription tier also rolled out in the UK alongside more brand partnerships.
9.25am: FTSE 250 falls but TI Fluid Sytems outperforms
In the world of mid-caps, and offering a better picture of the UK economy, the FTSE 250 has dropped more than 1.3% as it feels the weight of the growing global concerns.
One company attempting to push the index higher is TI Fluid Systems after it jumped 12% on the back of a profit beat in the first half and plans to expand its margins over the near term.
In the run-up the results the shares had recently fallen to a 17-month low.
Adjusted earnings before interest and tax of €135.5 million was reported for the first six months of 2024, up 2.7% from a year ago and exceeding the City consensus estimate of €131 million.
On the outlook, the FTSE 250-listed group said the productivity and efficiency measures implemented at the turn of the year "reaffirm our confidence in expanding our adjusted EBIT margin".
"As a result, we are increasing our full year adjusted EBIT margin expectation to above 7.6% notwithstanding a slight decline in revenue at constant currency due to the recent softening of the 2024 industry outlook."
8.59am: Entain rises on Euros boost
Another company on the climb this morning is Ladbrokes and Coral owner Entain, up 9.5%, with eagle-eyed investors yesterday likely to have noticed positive results were on their way after its shares climbed 4%.
What seemed to impress the market today was hiked full-year guidance due to better-than-expected second-quarter performance, with England's Euros campaign having provided a boost.
Stronger than expected win margins from the football tournament, likely buoyed by England's loss in the final, allowed first-half earnings to rise 5% year-on-year to £524 million.
It means full-year earnings are now expected to reach £1.09 billion, and has allowed management to confirm an interim dividend of 9.3p a share, up 5% from 2023.
Interim cheif executive Stella David said: "Entain's H1 results are clear evidence that our hard work improving the group's operational performance is bearing fruit.
“Whilst there is more work to do, we are pleased with the progress so far and look forward to building further on these solid foundations in H2 and beyond.”
8.39am: Beazley surges on profit bump and CrowdStrike resilience
While the FTSE 100 moved in reverse this morning based on growing macroeconomic fears in the US and renewed geopolitical concerns following Ukraine's attack in Russia, not all stocks were down.
Beazley, the insurance firm, recorded a 10% gain within the first half hour of trading after it was able to shrug off the CrowdStrike IT outage and instead double its profits. The FTSE 100 specialist insurance firm said there was no impact from the outage on 19 July on its outlook with the Lloyd’s insurer even raising its guidance for underwriting profit this year.
Adrain Cox, chief executive, said the company had prepared for an IT incident of the [Crowdstrike] nature.
“As a result, I am pleased to confirm this event had no impact on our view of the outlook for the remainder of 2024.
“When faced with the world's largest ever IT outage, Beazley's approach to underwriting cyber risk was tested and proved to be highly resilient.”
Total premiums written in the half year to end June 2024 rose by 7% to US$3.12 billion, while profits almost doubled to US$729 million.
Analysts at Liberum Panmure labelled the results an "excellent set of interim numbers" and re-emphasised its buy rating for the stock.
8.15am: FTSE 100 slides amid US uncertainty
The FTSE 100 has opened close to 70 points lower this morning at 8,098 after the fears that the US could plunge into a recession were stoked once again.
JP Morgan raised its predictions that the country would slip into two consecutive quarters of GDP contraction from a 25% chance to now a 35% likelihood.
Should the US fail to fall into a recession this year, the bank predicts there is a 45% chance it will happen before the second half of 2025.
JP Morgan also warned that the effects of carry trades, which has been weakening the market since the BoJ hiked rates last week, will continue, with nearly a quarter still required to be unwound.
Additionally, its boss Jamie Dimon expressed a lack of confidence in the US achieving its goal of a 2% inflation rate, blaming the "remilitarisation of the world" due to threats from Russia and China.
7.56am: Wage growth slows in boost for BoE
More interest rate cuts may be on the horizon for the Bank of England after it was found both wage growth and demand for workers eased last month.
Both permanent and part-time workers saw the growth of their salaries slow compared to June, research by KMPG and the Recruitment and Employment Confederation revealed.
The permanent staff salary index dropped from 57.1 in June to 56.5 in July, but importantly kept its self above the 50 point threshold, which helps seperate growth from contraction.
Part-time salary growth slowed as observed by the researcher's other index, with it dropping month-on-month from 53.7 to 50.9.
Hiring contracted in the UK during last month, according to the firms' other index, however the rate of the slowdown was less sever than in June.
Kate Shoesmith, deputy chief executive of the REC, said: “The weaker growth in both salaries and temp pay suggests that employers are keeping pay in line with inflation as the Bank of England want and the interest rate cut is welcome. Employers will need more of the same to maintain confidence.”
7.38am: Gas prices rocket
Gas prices have surged to their highest point this year following reports of Ukraine’s attack on Russia, with Europe's benchmark for the commodity having jumped as much as 5.7% yesterday.
The benchmark for its price in the continent reached €38.78 per megawatt-hour on Wednesday, bringing it to an intraday high last seen at the start of June.
It comes after reports revealed Ukrainian troops had taken control of a gas transit point in Suzha, Russia, the last remaining shipment point for natural gas coming through to Europe from the warring country.
Gazprom, Russia's gas company, is expected to still be able to transport gas out of the country to the rest of Europe despite the attack.
7.12am: FTSE 100 to open lower
London stocks are on track to open around 50 points lower this morning, shedding a slight bit of weight from yesterday's gains and keeping the FTSE 100 below the point it started the week at.
Yesterday, the blue-chip index closed 140 points higher at 8,166, helping reverse much of the losses suffered on Monday and leaving it just 7 points behind where it started before Monday's sell-off.
In Asia, markets experienced a mixed session, with Japan's Nikkei and South Korea's Kospi having dropped around 0.8%, while India's Nifty 50 lost around 0.4% of its value.
Indexes in both Hong Kong and Shanghai held flat.
In the US, all three lead indexes fell into the red, with the Nasdaq falling by 1%, while the S&P 500 and Dow Jones dropped by 0.7% and 0.6%, respectively.
Today, attention turns to a string of company earnings, from betting firm Entain to housebuilder Persimmon to recruiter PageGroup.