- FTSE 100 down 37 points
- Lloyds slips after results
- Gold passes US$2,750
4.02pm: FTSE 100 on course for fourth straight fall
London’s blue chips looked on course to end the day in the red on Wednesday as gains by the likes of WPP PLC (LSE:WPP), Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC (LSE:RKT, ETR:3RB) and Barratt Redrow PLC (LSE:BTRW) after updates earlier on failed to buoy the FTSE 100.
Come late trading, the index was down 40 points at 8,266, with Anglo American PLC (LSE:AAL) and miners among the day’s fallers.
Tickmill Group partner Patrick Munnelly noted the FTSE 100’s fourth straight decline came “as investors shied away from risky assets due to the upcoming UK budget and the US election”.
3.50pm: PRS REIT launches sale after shareholder revolt
The PRS REIT PLC (LSE:PRSR) has put itself up for sale following pressure from shareholders which has seen its chairman agree to step down.
A strategic review was launched on Wednesday, alongside a formal sales process, the investment trust said in a statement.
Shareholders had issued the company with a requisition notice in late August, requesting chairman Steve Smith be replaced alongside another director.
Smith has since offered to step down, with Robert Naylor and Christopher Mills, who the shareholders requested be appointed, having joined the board earlier this month.
PRS REIT added the sale process had been launched after “feedback from a number of shareholders regarding the options available to the company to maximise value”.
“Following such feedback, the board wishes to explore these options in a coordinated fashion, alongside engaging with a range of potentially interested parties,” it said.
3.28pm: Lloyds among fallers after results
Lloyds Banking Group gave up gains on Wednesday to sit among the FTSE 100’s fallers as investors mulled the lender’s third-quarter results.
Having gained initially on the back of the results, which showed profit down year on year but ahead of expectations, shares in Lloyds fell by 1.3% into the afternoon.
Miners also weighed on the index late on, as gains for commodity prices on the back of cuts to benchmark lending rates in China earlier on appeared to peter out.
Anglo American PLC (LSE:AAL) led fallers on Wednesday as a result, down 1.4%, followed by the likes of Glencore PLC (LSE:GLEN) and Endeavour Mining PLC (LSE:EDV, TSX:EDV, OTCQX:EDVMF) as gold also receded from a record earlier in the day.
Overall, the index fell by 39 points to 8,267.
3.14pm: Bank of Canada slashes interest by 0.5%
Canada’s central bank has cut base interest by 0.5% to 3.75% and signalled a further steep reduction could be made in its next meeting in December.
This marks the Bank of Canada’s fourth successive cut since June and comes after inflation subsided to 1.6% in September.
“We took a bigger step today because inflation is now back to the 2% target and we want to keep it close to the target,” governor Tiff Macklem commented.
“If the economy evolves broadly in line with our latest forecast, we expect to reduce the policy rate further,” the bank added in a statement.
2.49pm: Tough start for Wall Street
Wall Street faced a negative start on Wednesday as a string of company updates once again failed to offset pressure from rising treasury yields.
The Nasdaq dipped 0.5% as the market opened, while the S&P 500 and Dow Jones headed for a third consecutive day of declines, falling by 0.3% and 0.6% respectively.
Boeing Co (NYSE:BA, ETR:BCO), Coca-Cola Co and AT&T Inc (NYSE:T, ETR:SOBA) were among those reporting early on Wednesday, ahead of Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) later in the day.
Boeing slipped 0.9% as the market opened after unveiling surging losses on the back of mounting issues recently, while Coca-Cola also fell by 2.2% as results signalled sluggish global demand.
AT&T topped estimates for the third quarter in the meantime, prompting shares to tick up 0.7%.
An increase in bond yields continued to weigh overall though, with the rate on benchmark 10-year treasuries climbing further to 4.24% on Tuesday morning.
2.24pm: Gold falls back from record
Gold slipped back on Wednesday afternoon, having set a new record high earlier in the day.
By the afternoon, the yellow metal was trading at US$2,734 an ounce for a 0.19% daily decline.
Gold had surged as high as US$2,758 earlier on, setting a new all time high as uncertainty around next month’s US election buoyed the price, alongside tensions in the Middle East.
1.54pm: Regulator confirms Alzheimer’s drug won’t roll out on NHS
The National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has confirmed donanemab will not be rolled out on the NHS.
“For NICE to be able to approve a medicine for use in the NHS it must provide additional benefits to patients, and it must also represent a good use of NHS resources and taxpayers’ money,” medicine evaluation director Helen Knight said.
“The cost-effectiveness estimate for donanemab is 5 to 6 times above what NICE normally considers an acceptable use of NHS resources.”
Resorts had emerged earlier in the day that the drug, which is made by Eli Lilly and Co (NYSE:LLY) and has been shown to slow the progression of Alzheimer’s by 35%, would be classed as too costly for the NHS.
Having been dubbed a “game-changer” previously, NICE acknowledged the drug could slow the disease’s progression but said “further work [was] needed to understand the costs of giving the medicine in the NHS”.
1.09pm: Boeing’s losses mount in third-quarter
Boeing Co (NYSE:BA, ETR:BCO)'s struggles were on full disply in results on Wednesday, which showed a jump in losses and sinking operating margins.
Operating losses surged from US$808 million to US$5.76 billion year on year in the third quarter, as margins sank from -4.5% to -32.3%, the manufacturer reported.
This comes after scrutiny over its quality control practices and a strike most recently by thousands of workers in the Seattle region have hampered operations.
A US$4 billion operating loss from Boeing’s affected commercial aircraft wing was recorded as a result, with the strike having only hit the final two weeks of the three-month period.
Revenue dipped 1% during the third-quarter to US$17,84 billion, while basic per share losses climbed from US$2.70 to US$9.97.
Some 291 aircraft had been delivered over the first nine months of the year, against 371 during the same period in 2023, Boeing added.
“It will take time to return Boeing to its former legacy, but with the right focus and culture, we can be an iconic company and aerospace leader once again,” chief executive Kelly Ortberg commented.
“Going forward, we will be focused on fundamentally changing the culture, stabilising the business, and improving program execution, while setting the foundation for the future.”
Shares dipped 0.6% in pre-market trading.
12.47pm: Dow Jones, S&P 500 to fall again as Wall Street remains under pressure
Wall Street looked set to remain under pressure on Wednesday morning as the likes of rising treasury yields continued to hit stocks.
Futures had the Dow Jones down 0.5% ahead of the opening bell, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq also seen 0.2% and 0.3% lower.
This would follow declines for the Dow Jones and S&P 500 on Tuesday, with the latter facing its first back-to-back fall since early September.
Equities have faced pressure in recent days, as growing bets on a win for Donald Trump in next month’s presidential election have fuelled increases for gold and pushed up bond yields.
The benchmark 10-year treasury yield climbed a further three basis points to 4.23% on Wednesday as a result, while gold surpassed the US$2,750 an ounce mark for the first time.
Adding pressure to the Dow Jones was a 6.8% drop in McDonald’s Corp shares ahead of the market’s open, after news of an e.coli outbreak linked to its quarter pounder burgers… Read more
Elsewhere on Wednesday, attention was on Boeing Co (NYSE:BA, ETR:BCO)’s third-quarter update, which showed losses had surged to US$5.76 billion, before Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA)’s update later on.
12.23pm: Tupperware reaches rescue deal with lenders
Tupperware Brands (NYSE:TUP) has reached a rescue deal with a group of lenders and ditched plans to sell off its assets through an auction.
Lenders including Stonehill Capital Management Partners and Alden Global Capital will buy the kitchen products firm for US$23.5 million (£18.1 million) in cash and more than US$63 million in debt relief.
This comes after Florida-based Tupperware filed for bankruptcy last month and launched plans to find a buyer within 30 days.
Debt was said to have reached US$818 million at the time, with the deal set to see the lenders acquire Tupperware’s brand name and operations in several markets... Read more
11.52am: Shell, BP drop as oil falls on Gaza ceasefire speculation
FTSE 100 heavyweights Shell PLC (LSE:SHEL, NYSE:SHEL) and BP PLC (LSE:BP.) fell into the red on Wednesday as oil prices went into reverse.
Shares in the duo dipped 0.6% and 0.3% late on in the morning as benchmark Brent crude fell below the US$75 a barrel mark.
The drop came as efforts to bring about a ceasefire in Gaza reemerged as meetings took place between US secretary of state Antony Blinken and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
A meeting between the two on Tuesday in Jerusalem saw the pair agree that new possibilities of ending the conflict in Gaza had emerged after the recent killing of Hamas Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.
Brent was trading at US$74.82 on Wednesday, having sat as high as US$76.33 on Tuesday.
11.29am: Budget to see taxes upped by £35bn but will boost growth - Bank of America
Next week’s Budget has been forecast to see a £35 billion increase in taxes by 2030 and increase UK economic growth.
Bank of America analysts predicted the increase in taxes between 2025 and 2030 would help fund an additional £57 billion worth of public spending.
This would coincide with a £22 billion increase in government borrowing to fund the plans for new investment and public services spending, according to the bank, taking the figure 0.7% higher as a proportion of gross domestic product (GDP) than in March.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ statement was forecast to add between 0.3 and 0.4 percentage points to GDP, the bank added, and be “net growth positive relative to March”.
“The Budget could be the first step towards improving trend growth in the economy,” Bank of America said.
“Less fiscal tightening also adds to the case for a cautious rate-cutting cycle from the Bank of England.”
10.54am: Real wages increase as Co-op signals growing costs
Real wages across the UK are set to increase to £12.60 an hour for almost half a million workers at employers signed up to the voluntary scheme.
The Living Wage Foundation unveiled the 60p increase on Wednesday, with those in London set to be paid 70p more at £13.85 an hour.
Some 15,000 employers, or one in nine, set pay based on the charity’s rate, which is higher than the legal minimum wage of £11.44 an hour for adults.
“Low-paid workers have been hardest hit by the cost-of-living crisis and are still struggling to stay afloat,” Living Wage Foundation director Katherine Chapman said.
The charity added 3.7 million low-paid workers were still struggling after prices had surged in recent years, as 42% had less than £10 left each week after covering essential expenses.
It comes as Co-operative chief executive Shirine Khoury-Haq signalled the previous hike earlier this year had increased the business’ wage bill by £100 million.
“For me as a business leader, I have to balance wanting to pay my colleagues absolutely fairly and linking pay to inflation as it should be with how we run our business and how we make sure that we can continue to maintain the profitability that we need,” she said.
She committed to passing on higher wages, but warned a speculated rise in employer national insurance contributions in next week’s Budget would also lead to surging costs.
9.44am: Pound loses further ground to dollar on ‘Trump trade’
Sterling gave up further ground to the dollar on Wednesday as bets that Donald Trump would win next month’s US presidential election gripped markets.
Sterling fell a further 0.13% against the greenback over the morning to US$1.2968, with the euro also slipping by 0.17% to US$1.0781 in the meantime.
This came as traders swooped for the dollar as part of the “Trump trade,” XTB analyst Kathleen Brooks said, on growing bets the former president would clinch the latest election.
“With two weeks to go before the US election, it is hard to see the dollar fall in a meaningful way ahead of this event,” she added.
9.28am: Britvic-Carlsberg tie-up formally probed by CMA
Britain’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has launched a formal investigation into Carlsberg's £3.3 billion takeover of J20 maker Britvic PLC (LSE:BVIC).
The watchdog had begun scrutinising the tie-up last month after Britvic agreed to the deal in July, having asked for input on how the deal would affect competition and consumers.
“The CMA has today issued a second invitation to comment, giving all interested third parties a further opportunity to submit views about the impact that the proposed merger could have on competition in the UK,” regulators added on Wednesday.
A decision on whether to launch a phase two investigation into the merger is due by December 18.
9.22am: Small Cap spotlight: Diversified Energy, 4Global, Ecora
Diversified Energy Company PLC (LSE:DEC, NYSE:DEC) has signed a gas supply agreement with a major LNG facility located on the Gulf Coast. Under the terms of the agreement, Diversified will deliver approximately 40 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of natural gas over the next three years, starting in November 2024... Read more
4GLOBAL PLC (AIM:4GBL), a provider of data and technology solutions for the sports, fitness, and wellness sectors, has announced new strategic partnerships in the United States with Daxko and Xplor Recreation... Read more
Ecora Resources PLC (LSE:ECOR, TSX:ECOR, OTCQX:ECRAF) highlighted that underground operations at Voisey's Bay are ramping up with total deliveries in H2 on schedule to at least double the number received in H1. The commentary came in today’s third-quarter trading update... Read more
9.07am: ‘Game-changing’ Alzheimer’s drug to be blocked from NHS
Donanemab is reportedly set to be blocked for use on Britain’s NHS over concerns the Alzheimer’s drug is too costly.
Regulator the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence is expected to dub the drug as safe for use but immediately rule it out for the NHS on Wednesday, according to The Telegraph.
Research has shown the drug slowed the progression of Alzheimer’s by 35%, prompting scientists to suggest patients could live at home for an average of two additional years.
Donanemab was previously labelled as “game-changing” by UCL Institute of Neurology professor John Hardy as a result, with the number of dementia patients in the UK set to increase from one million currently to 1.4 million by 2040 as the population ages.
8.42am: WPP leads FTSE 100 higher
London’s blue chips climbed on Wednesday morning, led by WPP PLC (LSE:WPP), Barratt Redrow PLC (LSE:BTRW) and Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC (LSE:RKT, ETR:3RB) after each updated early on.
Marketing group WPP jumped 4.7% early on following news it had returned to growth over the past quarter on new wins with the likes of Amazon, Starbucks and Unilever... Read more
Barratt Redrow ticked up 3.1% in the meantime after the newly merged housebuilder unveiled plans to save £90 million through office closures... Read more
Consumer goods firm Reckitt then followed as Wednesday’s third-biggest riser with a 2.8% gain, having stuck to full-year guidance despite a drop in sales over the third quarter... Read more
Persimmon PLC (LSE:PSN) and Taylor Wimpey PLC (LSE:TW.) were also among the early gainers, aiding the FTSE 100 to a 15-point climb to 8,321.
8.31am: Sellafield clean-up costs surging
The Sellafield nuclear waste dump's clean-up is expected to cost £136 billion, leaving questions over the site’s “value for money”.
Britain’s public spending watchdog said on Wednesday that efforts to fix buildings at the state-owned Cumbrian site had been gripped by delays and ballooning costs.
“We cannot yet say that [owner] the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and Sellafield are achieving value for money,” the National Audit Office said in a report.
Though progress had been made in removing the likes of the most hazardous waste for the first time, work needed to be done to build new storage and upgrade ageing facilities before Sellafield is eventually decommissioned in 2125, the report found.
Costs of decommissioning Sellafield were expected to hit £136 billion as a result, marking a £21.4 billion, or 18.8%, increase on the last forecast in 2019... Read more
8.01am: Lloyds' profit outdoes expectations
Lloyds Banking Group PLC (LSE:LLOY) has unveiled stronger-than-expected profit for the third quarter.
The black horse bank reported pre-tax earnings of £1.8 billion, slightly down from £1.9 billion the previous year but surpassing analysts' predictions of £1.6 billion.
The UK’s largest mortgage lender maintained its performance outlook for 2024, citing increased customer financial confidence despite economic challenges.
Absent from the update was an increase in charges related to a Financial Conduct Authority motor finance review... Read more
7.56am: Reckitt posts drop in revenue
Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC (LSE:RKT, ETR:3RB) has reported a drop in sales for the third quarter as revenue from its nutrition wing slumped.
Like-for-like revenue declined by 0.5% to £3,46 billion during the quarter, the consumer goods firm said, or by 4.0% on an international reporting standards basis.
Though sales across Reckitt’s hygiene and health wings picked up by 2.1% and 3.2% respectively, revenue from nutrition products fell 17.4% on a like-for-like basis.
This was primarily due to a £100 million supply-related hit from the Mount Vernon tornado in July, Reckitt said, “which reflects a better-than-expected recovery of inventories”.
Foreign exchange headwinds over the year so far had also dealt a 3.9% hit, with this offset by a 0.4% growth in like-for-like sales.
“Our [third quarter] delivery is in line with our guidance at the half year,” chief executive Kris Licht commented.
“Our categories are resilient, our brands are strong and we are now seeing a more balanced algorithm for growth”... Read more
7.27am: Gold passes $2,750 for first time
Gold breached the US$2,750 mark for the first time on Wednesday morning, continuing a record-breaking run which has seen the yellow metal repeatedly hit new highs this week.
Having climbed as high as US$2,753 earlier on, spot gold was trading at US$2,752 on Wednesday morning for a 0.66% daily gain.
Tensions in the Middle East, uncertainty around next month’s US election and further looming cuts to interest rates globally have buoyed the yellow metal most recently.
This is despite strengthening by the dollar over the week so far and increasing bond yields, which had risen to 4.23% for US 10-year treasuries come Wednesday morning.
“Non-gold friendly developments are being offset by haven bids and the ‘risk’ of a Republican win in the upcoming elections,” Saxo Strategy analysts commented.
This has stoked “concerns about looser fiscal policy, which may deepen the deficit and rekindle inflation”.
7.13am: FTSE 100 seen lower again
Futures had the FTSE 100 falling by 12 points to 8,335 on Wednesday morning, placing London’s blue chips on course for a third day of declines.
Fresnillo PLC (LSE:FRES) and miners have so far enjoyed gains over the week in spite of wider falls on the index as gold and silver prices have been boosted as attention turns to next month’s presidential election in the US.
Gold continued its record-breaking streak into Wednesday, topping the US$2,750 an ounce mark for the first time, while silver gained a further 1.5% to reach US$34.74.
Overnight, Asian markets largely climbed, with Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index adding 1.2% as Japan’s Nikkei was among the few to fall.
Back in London, attention on Wednesday turns to trading updates from the likes of Lloyds Banking Group PLC (LSE:LLOY) and Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC (LSE:RKT, ETR:3RB).