- FTSE 100 climbs 112 points to 9,899
- What next for the builders?
- UK unemployment rate rises to 5%
- Vodafone pledges return to dividend growth
5.07pm: 10,000 level in sight
The FTSE 100 added 112 points to finish Tuesday’s session at a record high 9,899, just 119 days after the index crossed 9,000.
“The FTSE 100 is within a whisker of hitting 10,000 and it could only be a matter of days or hours before reaching this triumphant level,” said Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell.
“It’s been a historic year for the UK as the FTSE 100 has outperformed all the major US stock indices. Hitting 10,000 would be the cherry on top, proving to cynics that the UK market is not stuck in the mud.”
3.54pm: FTSE eyes another record
The FTSE 100 is on track to close at a new record high for the second consecutive session, up 98 points at 9,885, as UK rate bets ramp up amid optimism the US government shutdown will soon end.
The interest rate futures market has priced in an 86% chance of a cut from the Bank of England next month, XTB research director Kathleen Brooks highlighted.
“This could be a much-needed antidote to the Budget, which is set to include hefty income tax increases when it is announced in 2 weeks.”
3.03pm: Tech jitters hit Nasdaq
Wall Street started off Tuesday on a mixed note, with tech shares dragging broader markets amid renewed fears that the AI boom may be running ahead of itself.
The Dow Jones added 82 points, or 0.2%, to 47,451, while the S&P 500 slipped 14 points, or 0.2%, to 6,819. The Nasdaq fell 116 points, or 0.5%, to 23,411, weighed down by a selloff in key AI names. Small caps bucked the trend, with the Russell 2000 climbing 23 points, or 0.9%, to 2,456.
Wall Street’s AI euphoria hit a speed bump as SoftBank dumped its entire Nvidia stake to fund its own AI projects, sending Nvidia down about 2% in premarket trading. CoreWeave also stumbled, slashing its full-year revenue guidance after a partner-related delay despite strong quarterly results, dragging its stock roughly 11% lower.
Investors are balancing tech jitters against rising hopes that the 41-day government shutdown could finally end. The Senate advanced a funding measure Monday, sending it to the House for a vote. A reopening would release delayed economic data, offering a clearer picture of jobs, inflation, and growth — key inputs for the Fed’s December decisions.
1.55pm: Nvidia lower pre-market
Nvidia shares traded almost 2% lower before Tuesday’s opening bell after it was revealed SoftBank sold its entire stake in the chipmaker for $5.83 billion.
The Japanese conglomerate disclosed in its earnings statement that it sold 32.1 million Nvidia shares in October, alongside the sale of part of its stake in T-Mobile for $9.17 billion.
The transactions were described as part of a broader “asset monetization” strategy to raise liquidity and strengthen the company’s balance sheet, and did not reflect doubts in Nvidia’s long-term growth prospects.
“We want to provide a lot of investment opportunities for investors, while we can still maintain financial strength,” SoftBank CFO Yoshimitsu Goto said during an investor presentation. “Through those options and tools we make sure that we are ready for funding in a very safe manner.”
1.12pm: Mid- and small-cap movers
Some of the biggest movers today, large and small.
Top of the FTSE 250 leaderboard is 4imprint Group, surging almost 18% to a seven-month high after the promotional products maker lifted its full-year profit guidance above the top end of analyst forecasts.
However, a small cap in a similar space, Altitude Group fell 18% after the company issued a profit warning due to slower-than-expected performance in its AIM Smarter digital platform for managing branded merchandise procurement.
Another big mid-cap riser, with a 13% leap, is Oxford Instruments, which hiked its dividend and share buyback, buoyed by expectations of an improved second-half performance due to recovering order momentum and increased cost discipline.
Biggest mid-cap faller is Hilton Food Group, which flopped 22% after the meat and seafood producer warned that ongoing operational issues and subdued demand would make profit growth in 2026 difficult.
While the fourth quarter is expected to benefit from the usual seasonal uplift, full-year earnings guidance reflects continued weakness in seafood and the impact of inflation on consumer demand.
Among small caps, Image Scan rose 20% after the X-ray screening specialist announced a sizeable contract from a long-standing Southeast Asian customer.
An interesting one in the mining sector with uranium being a hot metal is Zenith Energy, which jumped 22% after Italy’s Lombardy region accepted the company’s applications to explore the country’s two largest known uranium deposits, Val Vedello and Novazza. The move marks the first time exploration permit requests for these sites have progressed to the final environmental approval stage.
FDM Group climbed 11% after the IT consultancy signalled some stabilisation following a period of subdued client demand, saying full-year results for 2025 are expected to meet market forecasts.
Great Southern Copper rose 10% after the company announced the mobilisation of a third drill rig to its Cerro Negro prospect in northern Chile, stepping up exploration for copper, gold and silver.
Team Internet Group rose 11% to 47p after launching a strategic review to see if it could extract value across its businesses, with the company exploring sales or partnerships for most operations, excluding a whole-company bid.
12.07pm: FTSE dips as Wall Street futures in red
The FTSE has tailed off a little after its early surge.
Supermarkets are the bigger fallers, Tesco down 3.1%, Marks & Spencer down 2.8% and Sainsbury's down 1.8%. That follows the BRC sales data earlier, where food sales growth slowed to 3.5% from 4.3%.
Still, only three of the index's 20 largest companies are in red, Rolls, BAE and 3i Group.
US futures are mixed too, with the Dow Jones just above flat, while S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures are down 0.2% and 0.4%.
"The boost seen yesterday around the potential for an end to the US shutdown appears to be losing legs already," says market analyst Josh Mahony at Scope Markets.
Markets are looking ahead to a vote in the US House of Representatives tomorrow, where the bill is expected to pass to the President later in the week.
"However, major questions remain for those wondering when we will start to see the economic data roll in, given the complexity in collating figures retrospectively," Mahony added.
"With concerns around the quality of the data given a shift in methodology, will Fed members believe the data is robust enough to inform them around whether to cut rates next month?"
After yesterday's Wall Street rebound was largely based on AI-linked stocks, including Nvidia, following Michael Burry’s Palantir and Nvidia short that raised concerns for many.
Mahony flagged that the Big Short investor has made a fresh attack on the sector, accusing Oracle and Meta of overstating earnings by 26.9% and 20.8% respectively.
"Crucially, he teased a major announcement on November 25 to shed more light on the overvaluations seen in the sector. This provides a potential cloud that could hang over tech stocks until we see exactly what evidence he has, with investors already jittery amid constant news coverage stating that we are currently in the late stages of a bubble.
"Next week’s Nvidia earnings will therefore likely take place against a cautious backdrop of concern given Burry’s announcement due roughly a week later."
10.50am: Budget boost for builders?
Has Rachel Reeves helped or hindered her cause with the cryptic 'pressers' and interviews she's given ahead of the Budget later this month? Only time will tell. Certainly, it seems to have heightened speculation, rather than tamped it down, particularly around tax hikes.
Against this backdrop, Citi has weighed in - but not on the obvious subject matter. The American bank the UK’s housebuilders could be in for a boost when the Chancellor steps up to the dispatch box on 26 November.
In a new sector note, the bank argues that a “sluggish-growth, lower-rates” environment post-Budget would be the sweet spot for builders, even if the industry must stomach some tweaks to property taxes.
Citi reckons the market’s already pricing in plenty of gloom, with housebuilder shares trading at around 0.9 times forecast 2026 book value — a clear reflection of the UK’s fiscal hangover.
The upside? If Jeremy Hunt manages to steady the public finances and rekindle confidence in rate cuts, Citi thinks that could trigger a sector re-rating and lift valuations closer to their long-term norms.
In short, fiscal credibility now could lay the foundations for a housing market revival later.
10.10am: Vodafone ticks boxes
Thoughts on Vodafone, from AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould, with the telecoms group of the FTSE leaderboard.
He says VOD "ticked three boxes" with its first-half results as it promised the first dividend increase in seven years, said it would hit the top end of profit and cash flow guidance, and returned to growth in its key German market.
"For years, Vodafone has been a stock market zombie flailing around with little apparent purpose but the transformation programme being delivered by CEO Margherita Della Valle has injected new life into the business.
"Returning to a progressive dividend policy, after the promised dividend hike for the current financial year, would be a key milestone in the company’s recovery after years when the payout has often been cut or kept flat.
"Along with the latest tranche of buybacks, it suggests measures like selling off its Italian and Spanish operations and merging its UK business with Three have delivered tangible benefits along with the operational improvements which have been made in the background.
“One swallow doesn’t make a summer and investors will be looking for Vodafone to build on this strong performance before they are fully convinced that a decade or more of struggle is genuinely behind it.”
9.18am: FTSE on track to hit 10,000 before Xmas
The FTSE is maintaining its course so far, happy to ride the crest of this new wave as the sight of the five-digit milestone looms in the ever-nearer distance.
Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor, says: "After hitting a record closing high on Monday, fuelled by mining stocks, the FTSE 100 continues to push higher, gaining another 1% outperforming mainland Europe."
As well as Vodafone rising on its return to form, and housebuilders being lifted by the latest UK unemployment data fueling hopes of a December rate cut, there are also gains for media groups WPP, Pearson and Informa, tobacco producer BAT, power company SSE.
Precious metals miner Fresnillo is there too, as gold rallies close to three-week highs amid growing expectations that the Fed will cut interest rates next month, says Scholar.
Market analyst Neil Wilson at Saxo says the FTSE is "almost touching 9,900 as global equity markets enjoy a relief rally on hopes the protracted US government shutdown would end soon, whilst a bounce in AI stocks lifted sentiment across the board".
He thinks the FTSE 100 could hit 10,000 by Christmas.
8.29am: December and more rate cuts expected
Some reaction to the ONS jobs data.
Matt Swannell, chief economic advisor to the EY ITEM Club, notes that private sector regular pay growth continues to slow, with "evidence of downward momentum that should drive pay growth lower by year-end" and that labour market conditions are gradually loosening.
While the Labour Force Survey (LFS) data continues to carry relatively little weight due to ongoing problems with low response rates, and HMRC's count of payrolled employees also has issues, "falls in both September and October indicate renewed weakness, after headcount had stabilised in the summer, and although previously strong job creation in the public sector had offset job losses in the private sector, that support now appears to be fading".
Before we get December's MPC meeting, we have the Budget and two ONS inflation releases, which Swannel says are "likely to be highly influential factors".
"But evidence of a further cooling in pay pressures removes one potential roadblock to a pre-Christmas rate cut as well as increasing the chances of further rate cuts in 2026."
Sanjay Raja, Deutsche Bank’s chief UK economist, says: "Today’s data should give the MPC more confidence to cut Bank Rate further by year-end."
He adds that Budget uncertainty "may be hampering hiring plans heading into Q4", the ONS jobs numbers "should continue to strengthen the case for a Christmas rate cut" as it points to two important things: more slack building in the labour market, and pay momentum continuing to slow.
"Both should be encouraging for the MPC. Indeed, Governor Bailey talked up the need for a larger accumulation of evidence for the MPC to cut Bank Rate later this year. And today’s data should give the majority of the MPC some added confidence that weakness in the labour market is translating into weaker pay momentum, which should ultimately feed through into inflation in the months and quarters to come."
Rob Wood, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, says the MPC "will react to weaker-than-expected job growth with a rate cut in December, and will be eyeing a follow-up reduction in early 2026".
He says the MPC, which voted 5-4 to hold last week, are "on a hair trigger".
Today’s data reduces his confidence that the labour market is stabilising after April's payrolls tax hike hit hiring. "There are enough signs of stabilisation still, and enough doubts in the data, for us to stick to our view, but we are wobbling a little and are therefore close to forecasting another rate cut in March."
8.15am: FTSE comes out swinging
The FTSE 100 has come out swinging, barging 104 points higher to 9,891 in the first few minutes of trading, another new all-time high.
Vodafone Group PLC is top of the early risers, up 5.6% after its bullish set of interim results.
Housebuilders are also on the rise, being sensitive to the possibility of another interest rate cut and falling mortgage rates. Barratt Redrow, Persimmon, and Berkeley Group are all up around 2%.
7.50am: Vodafone nudges towards top end of guidance
Vodafone Group PLC (LSE:VOD) is promising a return to a progressive dividend policy and looking towards the upper end of its full-year earnings and cash flow guidance after posting interim results that were marginally better than expected.
The telecoms group reported underlying earnings excluding lease expenses (EBITDAaL) of €5.73 billion for the half-year to 30 September, up 5.9% versus a year ago and slightly ahead of the average analyst forecast of €5.65 billion.
Chief executive Margherita Della Valle said: "Following the progress of our transformation, Vodafone has built broad-based momentum. In the second quarter we saw service revenue accelerating, with good performances in the UK, Türkiye and Africa, and a return to top-line growth in Germany.
She said that because the group's "anticipated multi-year growth trajectory is now underway" the board is introducing a new progressive dividend policy, with an expected increase of 2.5% for this financial year.
7.24am: Retail sales down as shoppers wait for Black Friday deals
Retail sales rose by 1.6% year-over-year in October, down from 2.3% in September, according to data from the industry body, the British Retail Consortium.
Like-for-like sales rose 1.5%, down from 2.0% in September.
Food sales increased by 3.5% in October, down from 4.3% in September but flat against the 12-month average growth of 3.5%.
Non-Food sales increased by 0.1%, down from 0.7% in September and below the 12-month average growth of 1.0%.
"October was a subdued month, with the weakest growth since May," says BRC CEO Helen Dickinson. "Many delayed spending, waiting for Black Friday deals and cooler temperatures before buying toys, electronics and clothing."
She says furniture and other homeware fared better.
"Food sales also saw good growth, but this was mostly driven by higher prices rather than higher volumes."
She says retailers are "counting on Black Friday to deliver a vital boost, but looming Budget decisions risk undermining fragile consumer confidence".
Online growth almost dried up altogether, while sales of many household goods continued to see consistent growth, linked to the lag benefit from the house buying surge seen before Stamp Duty changes in Spring.
7.17am: FTSE to make barnstorming start, UK unemployment rises again
A barnstorming FTSE 100 open is expected on Tuesday, as the pound fell on weaker jobs market data and following a strong showing on Wall Street overnight.
The London benchmark has been called 85 points higher on the futures market, which would propel the index well into new record territory, after it finished up 104.58 points at a new all-time closing high of 9,787.15.
US tech stocks on the Nasdaq led the charge overnight, surging 2.3%, while the S&P 500 rose 1.5% and the Dow Jones finished up 0.8%.
In Asia, the Hang Seng is down 0.2% in Hong Kong and the Nikkei is down 0.1% in Tokyo.
Fresh UK data this morning showed the unemployment rate surprisingly rose to 5.0% in the three months to October from 4.9%, while average pay including bonuses eased to 4.8% from 5.0%, with economists having expected no change.
Average wages excluding bonuses softened to 4.6% from 4.7% as expected.