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| Yesterday’s UK 100 Leaders | Price (p) | % Chg |
| Fresnillo PLC | 1,085.0 | 4.2% |
| Babcock International Group PLC | 890.0 | 3.5% |
| Endeavour Mining PLC | 2,162.0 | 2.9% |
| Phoenix Group Holdings PLC | 638.5 | 2.7% |
| Severn Trent PLC | 2,775.0 | 2.3% |
| Yesterday’s UK 100 Laggards | Price (p) | % Chg |
| Jd Sports Fashion PLC | 83.1 | -10.6% |
| Spirax Group PLC | 5,860.0 | -2.7% |
| SSE PLC | 1,756.0 | -2.4% |
| Intercontinental Hotels Group PLC | 8,736.0 | -2.3% |
| Smith & Nephew PLC | 1,080.0 | -2.1% |
| Major World Indices | Price | % Chg | 1 Year |
| UK 100 INDEX | 8,786 | 0.1% | 4.4% |
| DOW JONES INDUS. AVG | 41,860 | -1.9% | 4.9% |
| DAX INDEX | 24,122 | 0.4% | 28.8% |
| NIKKEI 225 | 37,299 | -0.6% | -4.2% |
| S&P/ASX 200 INDEX | 8,387 | 0.5% | 6.9% |
| Commodities | Units | Price | % Chg |
| WTI Crude Oil (Nymex) | USD/bbl. | 61.51 | -0.84% |
| Brent Crude (ICE) | USD/bbl. | 64.80 | -0.89% |
| Gold Spot | USD/t oz. | 3,321 | 0.9% |
| Copper (Comex) | USd/lb. | 467 | 0.4% |
Click graph to enlarge
The UK 100 called to open -40 points this morning at 8,746. The UK 100 is called to open lower on Thursday, after stocks in New York tumbled overnight, and equities in Asia struggled.
The UK government today recorded the fourth-highest April borrowing figure since monthly records began in 1993. The figure of £20.2 billion was £1 billion higher than a year earlier and compared with City forecasts near to £18 billion. The Office for National Statistics also revised its estimate for borrowing in the financial year to March to £148.3 billion. This is £3.7 billion lower than the initial estimate published last month and £11 billion more than the £137.3 billion forecast by the Office for Budget Responsibility.
Stocks sold off on Wednesday, pressured by a sharp spike higher in Treasury yields as traders grew worried that a new U.S. budget bill would put even more stress on the country’s already large deficit. The Dow Jones lost 816.80 points, or 1.91% to 41,860.44. The S&P shed 1.61% to 5,844.61. The Nasdaq slid 1.41% to 18,872.64.
The 30-year Treasury bond yield last traded around 5.09%, touching the highest level going back to October 2023. The benchmark 10-year Treasury note yield traded at 4.59%.
Major stock indexes in the Asia-Pacific region traded lower in the afternoon session on Thursday as investors assessed fresh reports on Japan’s manufacturing and services sector activity and Australia’s private sector activity. Additionally, tensions on the Korean Peninsula escalated after North Korea launched cruise missiles into the East Sea. Japan’s Nikkei 225 declined by 0.93% at 7:25 am CET, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was down by 0.54%. A minute later, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.88%, and South Korea’s Kospi Composite fell by 1.24%. On the Chinese mainland, the Shanghai Composite decreased by 0.16% and the Shenzhen Composite went down by 0.66% at 7:27 am CET.
BT Group, reported a slight increase in full-year core earnings on Thursday even as its revenue slipped by 2%, helped by making efficiencies in the business. It reported core earnings of 8.21 billion pounds ($11 billion), up 1% on the previous year. Analysts had on average expected £8.23 billion, according to a company-compiled consensus. The final dividend of 5.76p a share is up from 5.69p the year before, lifting the total for 2024./25 by 2% to 8.16p a share.
easyJet said it was seeing strong demand for flights and holidays, and current summer bookings gave it confidence in meeting consensus forecasts for annual profit. They reported a loss of £394 million for the winter period. The figure compares with £350 million the year before but showed a slight improvement when adjusted for the timing of Easter. The Luton-based carrier reiterated its medium-term target of £1 billion profit, adding that it remains focused on “delivering another record summer”. Forward bookings for the current quarter are 80% sold, representing a 0.5 percentage point increase on a year earlier. The holidays division expects 25% customer growth year-on-year. The company said investment in capacity has driven productivity and utilisation benefits, giving it a platform to reduce winter losses and further grow its profitable summer period.
Rio Tinto today announced that chief executive Jakob Stausholm is to step down later this year. He joined the mining giant in 2018 as chief financial officer before taking the top job in January 2021.
UK
BT Group (BT.A)
easyJet (EZJ)
Johnson Matthey (JMAT)
US
Intuit Inc (INTU) AMC
UK
AJ Bell (AJB)
US
None
German PMI
German IFO Data
EU PMI
UK PMI
BoE’s Breeden speech
BoE’s Dhingra speech
ECB Monetary Policy Meeting Accounts
BoE’s Pill speech
US Initial Jobless Claims
US PMI
EU Consumer Confidence
Fed’s Williams speech
UK 100 companies going ex-dividend on 22nd May 2025:
DCC
Kingfisher
Bunzl
Whitbread
Imperial Brands
UK 250 companies going ex-dividend on 22nd May 2025:
RHI Magnesita N.V.
NextEnergy Solar Fund
Bluefield Solar Income Fund
Keller Group
HICL Infastructure
Tritax Big Box REIT
Grainger
Spire Healthcare Group
JPMorgan Global Growth & Income
Bellway
BlackRock Greater European Inv Trust
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