Markets Overview:

The UK 100 called to open -15 points this morning at 8,923. The UK 100 looks set to open lower again this morning, having broken through 9000 points for the first time yesterday.  Trading later in the session saw the UK’s bluechip index retreat from its new highs.

Data out this morning showed the consumer price index rose 0.3% in the month of June, the Office for National Statistics revealed, up from the previous monthly rate of 0.2% and more sharply than the 0.1% increase that economists had predicted.  This meant that the annual rate of UK CPI increased to 3.6%, up from 3.4% previously and higher than the 3.4% average forecast, which remains well above the BoE’s 2% target rate.

The Dow Jones fell on Tuesday as worries over U.S. inflation and a mixed bag of big bank earnings dragged the blue-chip index lower. The Nasdaq, meanwhile, got a boost from gains in Nvidia. The 30-stock Dow lost 436.36 points, or 0.98%, and closed at 44,023.29. The S&P lost 0.40% and closed at 6,243.76, easing from a fresh record high reached earlier in the session. The Nasdaq was an outperformer, adding 0.18% and posting a record close of 20,677.80. The tech-heavy index was aided by a 4% rise in Nvidia shares after the chip company said it hopes to “soon” resume deliveries of its H20 GPU sales to China.June inflation data

The US’s June inflation data released Tuesday represented an increase from May levels, despite the headline numbers matching expectations. The consumer price index increased 0.3% on the month, putting the annual inflation rate at 2.7%, matching a consensus poll from Dow Jones. So-called core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, grew 0.2% month over month, slightly less than expected. Year over year, it expanded by 2.9%, matching estimates.

Company News & Broker Comments:

Company News:

Antofagasta said on Wednesday its copper production rose 11% to 314,900 metric tons in the first half of 2025, on higher production from its two concentrators.  The London-listed company left guidance for full-year copper output unchanged between 660,000 and 700,000 tons. In 2024, it produced 664,000 tons of copper.  It said net cash costs stood at $1.32 per pound in the first half of the year, 32% lower than the same period of 2024, mostly on higher production.  The company left capital expenditure guidance for the year unchanged at $3.9 billion in 2025, up from $2.7 billion in 2024, as works on its Centinela concentrator peak.  Antofagasta operates four copper mines in Chile, and seeks to develop the Twin Metals copper and nickel mine in Minnesota, which was stalled after President Joe Biden’s administration blocked permits over environmental concerns.  CEO Ivan Arriagada on July 10 said he saw “an opportunity” to advance Twin Metals, following President Donald Trump’s move to impose a 50% import tariff on copper, reviving hopes for greater support of domestic mining projects.  Copper, a metal with high electrical and thermal conductivity, is essential in the power and construction sectors. Demand for it is expected to increase over time, driven by the expansion of the electric vehicle market and emerging applications, including AI-powered data centres.

Rio Tinto reported its strongest second-quarter iron ore production since 2018 on Wednesday, a day after promoting its iron ore chief Simon Trott to CEO, raising hopes he can revive the fortunes of the mining giant.  The world’s largest iron ore producer picked the head of its most profitable business to succeed Jakob Stausholm, who unexpectedly announced in May he would step down from the top job after four-and-a-half years.  Second-quarter iron ore production at its Pilbara mines rose to 83.7 million metric tons, the highest since 2018, which was a record year for output.  However, shipments slightly missed consensus expectations and for the half were the weakest since 2014 after four cyclones disrupted schedules in the first quarter.  Rio Tinto flagged it incurred $300 million in costs at its Canadian aluminium business due to US tariffs, which were only partly offset by higher US premiums for the metal.  Rio still sees its full year iron ore shipment forecast at the lower end of 323 million to 338 million tons.  Rio continues to expect its first shipment from the huge Simandou high-grade iron ore project in Guinea around November.  The mining giant forecast full-year copper production at the higher end of its guidance range and expects unit costs around the lower end, as its Oyu Tolgoi underground mine in Mongolia ramps up.  Copper production on a consolidated basis rose by 9% to 229 thousand tons from the prior quarter.

Reporting Today:

UK

None

US

Bank of America Corp (BAC) PMO

Goldman Sachs (GS) PMO

Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) PMO

Morgan Stanley (MS) PMO

Reporting Tomorrow:

UK

Wise (WISE)

SSE (SSE)

US

Abbott Laboratories (ABT) PMO

PepsiCo (PEP) PMO

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSM) PMO

Netflix (NFLX) AMC

In Focus Today:

UK Consumer Price Index

UK Retail Price Index

US Producer Price Index

Fed’s Hammack speech

US Industrial Production

Fed’s Beige Book

Fed’s Williams speech

Tomorrow’s Ex-Dividends:

UK 100 companies going ex-dividend on 17th July 2025:

None

UK 250 companies going ex-dividend on 17th July 2025:

Cranswick

Ninety One

NB Private Equity Partners

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