This report is not a personal recommendation and does not take into account your personal circumstances or appetite for risk.
| Yesterday’s UK 100 Leaders | Price (p) | % Chg |
| Metlen Energy & Metals | 36.1 | 7.4% |
| St James’s Place | 1,331.5 | 5.0% |
| Rolls-Royce Holdings | 1,363.0 | 4.6% |
| Informa | 811.6 | 4.2% |
| Entain | 578.2 | 4.0% |
| Yesterday’s UK 100 Laggards | Price (p) | % Chg |
| Weir Group | 3,040.0 | -10.6% |
| Barratt Redrow | 329.1 | -3.1% |
| Diageo | 1,520.0 | -2.9% |
| BP | 481.3 | -2.4% |
| Smith & Nephew | 1,336.0 | -1.8% |
| Major World Indices | Price | % Chg | 1 Year |
| UK 100 INDEX | 10,568 | 0.8% | 20.7% |
| DOW JONES INDUS. AVG | 48,739 | 0.5% | 13.3% |
| DAX INDEX | 24,205 | 1.7% | 4.9% |
| NIKKEI 225 | 55,278 | 1.9% | 47.7% |
| S&P/ASX 200 INDEX | 8,940 | 0.4% | 9.8% |
| Commodity | Units | Price | % Chg |
| WTI Crude Oil (Nymex) | USD/bbl. | 77.19 | 3.42% |
| Brent Crude (ICE) | USD/bbl. | 83.98 | 3.17% |
| Gold Spot | USD/t oz. | 5,161 | 0.4% |
| Copper (Comex) | USd/lb. | 586 | 0.9% |
Click graph to enlarge
The UK 100 is called to open -3 points at 10,564. UK equities stabilised following a two-day decline driven by the escalation in the Middle East. The UK 100 is expected to open modestly lower today.
US equities closed higher as a pause in oil’s rally and signs of potential diplomatic contact between Iran and the United States supported risk sentiment. The Dow Jones rose 0.49% to 48,739.41, the S&P 500 gained 0.78% to 6,869.50 and the Nasdaq advanced 1.29% to 22,807.48, led by strength in semiconductors and software names.
Asian equities rebounded following Wall Street’s recovery, although sentiment remains fragile as the Middle East conflict continues to drive commodity volatility. South Korea’s KOSPI surged roughly 11–12%, recovering from a record decline in the previous session as chipmakers and autos rallied sharply. Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix and Hyundai Motor gained between 11% and 13%. Japan’s Nikkei and Topix rose around 1.5% and 1.8% respectively. Chinese equities also advanced after Beijing set a 2026 GDP growth target of 4.5%–5% and signalled continued fiscal support. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added about 1%.
Aviva posted a 25% jump in operating profit to £2.203 billion for 2025, with its takeover of Direct Line and strong results across the group helping the British insurer hit its 2026 financial targets a year early. The results cap a fifth straight year of profitable growth for one of Europe’s biggest insurers. Group earnings per share climbed 17% to 56.0p, IFRS profit surged 50% to £1.054 billion, and return on equity reached 17.5%. The £3.7 billion Direct Line acquisition, completed in July, contributed £174 million to operating profit. Even stripping that out, the group still grew profit 15% year on year. The board declared a final dividend of 26.2p per share, up 10%, and announced a £350 million share buyback. Aviva set new three-year targets including 11% compound annual growth in operating earnings per share through 2028 and return on equity above 20%. The full-year results come as the insurer also flagged deployment of artificial intelligence across claims, underwriting, and customer experience.
Entain said on Thursday its annual loss after tax widened on a larger-than-expected £488 million pound ($650.3 million) charge related to the UK gambling tax increases announced in November last year. The UK gambling industry took a significant hit after Finance Minister Rachel Reeves increased taxes on online gaming such as casino games and slots to 40% from 21% and on sports betting to 25% from 15% in her budget. Entain, which owns the Ladbrokes, Coral and Partypoker brands, had expected about a 200 million pound impact from the tax hikes. The company had expected to mitigate about 25% of the impact through measures, including a reduction in marketing and promotion costs. The company now expects to offset over 50% of the incremental UK tax burden from 2027 through group-wide optimization initiatives, and reiterated confidence in generating at least 500 million pounds of annual adjusted cashflow from 2028. It logged £680.5 million in loss after tax for the year ended December, compared to the £461 million loss recorded a year earlier.
ITV, the British TV company that is in talks to sell its broadcast unit to Sky, beat market forecasts with a 1% decline in 2025 adjusted operating profit and said advertising in the first quarter was better than expected. The company on Thursday reported adjusted profit of £534m ($712 million), ahead of a consensus of £511m, on total group revenue of 34.12 billion, unchanged from 2024.
UK
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) – Full Year Results
Aviva (AV.): – Full Year Results
Endeavour Mining (EDV) – Full Year Results
Admiral Group (ADM) – Full Year Results
Entain (ENT) – Full Year Results
Grafton Group (GFTU) – Full Year Results
Elementis (ELM) – Full Year Results
Foxtons (FOXT) – Full Year Results
Funding Circle (FCH) – Full Year Results
ITV (ITV) – Full Year Results
Harbour Energy (HBR) – Full Year Results
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT) – Full Year Results
Rentokil Initial (RTO) – Full Year Results
US
Costco Wholesale Corp (NASDAQ:COST) AMC
UK
IMI (IMI) – Full Year Results
US
None
EU Retail Sales
ECB Monetary Policy Meeting Accounts
US Challenger Job Cuts
US Initial Jobless Claims
US Nonfarm Productivity
US Unit Labor Costs
ECB’s Kocher speech
UK 100 companies going ex-dividend on 5th March 2026:
Rio Tinto
UK 250 companies going ex-dividend on5th March 2026:
Energean
Dr. Martens
Renishaw
Genus
For any help you may require placing trades or in terms of market information, put a call in to our trading floor – it’s all part of the service.
This research is produced by Accendo Markets Limited. Research produced and disseminated by Accendo Markets is classified as non-independent research, and is therefore a marketing communication. This investment research has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote its independence and it is not subject to the prohibition on dealing ahead of the dissemination of investment research. This research does not constitute a personal recommendation or offer to enter into a transaction or an investment, and is produced and distributed for information purposes only.
Accendo Markets considers opinions and information contained within the research to be valid when published, and gives no warranty as to the investments referred to in this material. The income from the investments referred to may go down as well as up, and investors may realise losses on investments. The past performance of a particular investment is not necessarily a guide to its future performance.