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| Yesterday’s UK 100 Leaders | Price (p) | % Chg |
| The Magnum Ice Cream Company N.V. | 1,179.0 | 5.0% |
| Ashtead Group PLC | 4,955.0 | 3.6% |
| Convatec Group PLC | 231.8 | 2.6% |
| WPP PLC | 325.1 | 2.2% |
| Berkeley Group Holdings (The) PLC | 3,774.0 | 2.1% |
| Yesterday’s UK 100 Laggards | Price (p) | % Chg |
| Entain PLC | 740.0 | -2.6% |
| Informa PLC | 911.0 | -2.0% |
| Associated British Foods PLC | 2,092.5 | -1.8% |
| The Sage Group PLC | 1,057.0 | -1.5% |
| Centrica PLC | 165.5 | -1.2% |
| Major World Indices | Price | %Chg | 1 Year |
| UK 100 INDEX | 9,703 | 0.49% | 16.6% |
| DOW JONES INDUS. AVG | 48,704 | 1.34% | 8.6% |
| DAX INDEX | 24,295 | 0.68% | 18.7% |
| NIKKEI 225 | 50,837 | 1.37% | 28.5% |
| S&P/ASX 200 INDEX | 8,697 | 1.22% | 2.7% |
| Commodity | Units | Price | % Chg |
| WTI Crude Oil (Nymex) | USD/bbl. | 57.88 | 0.49% |
| Brent Crude (ICE) | USD/bbl. | 61.54 | 0.42% |
| Gold Spot | USD/t oz. | 4,287 | 0.17% |
| Copper (Comex) | USd/lb. | 549.80 | 0.06% |
Click graph to enlarge
The UK 100 is called to open +42 points at 9,745. The index is expected to start higher when trading begins, following new record closes on Wall Street. Stocks rebounded, and the S&P 500 closed at a record high in the last session, after a dip triggered by Oracle’s earnings report, which reignited concerns that the growing AI boom could be becoming too expensive for some tech giants. The leading US index rebounded from a sluggish start to end 0.2% higher, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged 1.3%.
Investor sentiment was boosted by comments from Federal Reserve policymakers, who lowered US interest rates for the third consecutive meeting. The Nasdaq Composite also recovered from early losses, finishing 0.3% down, although Oracle Corp saw an 11% drop after disappointing second-quarter results on Wednesday.
Card Factory warned that full-year profits will fall short of City expectations as it pointed to tough economic conditions. If current trends continue through the final seven weeks of the financial year, the company now expects adjusted profits of £55 million to £60 million. This compares with its earlier guidance for mid-to-high single-digit percentage growth on last year’s £66 million outcome.
Harbour Energy has reached an agreement to acquire “substantially all” of the subsidiaries of Waldorf Energy Partners Ltd and Waldorf Production Ltd, which are currently in administration, for USD 170 million. The transaction will be funded through readily available liquidity. The oil and gas producer stated that the acquisition will immediately boost free cash flow and enhance the competitiveness, resilience, and long-term prospects of its UK operations.
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German Harmonized Index of Consumer Prices
UK Gross Domestic Product
UK Industrial Production
UK Manufacturing Production
Fed’s Paulson speech
Fed’s Goolsbee speech
UK 100 companies going ex-dividend on 18th December 2025:
United Utilities
Games Workshop Group
Halma
UK 250 companies going ex-dividend on 18th December 2025:
Lion finance Group
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