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| Yesterday’s UK 100 Leaders | Price (p) | % Chg |
| Weir Group PLC | 2,302.0 | 4.5% |
| Ashtead Group PLC | 4,108.0 | 3.3% |
| Anglo American PLC | 2,155.0 | 2.7% |
| St. James’s Place PLC | 931.2 | 2.2% |
| Intermediate Capital Group PLC | 1,840.0 | 1.9% |
| Yesterday’s UK 100 Laggards | Price (p) | % Chg |
| Legal & General Group PLC | 236.7 | -5.7% |
| Hiscox LTD | 1,126.0 | -3.2% |
| Bunzl PLC | 2,318.0 | -2.9% |
| HSBC Holdings PLC | 827.3 | -2.1% |
| Melrose Industries PLC | 413.8 | -1.7% |
| Major World Indices | Price | % Chg | 1 Year |
| UK 100 INDEX | 8,407 | 0.1% | 4.1% |
| DOW JONES INDUS. AVG | 40,093 | 1.2% | 5.3% |
| DAX INDEX | 22,065 | 0.5% | 23.2% |
| NIKKEI 225 | 35,648 | 1.7% | -5.1% |
| S&P/ASX 200 INDEX | 7,968 | 0.6% | 5.2% |
| Commodities | Units | Price | % Chg |
| WTI Crude Oil (Nymex) | USD/bbl. | 63.07 | 0.45% |
| Brent Crude (ICE) | USD/bbl. | 66.81 | 0.39% |
| Gold Spot | USD/t oz. | 3,306 | -1.3% |
| Copper (Comex) | USd/lb. | 486 | -1.1% |
Click graph to enlarge
The UK 100 called to open +23 points this morning at 8,430. The UK 100 looks set to open higher once again this morning after the UK’s blue chip index closed yesterday in the green extending its winning streak to 9 sessions, its longest winning streak since 2019.
Data out this morning showed Retail sales volumes rose for a third month in a row in March, up by a better-than-expected 0.4%. The figure recorded by the Office for National Statistics follows a rise of 0.7% in February and compares with City forecasts for a decline of about 0.4%.
Overnight markets in Asia are also higher after gains of more than 1% for the Nikkei 225 and the Hang Seng index.
Stocks popped Thursday thanks to strong gains in megacap tech names, as investors continued to look for signs of progress on the global trade front. The S&P ended up 2.03% at 5,484.77, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq added 2.74% to finish at 17,166.04. The Dow Jones lagged the other two indexes, weighed down by a 6.6% drop in IBM, but still added 486.83 points, or 1.23%, at 40,093.40. This marked the blue-chip index’s first close above the 40,000 threshold since April 15. Shares of Nvidia, Meta, Amazon, Tesla and Microsoft all closed higher, propelling the major averages to their third day of gains in a row.
Evoke this morning reported Year To Date revenue growth of +4% and crucially no change to Full Year 2025 expectations. Continues to expect revenues to pick up from Q2 onwards
WPP Says current trading in-line. Like for Like revenue -2.7% vs estimates -2.34%. Backs Full Year view. Cautious around tariff impact on clients which could run through to Company performance
UK
None
US
AbbVie (ABBV) PMO
Aon (AON) E
GE Vernova (GEV) PMO
SLB (SLB) PMO
UK
None
US
None
UK Consumer Confidence
US IMF Meeting
UK Retail Sales
US Michigan Consumer Expectations Index
BoE’s Greene speech
UK 100 companies going ex-dividend on 1st May 2025:
Glencore
Centrica
UK 250 companies going ex-dividend on 1st May 2025:
Senior
Inchcape
Greggs
Elementis
JD Wetherspoon
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