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The Independent
17 minutes ago
- The Independent
FTSE 100 at new peak despite fading rate cut hope
London's FTSE 100 hit a new all-time high on Wednesday, shrugging off a hot UK inflation print and fresh falls among technology stocks on Wall Street. The FTSE 100 index closed up 98.92 points, 1.1%, at 9,288.14. It had earlier traded as high as 9,301.19. The FTSE 250 ended up 52.62 points, 0.2%, at 21,885.88, but the AIM All-Share finished 3.48 points lower, 0.5%, at 759.74. Figures from the Office for National Statistics showed UK consumer price inflation picked up to 3.8% in July from 3.6% in June, exceeding FXStreet-cited market consensus expectations of 3.7%. On a monthly basis, consumer prices rose 0.1%, defying the consensus forecast of a 0.1% decrease but slowing from a 0.3% rise in June. Core consumer price inflation, which excludes energy, food, alcohol and tobacco, picked up to 3.8% annually from 3.7% in June, and against consensus expectations of another 3.7% rate. Annual service price inflation, a gauge which has been in focus in recent months, picked up to 5.0% in July from 4.7% in June, ahead of 4.8% consensus. The ONS said that 'transport, particularly air fares, made the largest upward contribution' to the July annual inflation rate, partly due to the timing of school holidays. Barclays said the figures increase the risk that the Bank of England will hold interest rates steady for longer. Callum McLaren-Stewart, at Citi, thinks the hurdle for a September rate cut now looks 'borderline impossible' although he continues to see a cut in November as likely on the basis of fiscal contraction in the autumn budget. But Pantheon Macroeconomics thinks sticky inflation will keep rates on hold for the rest of the year. 'The big picture remains that inflation is set to stay miles above target for the foreseeable future,' Elliott Jordan-Doak, at Pantheon, said. Rate sensitive housebuilders bucked the upbeat mood on the FTSE 100. Persimmon fell 0.3% and Taylor Wimpey dipped 0.5%. In better news for the sector, average UK house prices increased by 3.7% to £269,000 in the 12 months to June, picking up from a downwardly revised 2.7% in the 12 months to May, according to ONS data. May's figure was revised from growth of 3.9% before, partly reflecting a change in how new build inflation is assessed. House prices rose 3.3% in England, 2.6% in Wales, 5.9% in Scotland and by 5.5% in Northern Ireland from a year ago. Despite the fading rate cut hopes, the pound eased to 1.3468 dollars late on Wednesday afternoon in London, compared with 1.3503 dollars at the equities close on Tuesday. The euro edged down to 1.1661 dollars, lower against 1.1669 dollars. Against the yen, the dollar was trading lower at 147.15 yen compared with 147.75 yen. In Europe, the CAC 40 in Paris ended slightly lower, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt closed down 0.6%. In New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.1%, the S&P 500 was 0.5% lower, and the Nasdaq Composite declined 1.2%. The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was at 4.29%, narrowed from 4.31%. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury was 4.90%, trimmed from 4.91%. Technology stocks bore the brunt of the losses on Wall Street after a report produced by a branch of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology suggested 95% of companies are getting zero return on their investment in generative artificial intelligence. Russ Mould, at AJ Bell, noted these findings follow hot on the heels of comments from OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman that suggested investors are 'over-excited' in this area. 'For now, this looks like a mild and possibly necessary correction after an extremely strong run for this space and the companies within it. Investors will be watching closely to see if AI stocks stabilise from here or the selling continues. Nvidia's quarterly earnings next week now look even more crucial than they already were,' Mr Mould commented. On the FTSE 100, ConvaTec gained 5.6% as the medical products supplier started a share buyback worth up to 300 million dollars. United Utilities firmed 3.5% as Barclays upgraded to 'overweight' and set a 1,535 pence share price target. But the Nasdaq losses on Wall Street saw Polar Capital Technology Trust and Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust – both investors in the technology sector – fall 3.2% and 1.6% respectively. On the FTSE 250, Ithaca Energy shot up 10% after reporting a big jump in half-year profit, confirming its dividend plans, and increasing its 2025 production guidance. The North Sea-focused oil and gas company said pre-tax profit almost tripled to 146.2 million dollars in the second quarter from 52.9 million dollars a year before, as revenue more than doubled to 746.4 million dollars from 361.6 million dollars. Average production in the first half was 123,600 barrels of oil equivalent per day, up from 53,000 a year before. Ithaca raised its full-year guidance to between 119,000 and 125,000 boe per day from between 109,000 and 119,000. On AIM, Fevertree Drinks slumped 9.9% as Exane BNP downgraded to 'underperform' with a 740p per share price target. Elsewhere, positive trading updates supported timber distributor James Latham and fishing tackle and equipment retailer Angling Direct, up 3.2% and 6.7% respectively. A barrel of Brent traded at 66.70 dollars late on Wednesday afternoon, up from 66.08 dollars on Tuesday. Gold firmed to 3,341.46 dollars an ounce against 3,325.33 dollars. The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were ConvaTec Group, up 13 pence at 244.2p, United Utilities, up 39p at 1,159.5p, Unilever, up 148p at 4,692p, Cola Europacific Partners, up 200p at 6,840p and Imperial Brands, up 85p at 3,141p. The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Polar Capital Technology Trust, down 13 pence at 388.5p, Rolls-Royce, down 33.5p at 1,026p, easyJet, down 10.2p at 508.4p, ICG, down 38p at 2,162p and Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust, down 17p at 1,066p. Thursday's local corporate calendar has full-year results from recruiter Hays. The global economic calendar on Thursday has a slew of composite PMI readings, UK public sector borrowing data, US weekly jobless claims figures and the Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index.
BBC News
17 minutes ago
- BBC News
Northern Ireland science and tech industries to receive £30m investment
Northern Ireland's science and technology industries are set to receive a boost of at least £30m from a new investment plan, the UK's minister for industry has Jones said there is "huge talent and huge expertise" in Northern Ireland's defence, innovation and manufacturing money is part of the UK's Modern Industrial Strategy, a 10-year plan by the government to increase business investment and grow the industries of the future in the comes on top of £2m of government funding for Queen's University Belfast's Cybersecurity AI Tech Hub, which was confirmed in June. The government says the strategy will make it quicker and easier for businesses to invest, and provide the certainty and stability needed for long-term investment to BBC News NI, Jones said the £30m will be delivered in partnership with the Stormont Executive."We want to work with industry as well to make sure we're doing the right things with universities, political parties and that things are funded in the right way," she set timescale was mentioned, but the minister said she would like to see the money delivered "sooner rather than later". The announcement about the new funding was made at the Harland and Wolff shipyard in east shipyard fell into administration in October last year and was saved by a deal with Spain's state-owned shipbuilder Navantia. On Wednesday, work was visibly under way to extend a large fabrication hall, which will hold new equipment to deliver the Fleet Solid Support (FSS) FSS programme, which is a contract from the Ministry of Defence, will result in Navantia UK building three Navy support ships. Apprenticeships Construction of the vessels is due to begin in 2026 but next week 35 new apprentices will start at the shipyard to support the site were some of the apprentices currently working at the iconic McCorriston and Matthew Quigley are both first year apprentices. Matthew is focusing on steel work while Keelan works on electrics on the huge yellow cranes. Both have been here since last year, when Harland and Wolff fell into administration. Matthew says there was always hope that the company would be rescued, and is positive for the future under Navantia. "The history and the people are so important," he said."It's great to be part of it."Keelan says it felt strange starting the apprenticeship as he was not sure it would continue, but was "reassured" when Navantia took over.
The Guardian
17 minutes ago
- The Guardian
How Labour can build a stronger British economy
If Rachel Reeves is serious about ensuring that Labour's second year in power is all about a stronger economy that rewards working people across the country (In our first year Labour fixed the foundations – now we must build a stronger economy for a renewed Britain, 13 August), she needs to rethink what your editorial called the UK's 'broken growth model' (6 August). The growth that Britain needs is an increase in economic activity that improves social and environmental infrastructure nationwide. This involves a huge increase in secure, well-paid jobs to rebuild a more resilient future economy. The last thing that is required is Reeves's obsession with more deregulation of the City and pressuring savers into investing in the stock market. What is needed instead is a massive increase in a socially and green-oriented bond market that will provide secure returns for savers. This will require intense pressure to be put on Reeves to shift her emphasis away from global financiers to recognising UK savers as saviours. She should make clear that in return for the tax breaks that those investing in Isas and pensions receive, a considerable percentage of such savings would be invested in green and social infrastructure projects. This would help tackle the climate crisis and rebuild our economy as well as the crumbling cohesion of our society. Colin HinesConvener, Green New Deal Group Rachel Reeves wants to solve Britain's productivity problem by kickstarting economic growth. Four decades ago, Britain decided to become a consumer economy when others chose to be investment economies. The mistake in tackling the fallout of the global financial crisis after 2008 was to slash capital spending at a time when money was cheap. The chaotic governments of Boris Johnson and Liz Truss created damaging uncertainty for investors. The world has become more uncertain, but political decisions also mean growth each year was on average twice as strong in the 16 years before the financial crisis than in the 16 years since, taxation as a proportion of GDP has reached historic highs and productivity is painfully weak. The chancellor needs to be bold and ambitious for Britain's economy. We must exploit the opportunities of the digital revolution, advance our skills base, join up government so that departments are all focused on growth and become a true investment economy at Stephen BarberUniversity of East London Rachel Reeves claims to have fixed the country's financial foundations in Labour's first year in office, but I am certain that the 4.5 million children still living in poverty, an increase of 100,000 from the previous year, wouldn't agree. At the same time, UK billionaires' wealth increased by £35m a day to £182bn, with Britain having the highest proportion of billionaire wealth derived from monopolies and cronyism among G7 Michael SymondsEmeritus professor, University of Nottingham No, you haven't 'fixed the foundations', chancellor. Where are the Labour values in 'renewal is our mission and productivity is our challenge'? Not a word about redressing the wealth gap between the rich and the poor; not a word about ending the two-child benefit cap; not a word about restoring the level of overseas aid. Rachel Reeves's article could have been written by George Osborne – and I for one fear what else that might entail for our dilapidated public space. It isn't good enough just to be wealthy – it's what you do with it and how fairly you spread it that counts. That is supposed to be the Labour D BryantPenarth, Glamorgan I find it disappointing that Rachel Reeves refers only to 'working people'. This indicates that she is not considering other groups such as pensioners, or those who cannot work either through disability or because of a lack of suitable jobs for which they are qualified. She refuses to target the super-rich, preferring to hit easy targets by keeping the two-child benefit cap, not raising tax thresholds (pushing more people into paying tax and higher tax) and targeting cash Isa allowances. Some people have had bad experiences with stocks and shares and are reluctant to risk their savings again. She has not learned at least two things from history: first, trickle-down economics does not work, as wealth floods into foreign tax havens, not to the less well off. And second, removing restrictions on the financial sector leads to people and financial organisations being overstretched and a banking EvesMold, Flintshire Have an opinion on anything you've read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
