London stocks tick higher after mixed earnings
May 28 (Reuters) - UK shares rose on Wednesday as investors parsed a mixed bag of company results, with all eyes on chip bellwether Nvidia's (NVDA.O), opens new tab earnings later in the day.
As of 0835 GMT, the blue-chip FTSE 100 (.FTSE), opens new tab was up 0.1% and the midcap index FTSE 250 (.FTMC), opens new tab gained 0.3%.
The FTSE 100 has gained 3.6% so far this month as the United States struck trade deals with the UK and China and postponed 50% tariffs on the European Union.
The International Monetary Fund increased its growth forecast for Britain to 1.2% from its previous forecast of 1.1% in April, with expectations of a rise to 1.4% in 2026 despite U.S. tariff headwinds.
Aerospace and defense stocks (.FTNMX502010), opens new tab led gains with Rolls-Royce (RR.L), opens new tab among top gainers on the blue-chip index after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened additional sanctions on Russia earlier this week.
In earnings-driven moves, pest control company Rentokil Initial (RTO.L), opens new tab rose 1.9% after agreeing to sell a part of its business to H.I.G. Capital in a 410 million euros deal ($463.71 million).
Home improvement retailer Kingfisher (KGF.L), opens new tab fell 2.3% following results.
Data analytics and consulting company GlobalData (DATA.L), opens new tab lost 2.7% after extending the deadline for private equity firm ICG (ICGIN.L), opens new tab to offer a takeover bid, while ending talks with KKR (KKR.N), opens new tab after failing to reach an agreement.
Investors will look for answers on how much U.S. chip curbs on China will cost Nvidia when it reports results after regular trading hours in the U.S.
Data showed British grocery price inflation jumped to 4.1% for the four weeks to May 18, its highest level since February last year, adding pressure on consumers.
Attention this week will also be on speeches from Federal Reserve policymakers and U.S. core PCE data on Friday.
Losses were led by the Personal Goods index (.FTNMX402040), opens new tab, with Dr Martens (DOCS.L), opens new tab, ASOS (ASOS.L), opens new tab and Watches of Switzerland Group (WOSG.L), opens new tab among the top decliners on the domestically-focussed FTSE 250 index.
* For related news, click on - * UK hot stocks: HOT and GB Wall Street: Gilts report: Euro bond report Pan European stock report: Tokyo stocks: HK stocks: Sterling report: Dollar report:
* For company prices, click on - * Company directory: By sector:
* For pan-European market data, click on - * European Equities speed guide................ FTSE Eurotop 300 index........................... (.FTEU3), opens new tab DJ STOXX index................................... (.STOXX), opens new tab Top 10 STOXX sectors........................ (.PGL.STOXXS), opens new tab Top 10 EUROSTOXX sectors................... (.PGL.STOXXES), opens new tab Top 10 Eurotop 300 sectors.................. (.PGL.FTEU3S), opens new tab Top 25 European pct gainers.................... (.PG.PEUR), opens new tab Top 25 European pct losers..................... (.PL.PEUR), opens new tab
)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Telegraph
41 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Starmer has brought Labour to the brink of extinction. This makes him even more dangerous
Brace, dear readers, brace, for everything will get worse before it gets better. Sir Keir Starmer's premiership is holed below the waterline, his party on the verge of disintegration. Starmer has lost control of immigration and of the public finances. Nobody knows what he stands for. It is a question of when, not if, he is forced to fire Rachel Reeves. It is unclear whether he will lead Labour into the next election, or even whether it will remain the dominant party of the Left. Bring it on, I hear you say. But a desperate Starmer will be far worse than the incompetent, complacent version we have been subjected to so far. He no longer has anything to lose. He will target Middle England with wanton abandon, embracing Corbyn-lite policies to shore up his far-Left flank. Every stupid idea in the collectivist arsenal – wealth taxes, the revaluation of council tax bands to hammer expensive homes, a cap on pension pots, the removal of pension tax relief, a war on Isas, steeper inheritance tax – is bound to make a comeback to fill his self-inflicted fiscal black hole. The 'rich' will be asked to pay more for water and broadband via 'social tariffs'. Ed Miliband will be emboldened in his rush to net zero, minus the occasional tactical delay. There will be no end to the woke madness, rampant crime and unjust legal decisions. As ludicrous as this might sound to outsiders aghast at Starmer's proto-socialism and disgusted by the human rights lawfare pushed by Lord Hermer, his attorney general, many Labour MPs and intellectuals actually believe that Starmer's error was to tack too far to the Right. They believe he cares too much about a Red Wall that is already lost. Those in urban seats hated his warning that migration was turning Britain into 'an island of strangers' (the Red Wallers disagreed). Most saw Reeves's attempts at trimming a few benefits to placate the bond markets as this Government's foundational error (the Red Wall MPs agree). Others believe he is being too cautious when undoing Brexit. Many MPs want Britain immediately to recognise an independent Palestine – even though no such body would truly accept Israel's right to exist – a grotesque gesture that would confirm once again that pogroms and terrorism works. The Prime Ministers' critics blame Morgan McSweeney, No 10 chief of staff, for the Government's supposedly centrist approach, and are convinced that Starmer listens too much to Tony Blair and his allies (such as Liz Lloyd, director of policy, delivery and innovation at No 10). There is talk that 15 Labour MPs may defect to the Greens if they choose as their new leader Zack Polanski, who wants to turn the party into a Left-wing populist alternative to Reform. It is hard to oust a Labour leader, but Starmer's position is weakening. Labour's problem is the mirror image of the Tories'. Britain is undergoing a brutal realignment. Both parties were coalitions; the Tories had no rival to their Right and Labour none to their Left. Policies were designed to appeal to centrist 'median voters' and a few thousand swing electors in a few seats. Everything has changed, for three reasons. First, the Blair-Brown-Osborne-Starmer managerialist orthodoxy has failed. The economy is toast, the public sector is kaput, social breakdown is rife and the ultra-high immigration model has gone badly wrong. The electorate craves new ideas. Second, voters have become radicalised by culture wars. Previously uncontroversial views – on biological sex, on free speech – are now key markers of identity. Education has become more important than class, income or wealth when it comes to political affiliation, and, tragically, sectarian voting is back, fuelled by demographic change. Third, the political marketplace is working: the public want more choice, and they are getting it. Nigel Farage's Reform is leading the polls, while on the far-Left the Greens and 'pro-Gaza' Independents are surging (with the latter's appeal probably underestimated by researchers). Many no longer detect any difference between Labour and Tories, and no longer care which of the old duopoly is in power. On the Left, voting is becoming performative, an expression of identity and values, not a means to seize power; tactical voting is waning, and fragmentation rising. The Labour coalition is gone, never to return. Its Right flank has fled to Reform. Some social democrats are opting for the Lib Dems, a party that could yet overtake Labour in parliament. For Starmer, the only hope is to tack Left, appealing to Greens and Corbynites, to bash Israel and U-turn on cuts, but it won't work: this electorate has become so extreme that even a speech praising Marx and Engels would flop. Recognising Palestine wouldn't be sufficient; they would demand Russia-style sanctions. Higher benefits would be ridiculed as Austerity 2.0. There are some around Starmer who believe he can muddle through, but they are deluded. Yes, the French are saying they will help with small boats (good luck with that), two polls suggest a smaller Reform lead, and £15 billion will be spent on buses in the North. So what? The big picture is apocalyptic. Reeves will increase taxes at the Budget to fund her U-turns on winter fuel, the two-child benefits cap and personal independence payments, as well as public sector pay rises. She will then need to rise taxes again and again over the next few years to put defence on course for 3.5 per cent of GDP, plus another 1.5 per cent on related spending – even before any further increases in spending on the welfare state in a doomed attempt to buy back votes. This could trigger a full-on fiscal crisis: the tax take is already maxed out and will surely fail to keep up with spending. Labour is polling at 22 per cent, down 11.7 points on a pathetically poor election victory. Gordon Brown, Ed Miliband, Jeremy Corbyn, Neil Kinnock and Michael Foot performed better than Starmer's current ratings. We need to go back to 1918, when Labour, still a fringe group, collected 20.8pc under William Adamson, for the party to be scoring so poorly. This is where Labour is heading, or worse. Starmer could be its final PM, the closing chapter in a 100- year story. Let's hope he doesn't entirely ruin Britain on his way out.
Reuters
43 minutes ago
- Reuters
Rio Tinto revising cost of Serbia lithium project
BELGRADE, June 4 (Reuters) - Rio Tinto (RIO.L), opens new tab is revising the cost of its Serbian lithium project that the European Commission identified as one of 13 strategic new critical material projects, Chad Blewitt, managing director of the Jadar lithium mine, said on Wednesday. The project is contested by green groups and many Serbs on environmental grounds, and sparked massive street protests in 2022 which led the government to revoke all Rio Tinto's exploration licences. The Constitutional Court overturned the decision last year and reinstated the licences. "The last time we went out to market and looked at the budget, it was over 2.55 billion euros ($2.91 billion). So we are currently in the midst of updating that capital cost," Blewitt told Reuters. "The strategic project status that we received today requires us to meet European Union environmental and human rights standards, and that will be reflected in the final capital cost." He could not be drawn into an estimate of the revised cost or timeline for the project - which was initially forecast to start production in 2027 - saying the Anglo-Australian giant also needed to obtain a field exploitation licence. "Once we... get the licence, we can then go and update the project schedules and have a look at costing. So I don't want to give a definitive date." Rio is the only major mining company to bet heavily on lithium - used in electric vehicle batteries - accelerating its push over the past six months with three new deals: its $6.7 billion buy of U.S.-based Arcadium Lithium and two projects in Chile for more than $1 billion. With the lithium market in the doldrums as a wave of new supply overwhelms weaker-than-expected demand for EV batteries, it will take years to know whether this bet will have paid off, although demand projections for the metal are more positive into the next decade. If implemented, Rio Tinto's Jadar project could meet 90% of Europe's current lithium needs. But protesters in Serbia have threatened to block roads and railways if the project goes ahead. "Whatever happens next will involve multiple stages of scrutiny and public consultation," Blewitt said. "It (the project) positions Serbia at the forefront of the green and digital revolution." ($1 = 0.8748 euros)
The Sun
an hour ago
- The Sun
Sir Dave Brailsford ‘steps back from Man Utd' as Sir Jim Ratcliffe plans major reshuffle after disastrous season
SIR DAVE BRAILSFORD is set to step back in his role at Manchester United, according to reports. The move comes as part of a major reshuffle being planned by Ineos head-huncho Sir Jim Ratcliffe. 3 3 According to The Times, Brailsford will be reducing his commitment to Man Utd and returning to his role as director of sport for Ineos. Brailsford, famed for his so-called "marginal gains" ideology from cycling, stood down as team principal of Ineos Grenadiers when Ratcliffe purchased his minority stake in the Red Devils. THIS IS A DEVELOPING STORY..
