Yahoo Finance FTSE 100 Live 28 June: Index closes lower, S&P tops 5,500, Nike shares tumble, GDP revised higher
An upward revision to first quarter GDP today boosted the mood around UK-focused stocks.
JD Sports Fashion bucked the trend, however, as investors reacted to last night’s disappointing Nike sales update.
Video games firm Keywords Studios moved closer to exiting the London market after a fresh private equity takeover proposal.
FTSE 100 Live Friday
Economic growth revised higher
Nike sales miss hits JD Sports
Keywords gets fresh takeover bid
FTSE closes lower
16:43 , Simon Hunt
The FTSE 100 ended the session lower, down 16 points to 8164.
JD Sports was among the biggest fallers of the day, with its stock declining as much as 5.4% on the back of a worse-than-expected sales outlook for one of its biggest suppliers, Nike.
Patrick Munnelly of TickMill Group said: The leading stock index in Britain started the day with gains on Friday but has not managed to maintain the momentum and is now rotating around the flatline,
“However, the FTSE is heading towards its fourth consecutive quarterly increase, as stronger-than-expected local economic growth figures outweighed investor concerns.”
City of London fails to score a single £100 million office deal
15:49 , Bloomberg
London’s historic financial district is on the cusp of notching a grim record: the City’s office market has failed to register a single deal for more than £100 million in the first half of the year — the first time that’s happened in a quarter century.
The dire stat reflects the realities of a district known for its vast office towers and corporate headquarters at a time when traditional buyers of big-ticket properties are nowhere to be found. Instead, the anemic activity that is taking place is for smaller properties — those well under £100 million mark — that can be comfortably swallowed by private capital.
In a typical year, the City registers 14.5 deals greater than £100 million. Read more here
Nike shares tumble
14:59 , Simon Hunt
Shares in Nike fell as much as 18% in the opening minutes of trade on Wall Street, shedding tens of billions of dollars from its market cap after the global sports brand reported weaker than expected quarterly sales and lowered its outlook projecting that revenue would fall by a mid-single-digit percentage.
Overall, though, equities edged higher, with the S&P topping the 5,500 mark after US inflation rose 2.6%, the slowest in three years, ramping up investor expectations of more Fed rate cuts.
Polestar suffers under slowing EV demand
13:52 , Simon Hunt
Polestar losses widened to $1.5 billion as it suffered from a slowdown in EV demand, its latest accounts show.
That compares to a loss of $1.3 billion in the previous year.
The Swedish carmaker, which is operationally headquartered in the UK, has seen the value of its share collapse by half since the start of the year.
HSBC and Virgin Money among banking customers facing pay day outages
12:52 , Simon Hunt
HSBC has become the latest bank to apologise to customers after some were left locked out of their online banking on what is commonly pay day for workers across the country.
Virgin Money and Nationwide also apologised to customers experiencing issues with digital banking services on Friday.
“We’re really sorry that some customers are having issues accessing personal online and mobile banking,” HSBC UK said on the service status page of its website.
Lunchtime update: JD Sports continues to drag
12:13 , Simon Hunt
Midway through the day’s trading session in London, JD Sport shares continue to drag on the back of news overnight that one of its biggest suppliers, Nike, had missed its sales targets.
Meanwhile Bitcoin has continued its decline and has lost about $10,000 from the peaks it reached earlier this month.
Cazoo app and website to be restored after Motors scoops up brand
11:50 , Simon Hunt
Secondhand car site Motors is set to restore the Cazoo brand after the rival marketplace collapsed into administration last month, following a drastic restructuring which saw it shed hundreds of jobs.
Motors said it had acquired the brand and revealed plans to launch a new Cazoo app and website.
Cazoo, which was once valued at around £5 billion, appointed administrators in May after sinking into financial difficulty.
It cut more than 700 jobs since March as part of sweeping cost-cutting measures.
Read more here
City Comment: Do we really want a Shein IPO?
11:17 , Simon English
A human rights group is trying to block the fast-fashion house Shein from listing in London.
It has concerns about the Chinese group’s alleged use of slave labour, though the specifics are not clear.
Shein says it has a “zero-tolerance policy for forced labour”, which is good to know.
I think we’ll leave all this to the human rights lawyers — presently on the up — to sort out. And I think the Financial Conduct Authority should decline Shein on long-term financial grounds.
Shein might fetch a market value of £50 billion, supposedly, a tasty amount for a market that has been starved of floats for several years. But even if the allegations against Shein remain unproven, the sense that all is not well won’t go away.
Every time the City decides to chase a big float, two things happen. 1) It looks desperate. 2) The deal never happens anyway.
In 2019, the London Stock Exchange loosened regulations to allow the float of Saudi Aramco.
In the end, as seemed obvious, Aramco baulked at even the laxer rules and listed in Riyadh anyway.
In 2023, London politicians chased the float of microchip giant Arm. Despite lobbying from three prime ministers, Arm did what it was always going to do and chose New York.
A better approach is to play the long game. To say that the rules are there for a reason and shan’t be bent for anyone.
To say that London is a special members club that keeps the riff-raff out. If you can’t follow the regulations, you can’t join.
When the very rich man finds he can’t just buy his way into London, he is at first furious. Then it occurs to him that if even he can’t get around the watchdogs, no one can.
He is reassured by this, and the City remains Europe’s leading financial centre.
Bankers who say otherwise are looking for a fast cheque. That’s not the game we want to be in.
JD Sports under pressure after Nike update, Tyman higher in FTSE 250
09:48 , Graeme Evans
JD Sports Fashion shares have fallen 4% in the FTSE 100 index after last night’s disappointing sales update by key supplier Nike.
The drop of 5.25p to 121.1p keeps JD’s valuation near its level following January's profit warning, despite hopes that a summer of sport featuring the Euros and Olympics will boost trade.
Nike last night reported a 2% reverse in fourth quarter sales to $12.6 billion (£10 billion), causing its shares to fall 12% in after-hours dealings.
JD’s Sports Direct rival Frasers Group lost 4p to 878p in a session when the FTSE 100 index rallied 0.4% or 35.60 points to 8215.28.
Stronger oil stocks BP and Shell lifted the top flight, while GSK shares put back 1.5p at 1527.5p after yesterday’s 5% reverse.
The FTSE 250 index added 14.76 points to 20,346.56.
Window components specialist Tyman rose 9.5p to 366.5p as US-based bidder Quanex bolstered April’s takeover proposal with a 15p special dividend.
Keywords shares lift on fresh offer
09:18 , Simon Hunt
Keywords Studios today looked poised to become the latest firm to exit the London Stock Exchange after the video games business said it was minded to accept a fresh takeover deal from Swedish private equity firm EQT.
The offer of £24.50 per share is well below the roughly £30 the firm’s shares were trading at early last year, as well as below a previous offer of £25.50 unveiled last month. But it represents a slight improvement on EQT’s bid earlier this week of £24.30.
Keywords Studios, which provides services to several big-name video games developers including Epic Games and Activision Blizzard, has been beset by a sluggish recovery in the market after the pandemic, with cancellations to major new projects as well as delays triggered by last year’s Hollywood strikes.
Other London-listed gaming businesses have also struggled, with F1 Manager maker Frontier Developments sinking 53% and Tinybuild shares plummeting 85% over the past year.
Keywords shares rose as much as 6.5% this morning but continued to trade below the offer price. EQT has until 3 July to make a firm offer.
Oil giants and NatWest lift FTSE 100, JD Sports down 5%
08:29 , Graeme Evans
The FTSE 100 index is 32.79 points higher at 8212.47, an improvement of 0.4% boosted by gains of more than 1% for oil groups BP and Shell.
The latest economic update also helped shares in NatWest to post a rise of 4.5p to 317.8p, with Tesco up 3.8p to 310.3p.
GSK shares put back 7p at 1533p after falling 5% in yesterday’s session.
JD Sports Fashion saw the biggest fall, down 5% or 6.35p to 120p as investors reacted to last night’s disappointing update by key supplier Nike.
The FTSE 250 index added 22.70 points to 20,354.50, with the windows components specialist Tyman up 5% or 16p to 366.5p after bidder Quanex revised its takeover with the inclusion of a 15p special dividend.
French inflation slows
07:54 , Simon Hunt
French inflation slowed slightly in June to 2.5%, down from 2.6% a month earlier, in signs the ECB’s interest rate cut decision was well-timed.
The news will be a boon to Emmanuel Macron as he faces at uphill struggle at next month’s elections in France.
Markets are betting on more ECB cuts to come. Inflation numbers from Spain and Italy are also expected today, giving markets the chance to assess the rate outlook.
Economic growth revised higher for the first quarter
07:26 , Michael Hunter
The rate of economic growth in the first quarter has been revised higher this morning in the second reading for the period from the Office for National Statistics.
It now shows quarter-on-quarter growth of 0.7%, up from 0.6%, in a sign that the economy is finding some momentum. The first reading had already come in higher than forecast.
The revised figure is the fastest rate of growth since late 2021 and it pulls the UK out of the brief technical recession that struck in 2023.
The rebound was led by the services sector, which expanded by 0.8%.
But there was lingering stress in the construction sector, which contracted by 0.6%.
The ONS also revealed there was less pressure on household budgets, with Real households’ disposable income up 0.7% in the quarter
Recap: Yesterday's top stories
07:12 , Simon Hunt
Good morning from the Standard City desk.
London’s top financial index fell for a third consecutive session on Thursday, as drugs giant GSK acted as a drag.
The pharmaceutical firm slumped in value after US health authorities recommended restricting the age of people who can use respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccines.
Shares in the group sank by 4.6% to 1,526p, with the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) recommendation seen as a blow to GSK’s Arexvy treatment.
Nevertheless, stocks in London recovered some ground during the day following recent sell-offs but the index was unable to climb back into the green.
The FTSE 100 finished 45.65 points, or 0.55%, lower to end the day at 8,179.68.
Here’s a summary of our top headlines from yesterday:
New homes planning activity in London now 60% below peak warns CBRE as it predicts shortfall of almost 60,000 homes in next three years
City’s tallest skyscraper 1 Undershaft set for green light next week after recommendation from City officials
Dire profit warning from upmarket furnishing firm Sanderson Design
Profits slump to £36.1 million at Halfords after cycle and tyre sales crash
Currys looks to AI as the most exciting new product cycle since the tablet in 2010. Signs of decent consumer confidence in profits of £188 million, up 10%
Nike shares slump after sales miss, FTSE 100 seen higher
07:08 , Graeme Evans
Nike shares slumped 12% in after-hours dealings on Wall Street last night as traders reacted to the sports retailer’s below par quarterly sales.
The 2% decline in fourth quarter revenues to $12.6 billion (£10 billion) compared with forecasts for a slight improvement.
Chief executive John Donahoe said: "We are taking our near-term challenges head-on, while making continued progress in the areas that matter most to Nike’s future.”
The reverse for Nike came after a resilient performance by US markets, with the S&P 500 index and Dow Jones Industrial Average both slightly higher.
The FTSE 100 index is forecast to open 28 points higher at 7208, having fallen by 0.5% or 46 points in yesterday’s session.
