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FTSE 100 rises 11 points to 10,443 Nvidia delivers blockbuster earnings overnight but shares down BT, QinetiQ, easyJet, M&B, AJ Bell and ConvaTec report this morning 5.15pm: Stocks little changed The FTSE 100 finished Thursday’s session up 11 points at 10,443, as investors weighed up conflicting geopolitical updates.Across the Atlantic, a spike in oil prices saw the Nasdaq down 0.4%, the S&P 500 was down 0.3% and the Dow Jones was down 0.2%.
4pm: FTSE inching higher as news filters from the wires The FTSE 100 has been searching for direction all day, with tentative moves higher and lower.
"Tape bombs" have been making investors nervous or optimistic depending on the news from the wires, says market analyst Chris Beauchamp at IG.
With the US earnings season essentially now out of the way, "it is back to focusing on Iran for global markets, and today has illustrated the uncertainty of the situation perfectly.
"Stocks had been steady and oil prices had dropped, but then headlines suggested the Iranian supreme leader would not allow enriched uranium to leave Iran.
"Hopes of progress were shattered, at least it seemed that way. But later the headline was denied, leaving investors none the wiser.
"Weeks of this lie ahead, potentially months, but Hormuz remains closed, a ticking timebomb underneath the global economy."
While Iran might not be talking directly to the US, Tehran is reportedly discussing a permanent toll with Oman.
Such a situation, "unthinkable a few weeks ago, is now perhaps the best option for the global economy," Beauchamp says.
"A slightly higher price for products exiting the strait is infinitely preferable to the collapse of the global energy system, even if such a toll would represent a major failure for US policy."
On the FTSE 100 leaderboard, the mix of sectors moving, says Patrick Munnelly at Tickmill, "points to a market rewarding selective recovery and company-specific momentum rather than making a blanket call on UK domestic growth".
He says investors are willing to own UK names with identifiable catalysts "but are still cautious on sectors most exposed to politics, rates and consumer strain".
This is because "Westminster risk has not gone away", amidst a likely leadership challenge to Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s position.
This means the domestic equity story will be dogged by a political politcal discount for a while.
"For now, the FTSE can still grind higher on softer rate expectations, global earnings exposure and stock-specific upgrades — but a cleaner re-rating needs political stability, calmer energy markets and clearer evidence that the consumer is not rolling over," says Munnelly.
3.23pm: US invests in domestic quantum chips The Dow Jones was lifted into the green after a surge from IBM, jumping over 6% due to the White House supporting a new quantum chip manufacturing venture with $1 billion of funding.
Howard Lutnick's Department of Commerce has signed a letter of intent to back the creation of Anderon, a standalone company that will build what it described as America’s first “pure-play quantum foundry”. IBM will match the government funding with its $1 billion cash investment.
The agreement is part of the US CHIPS programme, which aims to expand domestic semiconductor manufacturing and reduce reliance on overseas supply chains.
2.50pm: Wall Street opens in red Wall Street stocks have opened slightly lower, despite a small gain for Nvidia.
The Nasdaq has started with a fall of 0.6%, while the Dow Jones has dropped 0.2%, and the S&P 500 0.3%.
Biggest fallers on the Nasdaq were Intuit, Workday, Atlassian, Adobe and Autodesk as investors rotated out of higher-growth software stocks.
Intel also fell after recent gains, while Walmart was among the weaker blue-chip performers despite its more defensive profile.
Nvidia rose 0.5%, with Tesla and Micro other big-tech gainers.
2.23pm: StanChart asked to explain AI remarks Regulators in Hong Kong and Singapore have asked Standard Chartered for more information after CEO Bill Winters said the Asia-focused lender plans to replace "lower-value human capital" with AI.
This is a Bloomberg report, which says the company was asked to explain the remarks by the two monetary authorities, including the impact of job cuts in their local markets.
Hong Kong officials asked whether StanChart was using AI as a pretext to cut staff, with Stan Chart having said this week that it is looking to axe over 7,000 jobs over the next four years.
1.50pm: Not just any results, these are M&S results Marks and Spencer's strong finish to the 2026 financial year has reinforced confidence in the retailer’s turnaround story, with analysts at two investment bank today arguing the group still has scope for further upgrades despite a cautious outlook.
Deutsche Bank said the chain's results yesterday showed it had exited the year “more strongly than we anticipated”, supporting its view that the business was “back on track” with improving sales growth and recovering margins driven by cost efficiencies.
UBS was similarly upbeat, describing M&S as “the best turnaround in UK retail” and saying recent trading had “reinvigorated the growth narrative”.
1.04pm: Wall Street and Nvidia US stock futures are back in the red again, with Nvidia roughly flat in premarket trading.
Dow Jones futures are down 0.15%, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq seen falling 0.3% and 0.45%.
There's a rebound in US oil prices and government borrowing costs at the heart of this small retreat.
WTI crude, having fallen from almost $108 earlier in the week to below $98 overnight, is now back above $100 a barrel.
US 10yr Treasury note yields are also up above 4.6% and the dollar index is up 0.1%.
This is "amid struggling US negotiations with Iran to end the war", says analyst John Canavan at Oxford Economics.
"This week’s data calendar has been slow so far but will pick up with the release of the weekly jobless claims figures, the May Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index, and April housing starts reports just after the open, followed by the May S&P Global services and manufacturing figures just ahead of mid-morning. The Treasury will hold a $19bn 10-year TIPS reopening auction this afternoon."
Nvidia shares are down 0.2%.
CEO Jensen Huang "crushed it, beating every measure (substantially)", says market analyst Kenny Polcari at Slatestone Wealth, with revenue up 85% and EPS coming in at $1.87 versus $1.77 expected, with guidance for next quarter landed at $91 billion — again ahead of estimates.
"Demand has gone parabolic," Huang said, as "agentic AI has arrived."
There was virtually no reaction in the afterhours session, which Polcari says "is the story this morning", despite "another monster quarter" as "extraordinary has become the expectation".
"When a company delivers one of the greatest earnings runs in market history and the stock barely moves, the market is telling you something. Expectations are stretched. Positioning is crowded. Perfection has already been priced in."
12.30pm: Huge IPOs to spark scramble for cash Deutsche Bank has noted that OpenAI's planned $60 billion initial public offering would be more than double the size of Saudi Aramco's record-setting 2019 listing and on its own would nearly match the total amount raised by all US IPOs at the height of the dot-com boom, also not far short of the $65 billion raised across all US IPOs in both 1999 and 2000, and the $62 billion raised in 2020, and would represent half of the record-breaking $119 billion raised in 2021.
With SpaceX aiming to raise around $75 billion this year and Claud developer Anthropic targeting an IPO as soon as October, with reports suggesting it too may seek to raise more than $60 billion, thematic strategist Adrian Cox acknowledges concerns about the capacity of the market to absorb several hundred billion dollars of IPO issuance in a single year.
"There will be a scramble to make the most of investor appetite for direct exposure to pure-play AI companies in the public markets," he says.
But Cox notes that the US stock market is now worth approximately $70 trillion, five times larger in nominal terms than at the peak of the dot-com bubble.
Recent signs suggest appetite remains robust: AI chipmaker Cerebras raised $6.4 billion last week in the largest IPO of 2026 so far, with its shares jumping by two-thirds on the first day of trading to give it a market value of roughly $67 billion.
11.49am: Oil price rebound hits Footsie The FTSE has dropped fairly sharply back into the red.
Autotrader and ConvaTec, down 8.4% and 7.4% are leading the decline. BT Group and Sage are a bit behind, down 3.3% and 2.7%.
All four published numbers today, but apart from the gloomy outlook from Autotrader, none of the results were that bad, but seem to be in the sort of 'shoot the messenger role' of being in the headlines.
Whitbread is down 3.2%, not helped as UBS put out a note warning investors face a “catalyst light” period for the Premier Inn owner.
The drop for the FTSE mirrors a rise in oil prices, with Brent crude futures up 2.1% to $107 a barrel again.
US stock futures are flat, with analyst Derren Nathan at Hargreaves Lansdown noting that this is a recovery from declines earlier in the day.
"All the major indices closed up more than 1% yesterday after three consecutive sessions of losses, helped by easing oil prices and expectations of strong quarterly results from the world’s most valuable company NVIDIA. Both numbers and guidance eclipsed expectations but as is so often the case traders took some profits in after-hours, only to recover in today’s pre-market trading."
11.12am: CBI survey adds more gloomy May data The CBI Industrial Trends Survey total orders balance fell to -41 in May, from -38 in April, below the consensus forecast of -40.
In seasonally-adjusted terms, the balance fell to -42, from -36 in April.
Output volumes fell in the three months to May, with manufacturers also expecting output volumes to fall again in the three months to August.
Expectations for selling price inflation picked up in May, for the second consecutive month, to stand at their highest since February 2023.
Total order books were reported as the weakest since September 2020. The volume of export orders was also seen as below “normal” and well below the long-run average.
Stocks of finished goods were reported as adequate in May, but the balance stood below its long-run average.
Senior economist Cameron Martin says the Iran conflict "is feeding through to higher energy costs and renewed supply chain disruption, adding another layer of challenges for manufacturers".
10.39am: FTSE indices in green The FTSE 100 has hustled and bustled its way into positive territory, led by financials, defence and retail.
Online broker IG Group is top of the list, with ICG and St James's Place in the top ten, possibly due to bonds and read-across to the surge at AJ Bell on the back of results.
Babcock, JD Sports and 3i Group are also all up 2% or more.
Scottish Mortgage, a big shareholder in SpaceX, is up 2% as the rocket company published its prospectus overnight.
London's mid-caps are further in the green, up 167 points or 0.7% at 23,005, which looks like the highest in over a month.
AJ Bell is up 13.6%, QinetiQ 10.4% and Investec 5.2% at the top there.
Looking at QinetiQ, Peel Hunt analyst Andrew Humphrey says the results showed stronger-than-expected margins, earnings and cash generation despite slightly weaker revenue.
"While slightly weaker than consensus forecasts at the profit level, we expect any negative sentiment to be offset by the big dividend increase and extension of the buyback programme."
9.51am: UK economy sent into reverse "The UK economy is facing a perfect storm," says Chris Williamson, chief business economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence on the flash PMI numbers, "as rising political uncertainty adds to the growing impact from the war in the Middle East.
May PMI data indicate that the economy contracted at a 0.2% quarterly rate, he says, a U-turn from the growth in the first quarter.
The survey found businesses reporting falling output, surging inflation, supply shortages and job cuts in the first half of May.
"The blame lies first and foremost with the war in the Middle East, though companies are also noting that domestic politics are taking an increasing toll, driving uncertainty higher, in turn deterring spending, hiring and investment," Williamson says.
"Things could well get worse in the coming months, as we have been seeing some support to manufacturing from precautionary stock building which will inevitably fade once warehouses are full.
"Just as the economy shows signs of sinking into decline, prices are surging higher to herald a marked upturn in inflation in the months ahead as these costs pass through to consumers.
"This combination of a faltering economy and spiking price pressures leaves the Bank of England in a major quandary, facing the growing need to hike rates to help contain inflation but thereby adding to recession risks.”
9.40am: Flash PMI worse than expected UK private sector output fell in May for first time in over a year due to a downturn in the service economy, according to the 'flash' PMI release just out.
The preliminary reading of the UK services purchasing managers' index for May fell to 47.9 from 52.7 the month before. A 64-month low and well below the forecast 51.7.
The flash UK manufacturing index was unchanged at 53.7, while the manufacturing output index rose to a three-month high of 52.4, up from 51.8.
9.27am: FTSE paddling After almost an hour and a half of trading, the FTSE is paddling just below the waterline, while most mainland European stock indices are marginally in the green.
Germany's DAX is up 0.3%, but the benchmarks for Paris and Milan are up 0.1%, with Madrid's IBEX a bit flatter.
The Euro Stoxx 600 is up 0.2%, with top risers being QinetiQ and German sector peer Hensoldt, followed by Investec, which has gained 4.7% after releasing annual results.
Pressure from the bond market has continued to ease, with the UK 10-year gilt now down below 5% and US and other government borrowing costs retreating too.
This largely reflects rising optimism that the US and Iran might reach a deal, which boosted markets yesterday.
President Trump said that the US was in the “final stages” for a possible draft deal to end the conflict, which Iranian agencies confirming that Tehran was reviewing a new draft sent in response to its own 14-point proposal.
Axios reported that Trump and Israel’s Netanyahu had a tense call on Tuesday over a new peace proposal drafted by Qatar and Pakistan.
Brent crude fell below $105 a barrel in the past half hour, but has rebounded to $105.5.
9.03am: M&B falls to 1yr low Mitchells & Butlers PLC (LSE:MAB) shares fell 8.7% after the pub and restaurant group reported flat underlying profits for the first half due to cost inflation, while sales growth slowed.
Current trading has moderated, Anna Barnfather at Panmure notes, down from 4.5% in the first quarter to 1.8% in the second, and the most recent three weeks at 1.1%, reflecting tougher weather-led comparatives, macro pressure on discretionary spend and some tube-strike disruption.
She calls it a "resilient" performance, and notes that industry data shows the LFL growth is ahead of the market.
The shares are down 8.2% today and 12.4% so far this year, with Barnfather noting that they now trade at a 7.6x PE, "the bottom of the pub sector range" for a valuation that "looks undemanding given M&B is still taking share, deleveraging and investing at attractive returns, with LFL moderation offset by additional cost mitigation".
8.36am: ConvaTec 'reassuring' ConvaTec's announcement, given the share price weakness in recent months, needed to be reassuring, says Panmure Liberum analyst Seb Jantet.
"And that is what ConvaTec delivered." However, the shares fell 2.5% still, down around 13% in the year so far.
He says revenue growth "looks to be in line with expectations" and full-year guidance is unchanged.
"The new news in the statement is that ConvaTec has signed a patch pump supply agreement in IC, which will give it access to the fast-growing patch pump market."
Analysts at Stifel also saw it as "a positive start to 2026", adding that margin guidance was maintained "despite concerns around potential for [cost of goods sold] inflationary headwinds, we expect a relief rally after recent share weakness, which has presented an attractive entry point".
8.15am: FTSE 100 opens lower The FTSE 100 has opened down 40 points at just under 10,393.
Precious metals and copper miners are dragging, but ConvaTec is the biggest faller, down 3.7%.
It being Thurssday, there are some stocks going ex-dividend, with Shell by far the biggest contributor, accounting for 6.84 points of the adjustment, followed by Imperial Brands, Bunzl, Whitbread and Tritax Big Box.
On the FTSE 250, Mitchells & Butlers leads the losses, down 7.9% on its interim results.
8am: Qinetiq eyes more shareholder returns QinetiQ Group PLC has hiked its dividend 24% and added £200 million to extend its share buyback programme after its biggest year for order intake.
The FTSE 250 defence contractor reported underlying operating profit up 18% to £218 million for the year to March, as operating margins improved to 11.3% from 9.6% following restructuring and cost-cutting measures.
Revenue was broadly flat at £1.92 billion, though organic growth was 1.3%.
After free cash flow rose 41% to £159 million, CEO Steve Wadey said the board is targeting more than £550 million in free cash flow across the 2027-2029 financial years, leading to around £500 million of dividends and share buybacks.
7.51am: easyjet posts wider H1 loss Budget airline easyJet posted a wider first-half loss as the Iran war led to higher fuel costs and reduced visibility into summer bookings, offsetting improvements in passenger numbers and its holidays business.
A pre-tax loss of £552 million for the half-year to March, compared with a £394 million loss a year earlier.
It said forward bookings have slowed since the escalation in Middle East tensions, with customers booking closer to departure dates than normal.
Chief executive Kenton Jarvis says the airline was “well placed to manage the current environment” despite near-term uncertainty linked to the Middle East conflict, supported by "one of the strongest investment‑grade balance sheets in European aviation".
7.32am: BT profits flat, but dividend policy upgraded BT has, alongside its annual results, upgraded its dividend policy and reiterated targets for sharply higher cash generation over the next four years as it expects cost savings and lower capital spending to drive stronger shareholder returns.
The telecoms group saw adjusted revenue fall 4% to £19.6 billion, which was just short of the City consensus forecast of £19.68 billion.
Adjusted EBITDA was flat at £8.2 billion, in line with expectations.
Chief executive Allison Kirkby said the group was “transforming ahead of plan” and reiterated guidance for normalised free cash flow to rise to about £2 billion in the 2027 financial year, with adjusted EBITDA growth flat or slightly higher at £8.2-8.3 billion.
7.17am: FTSE 100 set to start lower, Nvidia drops afterhours The FTSE 100 is set for a frugal start on Thursday after a prosperous previous day on both sides of the Atlantic.
London's blue-chip index has been called 20 points lower on the futures market, chipping away at the gain of almost 102 points made yesterday when it closed at 10,432.34.
There was a bigger bounce in New York overnight, with all three major indexes snapping a three-day losing streak as investors welcomed softer Treasury yields and a sharp drop in oil prices.
The tech-powered Nasdaq led the way, striding 1.5% higher, with the Dow Jones climbing 1.3% and the S&P 500 1.1%.
After the closing bell, Nvidia delivered another blockbuster quarter of earnings and $80 billion of buybacks, but saw its shares fall 1.3% in afterhours trade. with investors difficult to impress after the recent years of breakneck growth from the chip heavyweight.
"It was a garden variety beat – a better than expected top and bottom line with guidance above the Street estimate – and one that was well telegraphed following the very strong results from AI-hyperscalers earlier in the earnings season," says market analyst Kyle Rodda at Capital.com.
Ipek Ozkardeskaya at Swissquote says: "Some blamed the May-to-July outlook for not being strong enough. Others pointed to confusion around Nvidia’s new reporting structure. But honestly, this looked more like simple profit-taking after an enormous rally than lack of conviction."