FTSE 100 Live: Defence defies stock slump as pound slides
Good morning from the City AM liveblog team.
The FTSE 100 has opened in the red today despite a modest rally from defence stocks after President Donald Trump changed his tune on the Russia-Ukraine war.
Meanwhile, the pound has taken a modest hit trading down 0.2 per cent against the dollar.
Another set of dreary prognostications arrived on the desk of Chancellor Rachel Reeves yesterday.
This time it was the turn of the OECD, which warned the UK would be hit by the highest rate of inflation of any G7 economy, with consumer prices rising 3.5 per cent.
While the UK’s growth in 2025, at 1.4 per cent, would be the second-highest after the US, that was set to slump to just 1 per cent next year, behind the US, Canada and Germany, the OECD said, as businesses reel from the pain of further tax hikes.
Despite the price rises, the OECD said it still expected the Bank of England to deliver another two rate cuts next year, taking Bank Rate to 3.5 per cent.
Gloomy forecasts aside, Reeves was in a more chipper mood yesterday, as she hotfooted it over to Canary Wharf to open Revolut’s new global headquarters.
The $75bn fintech offered a reason to be cheerful, too, as it vowed to pump another £3bn into the UK and create 1,000 highly-skilled jobs over the next five years, cementing London as the digital bank’s long-term home.
Here’s a summary of our other top stories from yesterday:
- UK economy stalls with 50,000 job losses ahead of Autumn Budget
- Shares in B&Q owner Kingfisher unexpectedly spike after sales boost
- JLR extends cyber attack shutdown to October
- Bank of England’s Pill: We should not have slowed QT bond sales
- Floating in London would be my ‘signature achievement’, says ClearScore CEO
- Amazon Fresh to close all UK stores
This morning we’re expecting results from furniture retailer DFS as well as investment trust Pantheon Infrastructure. We’ll bring you the latest market moves as we get them.
