FTSE 100 Live: Kingfisher boosted by strong B&Q and Screwfix performance

Good morning from the CityAM liveblog team.

This morning we’ve had results from B&Q owner Kingfisher, which benefited from strong UK performance across both B&Q and Screwfix, with an overall uptick in revenue.

Meanwhile, Raspberry Pi has backed its full-year profit targets despite recording a dip to profit in the first half of the year. And Smiths Group notched near nine per cent in organic revenue growth, beating expectations of six to eight per cent.

We’ll bring you the latest market moves live when we get them.

Yesterday’s news was flooded with spending commitments on infrastructure.

It began with reports that the government was set to approve a proposal by Gatwick Airport to build a third runway – a £2.2bn project that will drive up the airport’s capacity, create thousands of new jobs and could be completed as soon as 2030. A welcome decision and one which will no doubt benefit the London economy.

But the pledge was quickly dwarfed by a $100bn commitment by chip giant AI to expand the compute capacity of ChatGPT maker OpenAI, a project that will involve the creation of a host of big new data centres. The move sent Nvidia shares rising as much as 4 per cent.

Here’s a summary of our other top headlines from yesterday:

• Natwest and HSBC shares dip as bank tax chatter heats up
• City asked to contribute £120m Rachel Reeves’ stock market push
• Labour considers relaxing global talent visa in answer to Trump’s clampdown
• Motor finance: BMW sets aside over £200m for car mis-selling
• Zilch lands £30m debt facility from US Bank ahead of ‘next phase of growth’