Yahoo Finance FTSE 100 Live: Index extends losing streak into seventh day as rally fades, but avoids year-low close
Blue-chip housebuilding stocks are under more selling pressure after FTSE 250-listed Crest Nicholson issued a profit warning today.
The rest of the FTSE 100 index is at risk of extending its losing run into a seventh day, as early gains led by energy sotcks largely disappeared amid higher interest rate fears.
China’s central bank cut a key lending rate on Sunday but that failed to prevent the Hang Seng index posting another big fall.
FTSE 100 Live Monday
FTSE losing streak enters day seven
Crest Nicholson warns on profits
China cuts one-year loan rate
London’s top flight dips into red as rally fades
Market snapshot as FTSE slips further
16:54 , Daniel O'Boyle
Take a look at all the key market data as the FTSE 100 declined yet again.
Losing streak goes on as FTSE closes at 7,257.82
16:44 , Daniel O'Boyle
The FTSE 100’s losing streak entered its seventh day as a morning rally faded, with London’s top flight finishing at 7,257.82.
However, the index avoided its lowest close of the year, ending up less than a point ahead of where it finished on 7 July.
At one point, the run of consecutive declines seemed certain to end as the FTSE rose as high as 7315, but if fell in the afternoon, hitting a low of 7252 and closig only a few points above that level.
New price record for Mayfair with sale of unmodernised apartment for £22 million
16:06 , Daniel O'Boyle
An unmodernised apartment in London’s swanky St James’s has set a new record for the area, after selling for almost £22 million.
The four-bedroom property on St James’s Place, which was sold by agents at Oliver Bernard, achieved a price per square foot of £5,093, making it one of just 10 apartments in the area ever to achieve more than £5,000 per square foot.
What makes this particular high-end living space special is that it was not redeveloped for sale. Properties in the area are often upgraded before they go on the market, and previous sales with similar price tags have all been modernised.
Jeweller Georg Jensen lines up new Bond Street flagship store
15:46 , Daniel O'Boyle
Demand for Bond Street shops looked strong earlier, as Danish jeweller Georg Jensen became the latest upmarket brand to ink a deal for a new flagship store there.
The company, which was founded in 1904 and also sells homeware goods such as silver cutlery and vases, will open around 5,000 sq ft of space over three floors at 108 Bond Street. It will launch towards the end of the year.
Georg Jensen joins a string of other firms to have also signed leases for property on the world-famous luxury shopping retail address in 2023. Others include footwear label Aquazzura and French candle maker Diptyque.
FTSE dips slightly into red as US bond yields hit 16-year high
15:25 , Daniel O'Boyle
The FTSE 100 has slipped narrowly into negative territory, at 7,262.35, and now appears at risk of extending its losing streak into a seventh day of trading.
The fall puts the index in danger of closing at its lowest point of 2023.
It comes as US treasury bond yields rise further, with the 10-year yield - arguably the biggest benchmark of the strength of the global economy - hitting another 16-year high.
Ofgem forces Ovo Energy to improve ‘serious’ customer complaints backlog
15:15 , Daniel O'Boyle
Ovo Energy has been ordered to improve its customer service following “serious concerns” about its unresolved complaints and waiting times.
Ofgem on Monday opened compliance proceedings with Ovo after the Energy Ombudsman and Citizens Advice Scotland contacted the regulator regarding the supplier’s handling and resolution of complaints.
The regulator said it had set Ovo “clear expectations and improvement targets” to address all outstanding complaints and reduce the time it takes for issues to be resolved.
US market snapshot
14:56 , Daniel O'Boyle
Wall Street shares are slightly higher today, with bigger gains for tech stocks.
Take a look at our US market snapshot.
FTSE loses most of morning’s gains
14:22 , Daniel O'Boyle
The FTSE 100 has fallen back below 7300 and close to where it staerted the day, leaving it in danger of continuing its losing streak, as gilt yields rise further amid higher interest rate expectations.
Rate-sensitive stocks such as Ocado have been among the afternoon’s fallers.
Take a look at our key market data.
Santander cuts mortgage rates but experts warn price war may end soon
14:14 , Daniel O'Boyle
Santander has become the latest lender to cut its mortgage rates, while also adding new incentives to attract first-time buyers, but some experts warned that the price war may be coming to an end.
The lender - one of the “big six” that dominates the UK mortgage market - cut its residential and buy-to-let rates by between 0.02 percentage points and 0.2 percentage points.
In addition, Santander added new exclusive offers for first-time buyers, with a cashback option and no product fee.
The UK’s top lenders have been cutting mortgage rates after they rose dramatically from May to July, with all of the “Big Six” having cut prices on multiple occasions.
Tumblr CEO Matt Mullenweg on open-sourcing social media: How to be a CEO podcast
13:21 , Daniel O'Boyle
After taking WordPress from a small blogging site in the 2000s to an all-in-one website creation platform, which is now the backbone of around a third of all websites, Matt Mullenweg has now set his sights on social media.
Now as CEO of Tumblr, Matt reveals his plans to revamp the site, welcome disillusioned ex-Twitter and Reddit users, and create a social site that is, at its core, open-source.
Wind power returns to commercial shipping with trial of high-tech sails
12:54 , Daniel O'Boyle
Commercial shipping will once again use wind power, with several companies teaming up to demonstrate how a pair of high-tech sails can save fuel and cut carbon emissions.
The WindWings have been retrofitted onto the Pyxis Ocean, owned by Mitsubishi and chartered by Cargill, and engineers will be monitoring their performance during their first real-world test.
Designed by a team of British Olympic sailors under BAR Technologies and built by Yara Marine Tech, the WindWings are expected to save up to 30% of shipping fuel on average, although they cannot be fitted onto every ship, such as those loaded with containers or on routes with little wind.
Europe’s highest free viewing platform to open atop City skyscraper
12:25 , Daniel O'Boyle
Europe’s highest free public viewing gallery is to open in the City next month with dramatic vistas over the Square Mile’s growing forest of skyscrapers.
Horizon 22 on the 58th level of the 22 Bishopsgate tower - the tallest building in the City - will be launched on 27 September.
It will be open 7 days a week from 10am, closing at 6pm on weekdays, 5pm on Saturdays and 4pm on Sundays and Bank Holidays. Visitors will be whisked up in 41 seconds in one of the two high speed lifts travelling at up to 8 metres per second.
The gallery stands at 254 metres above ground.
UK house prices fell by £7,000 in August
11:52 , Daniel O'Boyle
Asking prices for homes in Britain tumbled in the biggest August fall since 2018 this month as soaring mortgage costs put buyers under pressure, according to a property website.
Average new seller asking prices fell by 1.9 per cent, or £7,012, on average to £364,895 in August, said Rightmove.
The fall is more than double the seasonal 0.9 per cent drop seen in August due to the traditional summer slowdown.
City Comment: How stubborn is inflation? A little-known formula might have the answer
11:41 , Daniel O'Boyle
How successful has the Bank of England been in reining in inflation?
If we go by the headline measure that fixates the City and most of the commentators, dear old CPI, the record does not look too bad.
By this yardstick inflation peaked at 11.1% in October last year and, going by last month’s figure of 6.8% is now roughly halfway back to the safety of the 2% target rate.
But is that telling us the whole story? We already know from the ONS’s publication of “core inflation” that the underlying rise in prices — excluding energy bills and other more volatile items — is proving far more sticky than that.
Today, though, the ONS publishes an even more sophisticated model that aims to strip out all the background “noise” to tell the real story about what it calls “persistence” in consumer prices inflation, or officially, the “common component inflation rate”.
Australian strike fears lift natural gas prices
10:51 , Daniel O'Boyle
Natural gas prices surged in European markets today on fears Australian production could be disrupted by a strike. Benchmark prices were up by as much as 9% in early trading, raising worries that consumer bills could stay higher longer as the northern hemisphere goes into the autumn.
Australian unions have given employer Woodside Energy until close of business on Wednesday to come up with an improved pay offer before giving seven days notice of industrial action.
The latest tremors in the energy market come ahead of Friday’s Ofgem announcement of the latest cap on average energy bills.
Oil giants help FTSE 100, Tesco shares rally
10:30 , Graeme Evans
Shell and BP supported the FTSE 100 index today as frustration continued over China’s reluctance to inject major stimulus into its economy.
The country’s central bank cut its one-year loan rate by 0.1% to a record low of 3.45% but the move underwhelmed Asia markets, with the Hang Seng index further into bear market territory following a decline of 1.8%.
Hargreaves Lansdown’s head of money Susannah Streeter said: “There is still some expectation that Chinese authorities will step in with a more generous boost, but it appears the weakness of the yen appears to be stemming more immediate action.”
The FTSE 100 index made progress after a six-day losing streak, but the improvement was a modest 31.32 points at 7,293.75. The performance owed much to the support of the energy sector after a jump for natural gas prices caused by strike action in Australia.
Brent Crude also traded above $85 a barrel as signs of tighter supply conditions more than outweighed the uncertainty over faltering China demand.
BP shares rose 2% or 7.9p to 481.35p and Shell lifted 27p to 23487p, while British Gas owner Centrica continued its recent rise to stand 1.5p higher at 144.65p.
Other stocks on the FTSE 100 risers board included Tesco after UBS analysts forecast strong profit growth ahead of October’s half-year results.
Shares rose 4.2p to 253.9p as the bank reiterated a 300p price target, adding that shares are at a “very attractive entry point” as attention shifts from deflation concerns back towards the supermarket’s consistently strong trading.
Positive City comment also benefited HSBC, which added 1.8p to 585.7p after Jefferies said recent weakness for shares as part of a 'shadow China' sell-off had presented a buying opportunity. It upgraded its price target to 1000p.
Unlike London’s top flight, the UK-focused FTSE 250 remained in the red after a further decline of 44.02 points to 18,052.58.
Fallers included the publisher Future, which has significant online operations in the United States. The stock fell 24p to 736.5p amid fears that interest rates will stay higher for longer.
Market update as FTSE climbs higher
09:56 , Daniel O'Boyle
The FTSE 100 has climbed higher today after modest early gains, as it heads back towards the 7300 mark.
Take a look at our latest market snapshot.
Bumper payout for founders of London NHS staffing platform after acquisition by Japanese investor
09:24 , Simon Hunt
The founders of a London-based doctor recruitment platform aimed at plugging NHS staffing shortages are in line for a major payout after the firm was acquired by a Japanese investor.
Christopher Kurwie, a former M&A solicitor, and Abrar Gundroo, a former intensive care doctor at Guy’s and St Thomas’ hospital in Westminster, today said they had sold their business to Tokyo-based healthcare investment firm M3 for an undisclosed fee.
The pair, who become friends at secondary school before both going to Cambridge University, jointly control just under 50% of the share capital of the company, which they founded in 2017.
The Fulham-based business operates as recruiting marketplace platform for U.K. doctors, for surgeries and hospitals to hire locums, or temporary doctors, at short notice.
The deal highlights the scale of opportunities available to businesses seeking to address chronic staffing shortages in the NHS, the UK’s single-biggest employer.
Domino’s franchisee to declare Russian business bankrupt
09:24 , Daniel O'Boyle
The Russian arm of fast food chain Domino’s is likely to close after its London-listed parent company decided to put it into bankruptcy.
Apparently failing to find a buyer for the Russian business, DP Eurasia said it has decided its subsidiary should instead file for bankruptcy.
The franchisee runs around 170 Domino’s pizza sites in the country, and had previously said it was “evaluating its presence” there.
The Russian economy has been hit by sanctions since President Vladimir Putin launched an unprovoked full-scale attack on Ukraine in February 2022, a continuation of the Kremlin’s campaign in eastern Ukraine and Crimea which started in 2014.
Building shares hit by Crest warning, FTSE 250 lower
08:30 , Graeme Evans
The profits warning by Crest Nicholson has shaken stocks in the housebuilding sector, with Taylor Wimpey down 4% or 4.95p to 107.65p at the top of the FTSE 100 fallers board.
Persimmon also lost 34p to 988p and Barratt Developments weakened by 2% or 10.3p to 423.3p, while property portal Rightmove declined 76p to 3915p.
The losses failed to keep the FTSE 100 index out of positive territory as the top flight climbed 14.10 points to 7,276.53, with BP and Shell among the risers following a 1% increase for the price of Brent Crude to $85.62 a barrel.
Crest Nicholson’s warning sent its shares down 13% or 25.3p to 168.7p and has contributed to a poor session for the UK-focused FTSE 250 index, which lost 0.3% or 57.48 points to 18,039.12.
Market snapshot: Shares slightly higher after six-day losing streak
08:29 , Daniel O'Boyle
The FTSE 100 is slightly higher this morning, as investors hope that its China-led losing streak will come to an end.
Take a look at all our key market data
Social media firms should reimburse online purchase scam victims – Barclays
08:09 , Daniel O'Boyle
Tech companies should help to reimburse the victims of social media purchase scams, bosses at Barclays have said.
It comes as data from the bank revealed a jump in the number of social media scams affecting British shoppers.
Purchase scams, where people buy good which never arrive or are not as advertised, now account for two thirds of all reported scams, according to the research.
China rate cut fails to lift Asia shares, FTSE 100 seen slightly higher
07:21 , Graeme Evans
The FTSE 100 index is poised for a firmer session after the run of declines that has seen it lose almost 6% so far this month.
Much of the recent selling pressure has been caused by China’s disappointing economic performance and the concerns over the country’s debt laden property sector.
Today, the People’s Bank of China cut its one-year loan rate by 0.1% to 3.45% but surprisingly kept the five-year rate unchanged at 4.2% as it attempts to strike a balance between stimulus for the economy and supporting the yuan.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index, which on Friday closed in bear market territory following a decline of more than 20% from January’s highs, fell by another 1.7% today.
It also emerged today that property firm Country Garden is to lose its place in the index when the next quarterly reshuffle takes place in early September. It follows a 70% slide for its shares so far this year.
As well as the latest developments in China, the focus is on the comments of Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell at the Jackson Hole symposium later this week.
US markets closed broadly unchanged on Friday and CMC Markets expects the FTSE 100 index to open 10 points higher at 7272 this morning.
Crest Nicholson warns on profits as rates hit housebuilding
07:20 , Daniel O'Boyle
Housebuilder Crest Nicholson has slashed its profit forecasts, as the impact of high interest rates and inflation continues to affect builders.
It said that with rising mortgage rates and “no Government support in place to cushion the impact”, property sales have continued to decline, and demand for new properties has fallen.
Having previously expected a profit of £73.7 million in June, it now projects profits to come to just £50 million.
The group said: “Against a backdrop of persistently high inflation and rising interest rates, trading conditions for the housing market have worsened during the summer of this year.”
However, it added: “The board remains positive and confident about the outlook for Crest Nicholson. While the current trading conditions are challenging, over the medium term it expects inflation to abate and mortgage rates start to reduce.
“In addition, the group has a strong financial position and an experienced leadership team who are used to trading through downturns in the cycle. The long-term structural shortfall of housing supply versus demand continues to increase and the Group has developed an attractive land portfolio.”
Recap: Friday’s top stories
06:45 , Simon Hunt
Good morning. Here’s a summary of our top stories from Friday:
Retail sales slump in rain sodden July adding to recession fears as gilt yields spike
Retailers queuing up to take space on Oxford Street with 100,000 sq ft currently under negotiation in boost for the West End’s under fire “high street”
Great Portland Estates buys Soho Square property portfolio for £70 million
Everyman Media reports bumper July ticket sales and profits on back of Barbenheimer phenomenon
Qatari royal mulls sale of luxury Knightsbridge homes for £370 Million
And: Would sir care for champagne with his Kebab? Deliveroo lets users combine groceries with takeaway orders for first time.
