Weekly review

The FTSE 100 ended the week down 8.78%, or 0.11%, closing at 8,063.61 on Friday.

Equity view

Housebuilder MJ Gleeson said on Friday that it remains on track for full-year results in line with market expectations despite a "lack of conviction" in the market, which continued through the Autumn. In an update ahead of its annual general meeting, the company said the interest rate cut announced by the Bank of England last week was "welcome" and is expected to boost buyer confidence into the important Spring selling season.

Land Securities returned to profit and lifted guidance in the six months to September as the property market continued to recover, underpinned by growing rental demand and occupancy. Pre-tax profit came in at £243m, compared with a loss of £193m a year earlier. The company also lifted guidance for EPRA full-year earnings.

Medical products group Convatec has expressed disappointment with a ruling which excludes its InnovaMatrix product from Medicare coverage in the US, but says it is confident of securing coverage in the future. The Medicare Administrative Contractors has published so-called Local Coverage Determinations (LCDs) for skin substitute grafts, and cellular and tissue-based products for the treatment of diabetic foot ulcers (DFU) and venous leg ulcers (VLU), but did not name InnovaMatrix.

Volex announced on Friday that it has submitted two proposals to acquire the London-listed TT Electronics in a cash-and-shares deal, valuing it at around £249m. The AIM-traded firm said both proposals were rejected by the TT Electronics board, with no engagement between the two companies. It said its latest proposal, dated 14 November, comprised 62.9p in cash and 0.223 new Volex shares per TT Electronics share.

Fluid technology and thermal solutions group Spirax has left its full-year outlook unchanged after increasing organic sales across all three of its businesses in the third quarter, but warned of a slight impact on results from currency movements. The company, formerly known as Spirax-Sarco Engineering, said it continues to expect mid-single digit organic revenue growth in 2024 with an adjusted operating profit margin of 20%, in line with last year when adjusted for currency headwinds.

B&M European Value Retail reiterated its full-year outlook on Thursday after half-year sales ticked higher. The budget retailer said group revenues in the six months to 28 September rose nearly 4% to £2.64bn. Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation ticked up 2% to £274m.

Insurance giant Aviva hailed a "very strong" performance in the third quarter, with double-digit gains in general insurance premiums, life insurance and retirement sales, and wealth net flows. General insurance premiums were up 15% on last year over the first nine months of the year at £9.1bn, with 18% growth in UK and Ireland to £5.7bn and 11% growth in Canada to £3.4bn.

WH Smith reported a jump in full-year profit and revenue on Thursday as it hailed a particularly strong performance from the UK travel business and over the summer. In the year to the end of August, group profit before tax and non-underlying items rose 16% to £166m, while total group revenue was up 7% at £1.92bn.

Smiths Group has raised its growth and margin guidance and beefed up its share buyback programme after an "outstanding" first quarter. As a result of the strong start to the year and a record order book, the engineering company now expects full-year organic revenue growth of 5-7%, up from earlier guidance of 4-6%.

Just Eat Takeaway said on Wednesday that it has agreed to sell US business Grubhub to Wonder Group for $650m. The company had already announced that it was actively exploring the partial or full sale of Grubhub. Just Eat said the deal increases its ability to support investment in countries in which it has the greatest competitive advantage. It also improves gross transaction value (GTV) growth and free cash flow generation.

SSE’s long-standing chief executive is to stand down, the blue chip confirmed on Wednesday, as it posted a jump in half-year earnings. The electricity and gas utility said Alistair Phillips-Davies, 57, had decided to retire in 2025 after 11 years at the helm.

Commercial property investment company CLS Holdings said that leasing levels over the third quarter was well ahead of last year, though the macro environment was slowing letting activity more than expected. CLS signed 23 leasing deals in the three months to 30 September, securing £3.7m of annual rent, over 50% higher than last year at 4.8% above estimated rental value.

AstraZeneca upgraded its full-year revenue and earnings per share guidance on Tuesday, citing strong growth across key therapy areas and robust financial results for the first nine months of the year. The FTSE 100 pharmaceutical giant said total revenue for the first nine months increased 19% at constant exchange rates to $39.18bn, driven primarily by a 19% rise in product sales.

Fresnillo announced on Tuesday that Industrias Peñoles, its partner in a long-standing silver production agreement, had notified it of operational issues affecting the Sabinas mine, fully owned by Peñoles. The FTSE 100 miner said Sabinas is the mineral source underpinning the Silverstream agreement, a contract established between Fresnillo and Peñoles in December 2007 that entitles Fresnillo to a portion of the mine’s silver output.

The Financial Conduct Authority said on Tuesday that it has fined Metro Bank £16.7m for failing to have the right controls in place to combat money laundering. The regulator said that between June 2016 and December 2020, the bank did not have the right systems and controls to adequately monitor over 60 million transactions, with a value of over £51bn, for money laundering risks.

Vodafone Group reported a 1.6% rise in total revenue to €18.3bn for the first half of its financial year on Tuesday, with service revenue growing 1.7% to €15.1bn. The FTSE 100 telecoms giant said organic service revenue increased 4.8%, largely due to gains in European, African, and Turkish markets, despite a decline in Germany linked to the recent MDU TV law change.

NatWest has repurchased £1bn of shares from the HM Treasury, taking the government's stake in the banking group to just over 11%. The company said on Monday that it made an off-market purchase of 262.6m shares on Friday at a price of 380.8p following a 73% jump in the stock over the year to date. This was the bank's second buyback of government shares in 2024 and reduced the bank's stake from 14.2% to 11.4%. The HM Treasury had established a 84% shareholding in the bank following its bailout in 2008.

Specialty chemicals group Croda has left full-year constant-currency profit guidance unchanged after a solid third quarter, though a stronger pound will hit the bottom-line results more than previously expected. The US dollar and the euro represent 65% of the group's currency translation exposure, with a one cent movement per annum in either currency translating to a £1m impact on adjusted operating profits, Croda said.

Swiss stock exchange operator Six Exchange Group said on Monday that it has agreed to buy Aquis Exchange in a £225m deal. Under the terms of the agreement, Six will pay 727p per share in cash. This is a premium of about 120% to the closing Aquis share price on Friday, which was the last day before the start of the offer period.

London-focused real estate group Great Portland Estates is spending £58.5m on a refurbishment opportunity near Tottenham Court Road, as the company announced the signing of a new £150m ESG-linked unsecured revolving credit facility (RCF). GPE said it has bought the special purpose company holding the long leasehold interest of Whittington House, WC1, which is currently let on a short-term basis, at an annual rent of £5.2m with vacant possession expected in the first quarter of 2025.

Economic news

Britain's energy regulator has given the funding green light for a £2bn subsea and underground cable which transport electricity from wind farms in Scotland to the North East. The 196km-long cable will be mainly laid under the North Sea, is expected to bolster the UK’s energy security and cut customer bills by £870m per year by reducing the need to compensate British wind generators who are currently asked to turn off production during times of high wind due to lack of grid capacity.

The UK economy grew by 0.1% in the last quarter, official data showed on Friday, slightly below expectations. The Office for National Statistics said growth in the three months to September had been led by strength in the retail trade, excluding motor vehicles, and new construction work. Output in the construction sector jumped 0.8%.

Rachel Reeves is to use her first Mansion House speech as chancellor to unveil a slew of reforms to UK pension rules. In particular, the government wants to combine 86 council pension schemes into just eight so-called megafunds, mirroring similar local government pension schemes in Canada and Australia.

UK house prices continued to rise in October, a closely-watched survey showed on Thursday, as the market benefited from lower borrowing costs. According to the latest residential market survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, both house prices and sales improved in October.

Opus Energy has agreed to pay over £7m in compensation after overcharging nearly 88,000 business customers due to long-standing billing errors, Ofgem announced on Wednesday. The regulator said the non-domestic energy supplier discovered two faults in its billing system, which resulted in customers either being placed on incorrect tariffs or charged for duplicated billing periods.

Grocery sales growth slowed slightly over the month of October as shoppers held back spend ahead of Black Friday and Christmas, according to data from consumer intelligence firm NIQ on Wednesday. Till sales grew by 4.0% year-on-year in the four weeks to 2 November, down from 4.7% the previous month, while spend per visit slipped 6% on average to £18.67.

UK grocery sales hit their highest levels in October, according to data out on Tuesday from market research firm Kantar, as the number of shopping trips hit a four-year high. Take-home sales at grocers totalled £11.6bn in the four weeks to 3 November, up 2.0% over the same period last year, Kantar reported. The number of shopping trips made by households rose to 480m, their highest level since March 2020 before the first national Covid lockdown.

UK unemployment ticked higher in the three months to September, while wage growth slowed, according to figures released on Tuesday by the Office for National Statistics. The unemployment rate rose to 4.3% from 4% in the previous quarter, versus expectations for a 4.1% increase. The data showed that pay excluding bonuses rose 4.8% on the same period a year earlier, which was the lowest since June 2022.

International events

Pharmaceutical and biotech stocks around the world slumped on Friday, after US president-elect Donald Trump appointed vaccine sceptic Robert F Kennedy Jr to his cabinet. Trump named Kennedy head of the US Department of Health and Human Services, the latest in a string of controversial senior appointments made by the incoming president.

The European Commission has reduced its economic growth forecast for the eurozone next year, and warned that projections could be reduced further in the event of increased protectionist measures – such as those proposed by Donald Trump. Eurozone GDP growth is expected to pick up to 1.3% in 2025, from an estimated 0.8% this year, slightly below the Commission's previous 1.4% forecast, according to the Autumn Forecast published on Friday.

Retail sales jumped in China last month, official data showed on Friday, in contrast to the ongoing gloom surrounding the under-pressure property sector. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, retail sales grew by 4.8% year-on-year in October, the highest rise in eight months and well ahead of expectations. It was also a notable improvement on September’s 3.2% increase.

The European Union has imposed a €797.72m fine on Facebook’s parent company Meta Platforms, it emerged on Thursday, after a detailed investigation into its Marketplace online classifieds business. According to the Independent, the significant penalty from the European Commission was based on findings that Meta abused its market dominance and employed anti-competitive tactics.

Americans lined up for unemployment benefits at a decelerated pace in the week ended 9 November, according to the Labor Department. Initial jobless claims fell by 4,000 to 217,000, better than market expectations for an increase to 223,000 but still the smallest drop since May.

US producer prices increased in October, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Producer prices rose by 0.2% month-on-month to 145.62 points in October, advancing from an upwardly revised reading of 145.33 for September and bang in line with preliminary estimates. On an annualised basis, PPI was up 2.4%. Excluding volatile foods, energy, and trade services, so-called core PPI prices increased 3.1% year-on-year.

Employment in the eurozone rose slightly more than expected in the third quarter, while the economy’s growth rate was 0.4%, according to official flash estimates published on Thursday. Employment in the eurozone grew by 0.2% quarter on quarter, with an annual growth rate of 1% from 0.9% three months earlier. Meanwhile, in a separate release from the official stats agency Eurostat, eurozone industrial production fell more than expected in September.

The US consumer price index increased to 315.66 points in October, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, up from 315.30 points in September. On a monthly basis, CPI rose by 0.2%, in line with both the previous three months and analysts' expectations, while the annual inflation rate increased to 2.6% in October, up from 2.4% in September.

US mortgage applications rose 0.5% in the week ended 8 November, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America, principally due to a 72 basis point surge in benchmark interest rates since the beginning of Q4. Applications to refinance a mortgage fell 2% week-on-week, while purchase applications rose 2%. The drop comes hot on the heels of a cumulative 35% slump in mortgage demand during October and follows six consecutive weeks of decreased application volumes.

German business sentiment deteriorated in November, according to a survey released on Tuesday by the ZEW Center for European Economic Research in Mannheim. The headline ZEW investor expectations index fell to 7.4 from 13.1 in October, coming in just below expectations for a reading of 13.0. Meanwhile, the current conditions index fell 4.5 points from October to -91.4 in November.

German inflation rose in October, driven by a rise in food prices and ongoing above-average increases for services, official data confirmed on Tuesday. The consumer price index stood at 2.0%, in line with an earlier flash estimate, compared with 1.6% in September 2024 1.9% in August.

Bitcoin has surged well past the $80,000 mark for the first time, propelled by investor optimism following Donald Trump’s US election victory, with expectations that his administration would support a friendlier regulatory environment for digital currencies. The world’s leading cryptocurrency peaked at $82,197 early on Monday, marking a sharp increase of nearly 20% since election day, before falling back to just above $81,000.