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Stocks in Europe were higher on Thursday morning as many companies published results on the final day of the month, which is filled with key economic indicators such as inflation and unemployment data from across the globe. The FTSE 100 index opened up 44.46 points, 0.5%, at 9,181.40. The FTSE 250 was up 168.19 points, 0.8%, at 21,944.77, and the AIM All-Share was down 1.12 points, 0.2%, at 761.60. The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.5% at 916.88, the Cboe UK 250 was 0.9% higher at 19,272.80, and the Cboe Small Companies was marginally down at 17,436.79. In European equities on Thursday, the CAC 40 in Paris was 0.3% higher, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt gained 0.6%. The pound was down at $1.3261 early on Thursday in London, compared to $1.3285 at the equities close on Wednesday. The euro stood at $1.1580, higher against $1.1479. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JP¥149.39 compared to JP¥148.38. In Asia on Thursday, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo was up 1.0%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was 1.2% lower, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was down 1.5%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed down 0.2%. In the US on Wednesday, Wall Street ended mixed, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.4%, the S&P 500 0.1% lower and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.2%. The US Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged for the fifth meeting in a row, in a split vote, as it continues to adopt a wait-and-see approach to tariffs. At the conclusion of its two-day meeting, the Federal Open Market Committee voted to maintain rates at the 4.25%-4.50% range. Two members of the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee dissented, with governors Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman backing a quarter-point cut. In a statement, the FOMC said uncertainty about the economic outlook remains elevated and that recent indicators suggest that growth of economic activity moderated in the first half of the year. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury narrowed to 4.35% from 4.37%. The yield on the 30-year slimmed to 4.87% from 4.91%. In London, Shell climbed 2.4%. The oil major increased its dividend and announced a $3.5 billion share buyback programme despite a fall in profit. It raised the dividend to 71.6 US cents from 68.8 cents a year ago. The firm starts a new $3.5 billion buyback, which is expected to be completed by the third quarter results announcement. Income attributable to shareholders fell 23% in the first half of the year to $8.38 billion from $10.87 billion, while basic earnings per share fell 18% to $1.40 from $1.70. Total revenue and other income sank to $136.60 billion from $149.76 billion a year ago. Shell said the results reflected lower trading and optimisation margins and lower realised liquids and gas prices, partly offset by higher Marketing margins and lower operating expenses. Rentokil Initial led the FTSE 100 and gained 9.5%. The pest control and hygiene firm said revenue increased 3.0% in the first half of the year to $3.36 billion from $3.27 billion a year ago. Pretax profit fell 27% to $216 million from $294 million. It said current trading is in line with expectations and left its outlook for the year unchanged. ‘Our sales and marketing initiatives in North America are starting to have an impact, with organic revenue growth of 1.4% in the second quarter up from 0.7% in the first quarter. We are refocusing our marketing budget towards driving organic lead flow and we are seeing encouraging results, including from our satellite branches, where we now have 100 in operation,’ said Chief Executive Andy Ransom. Rolls-Royce was up 9.3%. The aerospace and defence engineering raised its 2025 underlying operating profit and free cash flow guidance. It now expects underlying operating profit between £3.1 billion and £3.2 billion, up from earlier guidance between £2.7 billion and £2.9 billion. Revenue increased to £9.49 billion from £8.86 billion in the first half, while pretax profit jumped to £4.84 billion from £1.42 billion. Basic earnings per share soared to 52.38 pence from 13.71 pence. ‘Our multi-year transformation continues to deliver. Our actions led to strong first half year results, despite the challenges of the supply chain and tariffs. We are continuing to expand the earnings and cash potential of Rolls-Royce,’ said Chief Executive Officer Tufan Erginbilgic. Mondi led the laggers on the blue-cap index and fell 6.1%. It said revenue increased to €3.91 billion from €3.74 billion, though pretax profit fell to €247 million from €2.96 million. ‘There was limited direct impact on our operations from announced tariffs in the period. While only 2-3% of our revenue is generated from exports into the US, we remain mindful of the second order impacts affecting trade flows, consumer confidence and supply chains,’ the firm noted. It left its interim dividend unchanged at 23.33 euro cents. On the FTSE 250 index, Just Group shares jumped 68%. The provider of retirement income products agreed to a £2.4 billion takeover by Brookfield Wealth Solutions. Under the terms of the acquisition, shareholders will receive 220 pence in cash for each Just share. The price represents a 75% premium to Just’s closing price of 126 pence on Wednesday. Brookfield Wealth Solutions said it intends for its UK insurance operations subsidiary Blumont to operate as a single, consolidated insurance group with Just under the Just brand. The acquisition is expected to complete during the first half of 2026. Pets At Home lost 2.9%. The pet retailer said consumer revenue was up 0.4% in the first quarter to £591 million against a ‘still subdued market backdrop’. Revenue fell 1.9% to £435 million. It now expects underlying pretax profit between £110 million and £120 million, as the market growth rate has been below initial expectations for 2% growth. It now expects the market to grow by around 1%. On the AIM market, Nativo Resources jumped 54%. The gold miner hailed a ‘huge milestone’ as noteholders approved restructuring proposals. ‘Through positive and pragmatic dialogue with noteholders we can now restructure the notes in a way that enables Nativo to continue its business plan without the weight of this debt and repayment obligation hanging over it,’ said Executive Chair Christian Yates. ‘Nativo is moving forward with its plans to establish sustainable gold production in Peru, with gold trading at well over three thousand dollars,’ he added. In New York, Nvidia was up 1.8% in pre-market trading. Chinese authorities summoned Nvidia representatives on Thursday to discuss ‘serious security issues’ over some of its artificial intelligence chips, as the Santa Clara, California-based chip company finds itself entangled in trade tensions between Beijing and Washington. Nvidia is a world-leading producer of AI semiconductors, but the US effectively restricts which chips it can export to China on national security grounds. A key issue has been Chinese access to the ‘H20’, a less powerful version of Nvidia’s AI processing units that the company developed specifically for export to China. Nvidia said this month it would resume H20 sales to China after Washington pledged to remove licensing curbs that had halted exports. But the firm still faces obstacles US lawmakers have proposed plans to require Nvidia and other manufacturers of advanced AI chips to include built-in location tracking capabilities. Gold was quoted at $3,305.80 an ounce early Thursday, higher than $3,292.75 on Wednesday. Brent oil fell to $72.51 a barrel from $72.99. Still to come on Thursday are eurozone unemployment data out shortly, US weekly initial jobless claims, the Chicago PMI and personal consumption expenditures figures. There will also be consumer price index figures from Germany. Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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