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London’s blue chip index performed worse than its peers in Paris and Frankfurt at Thursday midday as Experian, a Dublin-based provider of consumer credit score checking, sank after Montana-based software firm Fair Isaac announced a new programme for mortgage lenders. The FTSE 100 index was up 6.28 points, 0.1%, at 9,452.71. The FTSE 250 was up 21.91 points, 0.1%, at 22,070.55, and the AIM All-Share was up 6.15 points, 0.8%, at 792.56. Earlier on Thursday, the blue-chip index hit a new intra-day high of 9,474.59 points. The index of London large-caps closed up 1.0% at 9,446.43 on Wednesday, beating its previous record close from Tuesday. The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.1% at 945.31, the Cboe UK 250 was 0.3% higher at 19,330.14, and the Cboe Small Companies was up 0.1% at 17,708.43. In European equities on Thursday, the CAC 40 in Paris and the DAX 40 in Frankfurt were both up 1.2%. ‘Yesterday, the FTSE 100 bucked a weak market open by rising above its peers in Europe. Today, it‘s done the opposite,’ said AJ Bell analyst Russ Mould. ‘Strength among financials and miners wasn’t enough to offset weakness in utilities, tobacco and energy stocks.’ The unemployment rate in the eurozone unexpectedly increased a notch in August, data published by Eurostat showed. The unemployment rate edged up to 6.3% in August from 6.2% in July, where it had been expected to remain according to the FXStreet-cited consensus. It was stable compared to August 2024. The seasonally adjusted amount of unemployed people increased to 10.84 million in August from 10.83 million in July. Sterling was at $1.3483 at midday on Thursday, up from $1.3477 at the London equities close on Wednesday. The euro traded at $1.1751, up from $1.1729 late Wednesday. Against the yen, the dollar was down at JP¥146.66 versus JP¥147.15. Stocks in New York were called to open mixed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was called down 0.1%, the S&P 500 index up 0.2%, and the Nasdaq Composite 0.4% higher. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury narrowed to 4.10% on Thursday from 4.13% on Wednesday. The yield on the 30-year slimmed to 4.70% from 4.72%. In London, 3i Group led the FTSE 100 and gained 3.9% after UBS raised the private equity and venture capital company to ’buy’ from ’neutral’, and upped its price target to 4,700p from 4,450p. UBS believes a slowdown at Zwaagdijk, Netherlands-based retailer Action is ‘coming to an end’, making 3i’s shares more attractive. Action is the largest portfolio asset at 3i, which UBS believes trades ‘as a proxy’ for the retailer. ‘We previously downgraded to neutral due to concerns the market would apply a discount valuation as Action’s growth slowed from unusually high levels. We see the slowdown now coming to an end, and 3i at an attractive valuation offering access to sustainable Action growth,’ UBS added. Tesco climbed 3.4%. The food retailer raised profit guidance after a better-than-expected first half, with the good weather helping to shrug off the impact of rising costs and intense competition. ‘Competitive intensity remains elevated. However, in the first half, a better-than-expected customer response to our actions and the benefit of an extended period of good weather have helped offset the cost of our investments,’ Tesco said. Pretax profit fell 6.3% to £1.31 billion in the 26 weeks to August 23 from £1.39 billion a year ago. But adjusted operating profit rose 1.5% to £1.67 billion from £1.65 billion, beating Visible Alpha consensus of £1.56 billion, while adjusted diluted earnings per share jumped 6.8% to 15.43 pence from 14.45p. Reflecting the better-than-expected performance, Tesco raised full year adjusted operating profit guidance to £2.9 billion and £3.1 billion, up from the previous range between £2.7 billion and £3.0 billion. At the other end of the index, Experian sank 6.4%. Fair Isaac, a software firm, has announced a new programme which would give mortgage lenders the option to calculate and distribute FICO credit scores directly to customers. At the moment, credit bureaus Experian, Equifax, TransUnion sell the data and the FICO score to a tri-merge - merging the three reports. This could cut out the margin that the likes of Experian make on the FICO credit score itself. ‘By introducing a licensing program for tri-merge resellers, FICO is effectively taking away the ability of the credit bureaus to mark up the FICO score,’ analysts at Jefferies said, while Citi said ‘our initial reaction is that this is negative for Experian.’ Fair Isaac shares were 14% higher in pre-market trading on Thursday morning in New York. BT Group fell 2.5% as Exane BNP cut the company to ’underperform’ from ’neutral’ and lowered its price target for the telecommunications provider to 150p from 160p. On the FTSE 250 index, Morgan Sindall surged 9.8% as it said full year results will be ‘significantly’ ahead of prior guidance after increasing forecasts for its Fit Out division for the second time in four months. The construction and regeneration company said Fit Out’s performance has continued to strengthen significantly due to a combination of strong trading and operational execution. As a result, profits are now expected to ‘significantly’ exceed the group’s previous expectations. The Fit Out division offers interior design and fit out services, and operates through the Morgan Lovell (design and build fit out) and Overbury (traditional fit out and refurbishment) brands. Tate & Lyle fell 4.0%, continuing a decline that started on Wednesday when it warned soft market conditions would result in full-year sales and earnings below expectations. Shares in the supplier of food and beverage products have fallen 18% over the last five days. On Thursday, Bank of America cut its price target to 630p from 730p. On the AIM market, Bezant Resources jumped 27% after the copper and gold exploration company said it now owns 80.6 million shares in Australian Securities Exchange listed Blackstone Minerals. The firm said it has sold 53.4 million shares in Blackstone for £1.8 million total from September 18. Shares in UK Oil & Gas sank 35% after the share price multiplied on Wednesday. The firm raised gross proceeds of £3 million through a placing of new shares at 0.03p each. The funding will be used to complete engineering concept and design studies for the collaboration between subsidiary UK Energy Storage and National Gas. Gold was higher at $3,881.40 an ounce at midday on Thursday from $3,862.37 late Wednesday. Brent oil was trading lower at $65.12 a barrel from $65.53. Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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