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London’s blue chip index was lower while its peers in Paris and Frankfurt were higher on Thursday morning, with HSBC falling as HSBC Asia Pacific proposed the privatisation of Hang Seng Bank, while Lloyds was down after it warned in relation to the redress scheme for motor finance mis-selling. Nearly 80% of the increases sought by Anglian Water, Northumbrian Water, South East Water, Southern Water, and Wessex Water were rejected, the CMA said. However, a provisional decision allowed for 21%, or an additional £556 million in revenue, of the total £2.7 billion the five firms requested. The independent group of experts said Anglian and Northumbrian should be allowed to increase their bills by a further 1%, Southern by 3%, South East by 4% and Wessex by 5%. Meanwhile, Keir Starmer has urged Narendra Modi to move India away from reliance on fossil fuels, as the two leaders also discussed the war in Ukraine. The UK prime minister also suggested he wanted India to take ‘its rightful place’ on the UN Security Council, a long-held goal of the nation. The Indian prime minister, who has described himself as a friend of Russia’s Vladimir Putin, meanwhile suggested he wanted to see the Ukraine war come to an end through ‘dialogue and diplomacy’ as they met at a state government residence in Mumbai. The FTSE 100 index opened down 24.51 points, 0.3%, at 9,524.36. The FTSE 250 was up 45.04 points, 0.2%, at 22,086.87, and the AIM All-Share was up 2.31 points, 0.3%, at 798.33. The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.4% at 951.02, the Cboe UK 250 was up 0.4% at 19,324.60, and the Cboe Small Companies was down 0.3% at 17,910.42. HSBC was at the bottom of the FTSE 100, down 6.1%. The London-based universal bank said HSBC Asia Pacific proposes the privatisation of Hang Seng Bank, at HK$155 per share. It said it expects the buyout to boost its earnings per share, with a day 1 capital impact of approximately 125 basis points to its CET1 ratio. Lloyds was down 3.0%, after warning that an additional provision is likely to be required, which may be ‘material’, in relation to the redress scheme for motor finance mis-selling. Other financials were also the red, with Barclays down 1.0% and NatWest down 0.4%. Anglo American led, up 2.3%. Other miners also opened higher: Rio Tinto rose 1.7%, Antofagasta rose 1.5% and Glencore gained 0.7%. However, Fresnillo and Endeavour Mining lost 0.3%. Close Brothers, a FTSE 250-listed banking group which also has exposure to the motor finance scandal, was down 2.9%. Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey led the laggers, down 4.9%. Volution was the FTSE 250’s best performer, up 5.1%, after the ventilation products company reported its annual results. Revenue climbed 21% on-year to £419.1 million from £347.6 million, although pretax profit declined 3.7% to £54.5 million. Volution also increased the total dividend per share by 20% to 10.8 pence, including declaring a final dividend of 7.4p, from 9.0p. ‘Notwithstanding the still difficult economic backdrop in many of our end markets, we remain confident of continuing to deliver compounding growth and another year of good progress,’ said Chief Executive Officer Ronnie George. In European equities on Thursday, the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.3%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was up 0.4%. The pound was quoted lower at $1.3355 early on Thursday in London, compared to $1.3406 at the equities close on Wednesday. The euro stood slightly lower at $1.1611, against $1.1615. Against the yen, the dollar was trading higher at JP¥153.09 compared to JP¥152.68. In Asia on Thursday, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo was up 1.8%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was up 1.3%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was marginally lower. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed up 0.3%. In the US on Wednesday, Wall Street ended mostly higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 1.20 points, the S&P 500 up 0.6% and the Nasdaq Composite up 1.1%. The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was quoted at 4.13%, widening from 4.12%. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury was quoted flat at 4.71%. Brent oil was quoted slightly lower at $66.35 a barrel early in London on Thursday from $66.40 late Wednesday. Gold was quoted lower at $4,029.55 an ounce against $4,044.28. Still to come on Thursday’s economic calendar, look out for Ireland’s consumer price inflation and industrial production data. Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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