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The FTSE 100 ended Tuesday broadly flat, held back by weakness in retailers as investors stayed cautious ahead of Wednesday’s Federal Reserve interest rate decision. The FTSE 100 index closed down just 3.08 points at 9,642.01. The FTSE 250 ended 12.16 points lower, 0.1%, at 21,909.12, and the AIM All-Share ended down 0.94 of a point, 0.1%, at 747.58. The Cboe UK 100 closed up 0.1% at 967.50, the Cboe UK 250 ended 0.2% higher at 19,059.96, and the Cboe Small Companies was up 0.1% at 17,538.53. In London, retailers were a soft feature after a report showed annual UK retail sales growth decelerated in November. Data published by the British Retail Consortium and KPMG showed UK annual total retail sales growth slowed to 1.4% in November from 1.6% in October. Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium said: ‘Pre-budget jitters among shoppers meant the month of Black Friday did not deliver as strongly as retailers had hoped or the economy needed.’ In response, shares in Next ebbed 1.9%, Marks & Spencer declined 1.5% and JD Sports Fashion dipped 0.9%. Elliott Jordan-Doak, senior UK economist, Pantheon Macroeconomics said the ‘pre-budget chaos’ dragged on consumer spending. The figures look ‘especially weak’ given that heavy Black Friday discounting should have boosted sales this year compared to last, he added. Jordan-Doak pointed out this year’s data for November includes Black Friday, where as the reporting period in November 2024 ended a week before that day. ‘The headline BRC figure would indicate a large month-to-month drop in official retail sales in November, presenting downside risks to GDP growth in [the fourth quarter],’ he added. Faring better, under pressure advertising agency WPP which advanced 6.3%. The Times reported WPP has landed a four-year contract worth up to £2 billion to manage the UK government’s advertising campaigns. The win is seen as a vote of confidence in WPP which will exit the FTSE 100 this month after a series of profit warnings dragged its share price downwards. Under the deal, Wavemaker, which is owned by WPP, will take responsibility for planning and buying advertising spots for hundreds of government campaigns designed to raise awareness of issues including violence against women and girls, blood donations and armed services recruitment, the report said. Unilever rose 17%, after completing an 8-for-9 share consolidation following the demerger of its ice cream business, Magnum Ice Cream, which started trading on Monday. Analysts at Barclays think 2026 is the year for Unilever to show its ‘real volume power ex ice cream.’ ‘This is a business that is becoming increasingly competitive and now playing to win, rather than in the past where it was playing not to lose,’ Barclays said. In addition, Bloomberg reported bullish comments made by its chief executive at a JPMorgan-organised conference. CEO Fernando Fernandez said that the company expects its underlying operating margin will be at least 19.5% after separating the Magnum Ice Cream business, higher than it was with the division attached. Fernandez also said that the group intends to keep buying back shares. He said that if the group has excess cash, ‘we will not sit upon that,’ according to Bloomberg. The pound was quoted slightly lower at $1.3311 at the time of the London equities close on Tuesday, compared to $1.3319 on Monday. The euro stood at $1.1637, up against $1.1624. Against the yen, the dollar was trading higher at JP¥156.90 compared to JP¥155.88. In European equities on Tuesday, the CAC 40 in Paris closed down 0.7%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt ended up 0.5%. Stocks in New York were higher at the time of the London equity close. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.3%, the S&P 500 index was 0.2% higher, while the Nasdaq Composite stood 0.1% to the good. The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was quoted at 4.18%, trimmed from 4.19%. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury was at 4.80%, narrowed from 4.83%. Ahead of Wednesday’s interest rate decision, figures showed US job vacancies increased far more than expected in September and October, allaying fears of a marked slowdown in the labour market. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics job openings totalled 7.66 million in September and 7.67 million in October, ahead of FXStreet consensus which predicted 7.2 million vacancies for both months. Publication of the September Jolts news release was cancelled due to the government shutdown. The BLS explained the figures contained in this release for September include partial data that businesses self-reported electronically during the shutdown and data collected in November following the shutdown. Data presented for October 2025 were collected in November following the shutdown as originally planned. With a quarter point rate cut by the Federal Reserve on Wednesday priced in, Citi analyst Andrew Hollenhorst said focus will be on updated projections and guidance. ‘But due to the government shutdown, key data including on jobs and inflation for October and November have been delayed until after the meeting. As a consequence, we expect little change to economic projections and guidance that will simply emphasise that the Fed’s next move will depend on upcoming data,’ he added. Back in London, Applied Nutrition shares stormed 10% higher. The Liverpool-based sports nutrition brand now expects that full-year results will likely exceed current market consensus estimates for revenue of £122.3 million and adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of £34.4 million by around 10%. In the financial year ending July, the company reported revenue of £107.1 million and adjusted Ebitda of £30.9 million. Brent oil was quoted at $61.98 a barrel at the time of the London equities close on Tuesday, down from $62.79 late Monday. The Financial Times noted Saad Rahim, chief economist of Trafigura, said that new drilling projects and slowing demand growth were likely to weigh further on already depressed crude prices next year. ‘Whether it’s a glut, or a super glut, it’s hard to get away from that,’ Rahim said in remarks alongside the company’s annual results. Gold was quoted at $4,214.16 an ounce on Tuesday, higher against $4,192.10. The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Unilever, up 686.50 pence at 4,846.50p, WPP, up 18.70p at 317.20p, Fresnillo, up 70.00p at 2,762.00p, BAE Systems, up 35.50p at 1,726.50p and Pearson, up 19.90p at 1,004.50p. The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Magnum Ice Cream Co, down 41.40p at 1,081.00p, Diageo, down 42.00p at 1,602.50p, Tesco, down 9.80p at 440.00p, GSK, down 37.50p at 1,783.00p and Next, down 270.00p at 13,665.00p. Wednesday’s economic calendar has interest rate decisions in the US and Canada and CPI and PPI data in China overnight. Wednesday’s UK corporate calendar has half-year results from housebuilder Berkeley Group. Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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