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Stock prices in London, Paris and Frankfurt were higher at Thursday midday, with shares in Kitwave on London’s AIM jumping after accepting a takeover bid. Meanwhile, as AJ Bell’s Russ Mould put it, ‘Donald Trump’s TACO bell has rung once again, much to the joy of financial markets. ‘Trump has form in chickening out of his threats, and investors are pleased he confirmed no plans to use military action to take Greenland or to impose new tariffs on parts of Europe.’ Mould added: ‘The Greenland situation may have calmed down, but there are still enough unanswered questions to throw caution to the wind. It’s more about financial markets regaining balance than moving into top gear.’ The FTSE 100 index was up 43.42 points, 0.4%, at 10,181.51. The FTSE 250 was up 213.12 points, 0.9%, at 23,284.41, and the AIM All-Share was up 4.65 points, 0.6%, at 813.24. The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.3% at 1,017.65, the Cboe UK 250 was up 1.0% at 20,465.21, and the Cboe Small Companies was up 1.4% at 18,103.69. On the FTSE 100, shares in Beazley were up 1.5%. The London-based insurer has rebuffed the latest takeover approach from Zurich Insurance Group AG, arguing it ‘materially undervalues’ Beazley and its long-term prospects. On Monday, Beazley said Switzerland’s Zurich Insurance had made a 1,280 pence per share cash proposal, valuing the firm at £7.67 billion. On the FTSE 250, B&M European Value Retail was up 0.4% despite cutting its outlook. Third quarter group revenue rose 2.9% to £1.74 billion on-year, amid 1.9% growth in the UK, an 8.5% improvement in France and a 1.4% rise at Heron Foods. ‘As with our pricing actions, these are investments in the long-term strength of B&M, but they do impact near-term financial performance. As a result, we are revising our full-year guidance downwards,’ Chief Executive Officer Tjeerd Jegen commented. B&M now expects adjusted Ebitda between £440 million and £475 million for the full year, down from its previous view of £470 million to £520 million, and down from £620 million in financial 2025. Mould commented: ‘Just when it looked as if all the bad news had come out of B&M, the value retailer has now thrown more items into the kitchen sink...The company talked about early signs of recovery, yet it is plagued by unsold goods that are taking up valuable space.’ ‘There are some bold decisions for B&M to consider, such as jettisoning Heron Foods and rightsizing its store estate to focus on fewer but better performing units,’ he continued. ‘Yet it still needs to get the core day-to-day operations in a healthier position before it can think about the bigger picture.’ On AIM, Kitwave surged 33%. The North Shields, England-based food wholesaler has accepted a 295p per share cash takeover bid from OEP Capital Advisers LP funds, valuing Kitwave at approximately £251 million. It also reported annual results, with revenue of £802.7 million for the year ended October 31, up 21% from £663.7 million the year before. Pretax profit decreased slightly to £22.4 million from £22.5 million. GENinCode dropped 39%. The Oxford-based genetic testing company has raised gross proceeds of £3.9 million through issuing 388.1 million shares through its placing and subscription, announced on Wednesday alongside a proposed retail offer, at 1p each. The issue price represents a 47% discount to its closing middle market price of 1.90p on Tuesday. In European equities on Thursday, the CAC 40 in Paris was up 1.1%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was up 1.3%. The pound was quoted lower at $1.3418 at midday on Thursday in London, compared to $1.3437 at the equities close on Wednesday. The euro stood lower at $1.1697, against $1.1707. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JP¥158.65, up from JP¥158.18. Stocks in New York were called higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was called up 0.3%, the S&P 500 index up 0.6%, and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.9%. The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was quoted at 4.25%, narrowing from 4.27%. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury was quoted at 4.87%, narrowing from 4.88%. Brent oil was quoted lower at $64.14 a barrel at midday in London on Thursday from $64.82 late Wednesday. Gold was quoted lower at $4,827.86 an ounce against $4,833.66. Rostro’s Joshua Mahony commented: ‘While we are seeing gold turning lower in response to cooling geopolitical tensions, traders will be watching very closely for events in Japan as a potential driver of sentiment for JPY and precious metals. ‘The [Bank of Japan] meeting due overnight comes at an opportune moment for markets, with their efforts to keep a lid on rising yields ultimately providing the potential for further yen depreciation.’ Still to come on Thursday’s economic calendar, the US has personal consumption expenditure, GDP and weekly jobless data. Copyright 2026 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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