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Stock prices in London were mixed on Thursday morning amid uncertainty regarding the future of UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer; meanwhile the UK economy unexpectedly grew monthly in March amid many trading updates from companies. The FTSE 100 index opened down 0.59 points, marginally lower, at 10,323.54. The FTSE 250 was up 102.51 points, 0.5%, at 22,630.86, and the AIM all-share was down 0.91 points, 0.1%, at 816.30. The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.4% at 1,027.39, the Cboe UK 250 was up 0.6% at 19,539.47, and the Cboe small companies was down 0.1% at 18,328.77. Angela Rayner has said she has been cleared of deliberate wrongdoing in an investigation over her tax affairs, paving the way for a potential leadership bid amid uncertainty over Keir Starmer’s future. As UK Health Secretary Wes Streeting mulls whether to quit and challenge the UK prime minister, Starmer’s former deputy indicated she could run in any race but insisted she would not ‘trigger’ a contest. Meanwhile, Chancellor Rachel Reeves warned colleagues not to put the economy ‘at risk’ by ‘plunging the country into chaos’ after figures showed gross domestic product grew in the first three months of the year. Fresh data showed the UK economy unexpectedly gathered pace in the first quarter of 2026, despite uncertainty linked to the war in Iran. According to the Office for National Statistics, gross domestic product rose 0.6% in the first quarter, accelerating from revised growth of 0.2% in the previous three months and matching market expectations. The expansion was driven by the services sector, which grew 0.8% over the quarter, while production output increased 0.2% and construction output rose 0.4%. On a monthly basis, GDP rose 0.3% in March, beating expectations for a decline, with services output also up 0.3% in the month. Industrial production fell 0.2% month-on-month in March and was flat year-on-year. Separate ONS data showed the UK total trade balance recorded a £9.66 billion deficit in March. The visible trade deficit widened to £27.22 billion, reflecting a gap between goods exports and imports, while the non-EU trade deficit totalled £15.20 billion during the month. In European equities on Thursday, the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.5%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was up 1.1%. The pound was quoted at $1.3511 early Thursday, marginally lower than $1.3520 at the London equities close on Wednesday. Against the euro, sterling fell slightly to €1.1537 from €1.1542 a day prior. The euro traded at $1.1711 early Thursday, marginally lower than $1.1715 late Wednesday. Against the yen, the dollar was quoted at JP¥157.87 versus JP¥157.81. In the FTSE 100, 3i Group plunged 18% despite reporting a higher net asset value, as it warned that the second half of its financial year had been challenging for shareholders and that like-for-like sales growth at its key holding Action had slowed. The London-based private equity investor said diluted net asset value per share was 3,030 pence as at March 31, up 19% from 2,542p a year earlier. Total return on opening shareholders’ funds was 22% in the financial year ended March 31, down from 25% the previous year. 3i said non-food discounter Action remained its ‘principal driver’ of returns. In the first three months of 2026, Action’s net sales rose 14% to €4.01 billion from €3.52 billion a year earlier, while operating earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation increased 7.3% to £498 million from £464 million. However, 3i noted that at the end of week 19, to May 10, Action’s year-to-date like-for-like sales growth was 2.4%, down from 6.8% a year earlier. It said seasonal categories underperformed amid cooler weather in recent weeks and tougher comparatives. Burberry fell 2.4% despite swinging to a pretax profit of £49 million for financial 2026, from a £66 million loss a year earlier. Adjusted operating profit rose to £160 million from £26 million, even as revenue edged down to £2.42 billion from £2.46 billion. The luxury fashion house said fourth-quarter performance was driven by momentum in Greater China and the Americas, while EMEIA revenue was flat amid reduced tourist activity linked to the Middle East conflict. Burberry also announced that Chair Gerry Murphy will retire after the release of first-half results in November, to be succeeded by Bridgepoint founder William Jackson. On the FTSE 250, Spire Healthcare surged 42% after confirming it had received a 250p-per-share takeover proposal from funds advised by Toscafund Asset Management LLP and would be minded to recommend the offer if a firm bid is made. The shares had closed at 150.40p on Wednesday. Spire said Toscafund, its second-largest shareholder, is undertaking confirmatory due diligence and that discussions remain at an early stage. Watches of Switzerland rose 14% after reporting record revenue of £1.83 billion in financial 2026, up 11% year-on-year, driven by strong growth in the US, which now accounts for more than half of group sales. The luxury watch retailer expects adjusted Ebit of £152 million to £155 million for the year, ahead of prior guidance. Among smaller caps, Gattaca jumped 13% after saying trading is ahead of market expectations, with strong contract recruitment growth continuing into the second half. The specialist staffing firm now expects continuing underlying pretax profit for financial 2026 of at least £6.0 million, above prior guidance of £4.5 million. In the US on Wednesday, Wall Street ended mixed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.1%, the S&P 500 rose 0.6% and the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.2%. Geopolitics remained in focus as US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping opened a high-stakes summit in Beijing, centred on Iran, trade and Taiwan. Trump told Xi that their countries would have a ‘fantastic future together’ and said it was ‘an honour to be your friend’. Xi struck a more measured tone, saying the US and China ‘should be partners and not rivals’, adding that ‘a stable China-US relationship is a boon for the world’ and warning that ‘cooperation benefits both sides, while confrontation harms both’. Chinese state media reported that Xi warned Trump that relations could deteriorate sharply if Taiwan was mishandled, calling it the ‘most important issue’ in China-US relations and cautioning that the two nations could ‘collide or even come into conflict’ if it were not managed carefully. The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was quoted at 4.46%, narrowing from 4.50%, while the yield on the US 30-year Treasury eased to 5.03% from 5.05%. Brent oil was trading at $106.41 a barrel early Thursday, lower than $107.33 late Wednesday. In Asia on Thursday, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo closed down 1.0%. In China, the Shanghai Composite fell 1.5%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong ended marginally lower. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed up 0.1%. Gold was quoted at $4,700.47 an ounce early Thursday, higher than $4,690.487 on Wednesday. Still to come on Thursday’s economic calendar are US weekly jobless claims, retail sales, export and import prices, business inventories for March and US EIA natural gas stocks. Copyright 2026 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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