FTSE 100 higher amid Wall Street tech rally

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• Tue, 9 January 2024 at 3:56 am GMT-7

  Trending tickers: Apple | Samsung | GSK | Jupiter

  

  Apple (AAPL) – Apple will release the new Vision Pro headset in the US on Feb. 2, with pre-orders opening on 19 January, in what CEO Tim Cook has described as the dawn of spatial computing.

  Samsung (005930.KS) – Samsung posted its sixth consecutive quarter of falling operating profit amid a slowdown in demand for consumer electronics.

  GSK (GSK.L) – GSK said it has bought Aiolos Bio for an upfront consideration of $1bn, with the potential for an additional $400m.

  Jupiter (JUP.L) – Shares in the UK-based asset manager plunged 17% after the fund house warned it is anticipating worse outflows than previously expected in 2023.

  Read the full story here

• Tue, 9 January 2024 at 3:47 am GMT-7

  Eurozone unemployment falls to record low

  Unemployment in the eurozone has fallen unexpectedly to a joint record low, suggesting Europe’s jobs market remains strong despite the weak growth in the region.

  The seasonally-adjusted jobless rate in the Euro Area hit 6.4% in November, with the number of unemployed individuals falling by 99,000 month-on-month to 10.97m. Meanwhile, the youth unemployment rate, reflecting those under 25 seeking employment, fell to 14.5% from 14.8%.

  In the wider European Union, the unemployment rate slipped to 5.9% in November 2023, from 6% in October.

• Tue, 9 January 2024 at 2:28 am GMT-7

  UK Christmas sales disappoint

  Retailers suffered a disappointing festive period that failed to make up for a challenging year of sluggish sales growth, figures show.

  Weak consumer confidence continued to hold back spending, with total UK retail sales up by just 1.7% in December against growth of 6.9% a year earlier, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC)-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor.

  The post-Christmas sales were unsuccessful in enticing spending in areas such as furniture and homewares, with households remaining cautious about making larger purchases.

  Sales saw a slight increase in the week leading up to Christmas as consumers scrambled to purchase last-minute gifts – particularly online – due to the wet weather.

• Tue, 9 January 2024 at 2:17 am GMT-7

  Shares in Hays plummet as recruiter warns of hit to profits

  Shares in recruitment group Hays (HAS.L) plunged by almost 13% after it warned that its half-year profits were likely to come in below expectations.

  The company is looking for “cost reduction and efficiency programmes” to steer it through a tough macro-economic environment.

  Hays said its group consultant numbers were 5% lower during the final three months of 2023 and were down 12% year-on-year, while it also axed non-consultant roles, with a 3% reduction in those teams during the quarter.

  The FTSE 250 (^FTMC) company said group fees slumped 15% last month and were 10% lower overall in the quarter.

  It now expects first-half underlying operating profits of around £60m.

• Tue, 9 January 2024 at 1:56 am GMT-7

  Investors buying tech dip

  Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, said falling Treasury yields tempted investors to buy technology shares on the dip, as each of the main US indices all but recovered their early year losses.

  “Indeed, the S&P500 (^GSPC), which added 1.4% in the trading session, now stands just 0.7% from its record closing high. The index saw broad gains with the exception of the energy sector, which fell following weakness in the oil price due to fairly weak demand, price cuts by Saudi Arabia and a rise in output from the OPEC countries.

  “Having rallied strongly last year, technology stocks largely shook off a stumbling start to 2024 with gains propelled by notable buying of the ‘Magnificent Seven’. Nvidia (NVDA) was a particular highlight, rising by more than 6% after announcing three new AI chips, while Apple (AAPL) recouped some of its losses from last week, adding 2.4%. The likes of Alphabet (GOOG), Amazon (AMZN) and Microsoft (MSFT) also saw renewed buying interest amid the ongoing debate surrounding the timing and levels of interest rate cuts, which are expected to kick in later this year should inflation finally be tamed.”

• Tue, 9 January 2024 at 1:49 am GMT-7

  B&M’s Christmas sales grow

  Discount retailer B&M (BME.L) has reported a rise in sales over the key festive quarter although it witnessed a slowdown in growth.

  It came as the chain said it is on track to have opened 45 stores this financial year, with plans for a similar number of new sites next year.

  The B&M European Value Retail group, which also runs the Heron frozen foods chain, revealed that revenues increased by 5% to £1.65bn over the 13 weeks to December 23.

  It said this means revenues grew by 8.1%, on a constant currency basis, over the first nine months of the current financial year, after growth eased back.

  B&M UK, which has 717 shops, saw sales grow by 3.7% to £1.35bn over the quarter leading up to Christmas.