FTSE 100 closes at 7,699.41
The FTSE 100 closed at 7,699.41 today, up slightly despite starting the day lower.
Shares got off to a poor start but picked up on the back of stronger-than-expected EU GDP figures.
British AIrways owner IAG continued to climb, as the top riser today. Shares are now up 14.2% in the past four days.
Ocado returned to the fallers board, losing 3.8%, but that still leaves it up more than 50% in the past month and 170% in the last two months.
Man behind the miniliths has plans for a more Legible world
Most entrepreneurs worry about rivals nicking their ideas. Many employ lawyers to keep competitors at bay. Not Tim Fendley. The creator of the 1500 yellow and black wayfaring signs throughout London says “we will share how it’s done with anyone who asks. If you want to know, call us now.”
The main aim of Applied Information Group, the firm Fendley founded in 2003, “is to help cities be more sustainable, healthier, more vibrant. We think this is an idea worth sharing,” he adds. “We want every other city to benefit from the structure and system of Legible London. There are many copies around the world now. All the manuals and methods are published.”
The capital’s system — clear maps with landmarks, streets, and circles indicating five-minute and 15-minute walk distances — was conceived in 2004. Transport for London had put out a small tender for a study to look at walking signs. “We responded with a big idea for one, predictable system for the whole of London, that allows everyone to implement in a consistent way.”
Deadline nears for final CMA decision on blockbuster Microsoft-Activision merger
A deadline for the end of August has been set by UK competition regulator for its final decision over the blockbuster Microsoft-Activision merger.
Microsoft’s bid to acquire the Call of Duty maker has been approved in most major jurisdictions including the EU, leaving the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority out on its own over its decision to provisionally block the deal.
The CMA today published Microsoft’s arguments explaining why the deal should be re-evaluated. It is calling for comments over Microsoft’s plans by the end of this week with a final decision to be made by August 29.
Microsoft argues that its commitment to working with rivals Sony and NVIDIA should ease competition concerns.
Consumers to see ‘biggest single alcohol duty increase in almost 50 years’
Drinkers face significant price hikes from Tuesday when tax increases will see the duty on a bottle of wine rise by as much as 20%.
First set out by then chancellor Rishi Sunak in 2021, the new system aims to encourage consumers to cut back by taxing all alcohol based on its strength, rather than the previous categories of wine, beer, spirits, and ciders.
Mr Sunak described the overhaul as “the most radical simplification of alcohol duties for over 140 years”, enabled by Britain’s exit from the EU.
Market snapshot with shares flat
Take a look at the latest market snapshot
WANdisco asks for money back from former execs
WANdisco has asked its former execs to hand repay over half a million pounds in bonuses after the value of the troubled tech firm collapsed.
The Sheffield-based software business has written to former chief executive David Richards and former finance chief Erik Miller demanding that they give back £647,000 that was handed to them prior to the discovery of fraud by a sales employee.
A WANdisco spokesperson said: “In line with shareholder sentiment, and as simply the right thing to do, the Board of WANdisco confirms that it has written to former executives of the Company requesting that bonuses paid for FY 2022 are returned.
“It is clear that the bonuses paid are significantly at odds with the realities the company has faced.”
Pearson eyes AI revenue growth but concedes it imports its own tools from ChatGPT
The boss of Pearson has touted the explosion in AI development as a huge earner for the education giant, but it today conceded that much of its existing technology was imported from ChatGPT.
Chief product officer Tony Prentice said the firm’s ‘Pearson+’ software, which uses a chatbot to summarise lessons and create revision questions for students, is based on the Microsoft-owned tool and is operated by Microsoft servers.
“We do have our own machine learning team but…we’re actually using ChatGPT behind the scenes,” he said.
Action plan to ensure savers are offered fair value drawn up by regulator
A 14-point action plan to make sure banks and building societies are passing on interest rate rises appropriately to savers has been set out by the City regulator.
Firms offering the lowest savings rates will be required to justify by the end of August how those rates offer fair value – and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said it will take action if they are unable to do so.
The regulator wants to make sure savings providers are passing on rate increases and that they are communicating with customers much more effectively and offering them better deals.
North Sea plans lift Ithaca and Harbour Energy, FTSE 100 flat
North Sea-focused oil and gas stocks rallied today as investors welcomed Rishi Sunak’s plans for hundreds of new production licences.
Beneficiaries included FTSE 250-listed Ithaca Energy, which has stakes in six of the ten largest fields in the UK North Sea and two of largest three prospective developments.
Its shares jumped 6% or 9.45p to 173.85p, their highest level since March, as the prime minister pledged to make the UK more energy independent through hundreds more oil and gas licensing rounds.
Harbour Energy, which last year delivered about 15% of the UK’s domestic gas supplies, improved 9p to 261.8p as the Government confirmed support for its Humber-based Viking carbon capture storage project being developed with BP.
The FTSE 250 company recently said that some investment opportunities were on hold or no longer being progressed after 2022 profits were hit by the UK windfall tax.
Among the minnows, Jersey Oil & Gas jumped 12% or 20.9p to 199.9p as it holds a significant position within the Central North Sea including the Buchan oil field.
Investor interest in the sector has also been lifted by the rebound in oil price, with Brent Crude today above $84 a barrel after its strongest month since January 2022.
An improved demand outlook and supply cuts by major producers Saudi Arabia and Russia have sent the price up 17% since the last week of June.
Blue-chip risers from the energy sector included Centrica after a gain of 2.75p to 136.95p but the FTSE 100 index overall stood 13.71 points lower at 7680.56.
In the FTSE 250 index, Dr Martens jumped 5% or 7.1p to 143.2p after Sky News reported that activist investor Sparta Capital had built a top ten stake following this year’s sharp fall in the footwear company’s valuation.
On AIM, shares in Harland & Wolff rose 1.1p to 12.5p after the company received a letter of intent for a major vessel refurbishment project at its Belfast dry dock with a potential contract value of up £70 million.
Market snapshot with FTSE 100 down slightly
Take a look at today’s market snapshot as the FTSE 100 recovered some of its early losses but is still slightly down for the day.
