Europe’s stock markets and major indices fell on Wednesday, including the FTSE 100, amid ongoing caution from investors over geopolitical tensions and trade tariff uncertainty. While there has been no escalation between Israel and Iran following a fragile-seeming ceasefire, Brent oil did stabilise around $68.
However, along with the FTSE 100, there were also drops for the German DAX, French CAC 40, Spanish Ibex 35 and others as investors took a risk-off approach in the main. Overnight, reports then emerged of a bid from Shell to take over oil rivals BP - quickly rejected by the former.
Nato leaders including Donald Trump and Keir Starmer reaffirmed a pledge to spend 5 per cent of GDP on defence, while EU leaders insisted they’d respond in kind if the US trade tariffs came into force at a baseline of 10 per cent, heightening uncertainty with two weeks before Trump’s 90-day pause ends. Elsewhere, Tesla sales in Europe have dropped again.
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Business news LIVE
- Shell rejects talk of bidding to takeover BP
- FTSE 100 sees modest early rise; Germany's DAX soars
- Nvidia hits new record high share price as world's most valuable company
Thursday business news live
16:33 , Karl MatchettWe’re about wrapped up here today - the FTSE 100 remains in the green, 0.34 per cent up shortly before closing time.
With the S&P 500 up 0.5 per cent, it could prove a positive evening’s trading session, led by Nvidia continuing to push higher.
We’ll be back tomorrow morning from 7am - see you then.
Business news live on Thursday
06:58 , Karl MatchettGood morning one and all - we’re back for another day’s live coverage of the business and finance world here on The Independent.
Coming up, the reaction to overnight stock markets across the US and Asia, plus what’s ahead for the new trading day starting after losses yesterday for the UK and Europe.
Business news live on Thursday
07:05 , Karl MatchettLet’s start with a quick roundup of all the biggest lines over the last 24 hours.
Shell reject BP takeover talk
07:10 , Karl MatchettYesterday evening, reports emerged from the Wall Street Journal that Shell was in early talks over a possible bid to take over FTSE oil rival BP.
Shell’s statement refuted that, saying they were focused on their own growth rather than acquisitions.
A British mega-oil merger has been speculated about this year due to BP’s underperformance.
Business news live on Thursday
07:17 , Karl MatchettAlmost three-quarters of retail investors (72 per cent) say that removal of stamp duty would do more to incentivise buying UK shares - while fewer than one in 12 (7 per cent) said reducing the Cash Isa allowance would do the same.
The revelation comes as battle rages over Isa reform, with the government’s potential approach of reducing the amount people can save tax free looking ever-more unlikely to have the desired impact of improving investment.
Richard Wilson, CEO of interactive investor, said: “ISA reform is only one piece of the puzzle. If DIY investors are to be the boost to the UK stock market that the chancellor thinks they can be, she also needs to make UK stocks and shares more investable.
“Stamp duty on UK shares and investment trusts is an outdated and damaging tax from a bygone era that serves only to undermine the competitiveness of the UK stock market. At 0.5%, it penalises investors for backing British businesses, making the UK a less attractive place to invest compared to global peers.
“At a time when we should be encouraging investment in British companies and improving market liquidity, this tax does the exact opposite – driving capital elsewhere and draining liquidity from the market.”
Nato spending fuels defence firms' rise
07:30 , Karl MatchettWhile the FTSE 100 and DAX both fell yesterday, one notable outlier was Babcock International, which rose more than 11 per cent.
Part of that was doubtless increased profit and the announcement of a share buyback, but the defence firm will also stand to potentially benefit in future after Nato leaders confirmed greater spending in that area in future.
“The rare bright spots in both the UK and Germany were defence stocks after NATO leaders confirmed they would spend 5% of GDP on defence and security by 2035. That was enough for investors to pile into the defence sector once again, even though considerable share price gains have already been made across the board. NATO’s commitment suggests a big opportunity for defence contractors to grow their earnings well into the future,” said Dan Coatsworth, investment analyst at AJ Bell.
Shell's response to BP takeover talk
07:56 , Karl MatchettAs mentioned earlier, last night there were reports of a £200bn superoil firm being created through Shell bidding to buy out BP.
Not so, says the bigger of the pair.
“As we have said many times before we are sharply focused on capturing the value in Shell through continuing to focus on performance, discipline and simplification,” a Shell spokesperson said.
BP opted to say nothing at all.
If you’d like to read more on it, the full report is here.
Nvidia hits new record price and nears $4tn valuation
08:22 , Karl MatchettChip-maker Nvidia gained more than 4 per cent in yesterday’s session to break through the $150 price barrier and set a new record high price.
Closing at $154.31, Nvidia now has a $3.76tn market cap and is closing in on being the first $4tn listed company.
Pre-market futures has it rising a further 0.2 per cent later today.
One analyst at Loop Capital has set a $250 price target for the shares, equating to a $6tn valuation. Average analyst price targets are around $175.
FTSE 100 opens with slight rise
09:03 , Karl MatchettOK, with European stock markets open, it’s time to take a quick look at the state of play there.
The FTSE 100 is up...just about, 0.05 per cent the increase at present.
It’s slightly better for the FTSE 250, up 0.15 per cent, the same as France’s CAC 40.
Germany’s DAX has started strongly with a 0.58 per cent climb - Siemens, E.ON and Commerzbank are some of the businesses rising there.
Britain 'too focused' on trade deals say ministers
09:22 , Karl MatchettBritain has been putting too much emphasis on signing trade deals with other nations, say ministers, as they bid to instead focus on aiding the services sector by recognising overseas qualifications.
Jonathan Reynolds, business secretary, said: “The UK is an open trading nation but we must reconcile this with a new geopolitical reality and work in our own national interest.”
While acknowledging trade deals can bring “billions to our economy”, Mr Reynolds said they would only work with more targeted deals which look at specific areas of growth.
Commodities markets: Gold up, Oil down
09:33 , Karl MatchettThere’s been no dramatic movement or change in the Israel-Iran situation over the past day or so - from a humanitarian perspective if nothing else, we can be glad of that - but it’s still a case of hawk’s eyes on commodities for any hint of a change.
Brent Crude Oil remains flat though, slightly down around 0.1 per cent and trading at $66.38.
Gold has risen 0.5 per cent to $3,359, but again is not in touching distance of recent highs past $3,430.
All quiet...
Mixed overnight markets in US and Asia
09:44 , Karl MatchettLast night the S&P 500 dipped late on to finish flat, while the Dow Industrial ended down 0.25 per cent.
Tech stocks meant the Nasdaq stayed afloat, up 0.3 per cent - as we saw earlier, Nvidia’s 4 per cent rise contributed to that.
In Asia there was a different pattern across the board.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng finished 0.6 per cent down, but Japan’s Nikkei 225 was up 1.65 per cent at the close.
Markets in Australia, Shanghai and South Korea finished down, but Saudi’s Tadawul All Share and India’s Nifty 50 are still up - the latter by 0.94 per cent.
Who might be next FTSE takeover targets?
10:00 , Karl MatchettNo mega merger of the oil giants - but perhaps investors are thinking about who might be next?
That’s one potential takeaway from the situation, according to Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.
There has certainly been plenty of buyout action already this year.
“UK takeover action has focused on the mid to lower end of the market so far this year and for a brief moment it looked like we might get the first mega cap action. Alas, Shell has thrown cold water over talk it was preparing a bid for BP, meaning the FTSE 100 hasn’t delivered the surge which many thought might happen this morning,” said Mr Mould.
“Speculation last night around a BP bid effectively set the stage for the UK stock market to rocket today. Instead, Shell has spoiled the party and the blue-chip index is static.
“That won’t stop the market from continuing to speculate about who else might want to buy the FTSE 100 energy giant. It might also encourage investors to dust off the M&A playbook and think about who else could be a takeover target. That might explain why Anglo American’s shares were among the top risers on the FTSE today.”
World’s most valuable company Nvidia reaches record new high price
10:14 , Karl MatchettChip-maker Nvidia saw its share price rise more than 4 per cent last night to set a new record-high share price for the world’s most valuable public company.
Nvidia shares closed at $154.31, comfortably surpassing its previous high of $149.43, set in January. It also means the new market capitalisation value of the firm is $3.76tn (£2.74tn), putting it firmly on track to become the world’s first $4tn company ahead of Microsoft and Apple.
Nvidia in particular had also seen its share price initially lowered after the emergence of DeepSeek AI, but since early April has now surged by around 64 per cent, compared to a 39 per cent rise for Microsoft and 17 per cent for Apple. In pre-market trading, Nvidia sales are projected to rise a further 0.2 per cent on Thursday when stock markets open.
More here:
World’s most valuable company Nvidia reaches record new high price
FTSE 100 risers and fallers
11:01 , Karl MatchettA quick mid-morning check on which share prices are flying today...and which are holding back a rising tide, with the FTSE 100 itself up 0.14 per cent.
Risers:
- Anglo American, +3.74 per cent
- Antofagasta, +3.16pc
- Glencore, +3.15pc
- Entain, +3.13pc
Fallers:
- Hikma Pharmaceuticals, -1.77pc
- British American Tobacco, -1.68pc
- Melrose Industries, -1.54pc
- Barratt Redrow, -1.49pc
Tesla sales plummet despite surge in drivers buying electric cars
11:21 , Karl MatchettTesla has seen its sales in Europe plummet once more despite an overall rise in the sale of electric vehicles.
Elon Musk’s firm has now suffered falling sales across the EU and UK region for five straight months, with a 27.9 per cent drop year-on-year to May. Electric car sales rose 27.2 per cent during the same period.
Factors including rising competition, a lack of new models and potentially the ongoing anti-Musk protests all play a part in the fall-off for Tesla.
It means Tesla’s market share across Europe is now just 1.2 per cent, following 193,000-plus EV registrations completed across the 12 months.
Tesla sales plummet despite surge in drivers buying electric cars
Ex-Barclays CEO Jes Staley has ban upheld by Tribunal
12:03 , Karl MatchettFormer chief executive of Barclays, Jes Staley, has had his ban upheld by the Upper Tribunal - though his fine has been reduced to £1.1m from £1.8m.
“The Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) decision to ban Jes Staley, former CEO of Barclays, from holding senior management roles in the financial services industry has been upheld by the Upper Tribunal,” read an FCA statement.
Therese Chambers, joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight at the FCA said:
“Mr Staley chose to take a calculated risk that we would take his inaccurate account of his relationship with Mr Epstein at face value. He hoped that the truth would never come to light and that he would get away with it. Such a serious lack of integrity flies in the face of the requirements we place on those at the top.
“The Tribunal’s decision shows that we can and will act to protect the financial system by holding those in senior roles to the high standards required of them.”
US stocks set to rise on opening
12:22 , Karl MatchettFutures markets are showing a 0.4 per cent rise for the S&P500 when trading starts today, after the index finished flat last night.
Nasdaq gains are at 0.48 per cent in out of hours trading.
Domestically, the FTSE 100 is still up just under 0.4 per cent for the day, with Germany’s DAX higher at 0.52 per cent.
£16bn win for London Stock Exchange after Visma IPO decision
12:41 , Karl MatchettLondon has been beset by stock exchange departures and takeovers of late, but a big boost to the LSE comes in the form of Visma choosing to IPO there.
The Norwegian software company is valued at around £16bn and is majority owned by Hg.
Vistra has chosen London over Amsterdam for its IPO, which is expected in early 2026.
Trio of trade deals ‘restored identity’ of UK, PM says as trade plan unveiled
13:01 , Karl MatchettPrime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said the trio of recent UK trade deals has “restored our identity” in a “volatile world”, as the Government laid out its new plan to better protect firms from rising threats to global trade.
Since Donald Trump’s tariff announcements in April, the UK has reached new agreements with the US, India and the EU.
Sir Keir said the deals showed “that even in this volatile world, Britain is proudly, unashamedly, defiantly even, open for business, and today’s trade strategy builds on that”.
The Government’s Trade Strategy aims to boost opportunities for UK businesses, particularly in the service sector, to export internationally, and vows to protect domestic firms from global threats to free trade.
More here by PA:
Trio of trade deals ‘restored identity’ of UK, PM says as trade plan unveiled
Income tax in £20bn rise due to frozen thresholds
13:20 , Karl MatchettNew figures show half a million more people in the 40% tax bracket and the annual income tax bill up £20bn in the last year - as a result of stealth taxes causing fiscal drag.
Laura Suter, director of personal finance at AJ Bell, said:
“Everyone is caught by frozen tax thresholds, including pensioners and anyone with earnings above the £12,570 personal allowance threshold. However, it’s those who drift into higher tax bands as a consequence who feel the most pain.
“Once you move over the £50,270 mark your next pound of earnings is hit with a 40p deduction, rather than the 20p paid by basic rate taxpayers, meaning you see much less of any salary increases in your payslip at the end of the month.”
Starmer says Labour will still back businesses to the hilt
13:52 , Karl MatchettKeir Starmer has acknowledged the government placed a big burden on businesses with NI and minimum wage hikes, but says the next stage is backing firms “to the hilt”.
“We can now go on to the next phase of government, building on that foundation… and that means we have to back you to the hilt,” the prime minister said.
Those early decisions were to “fix the foundations” of the UK after an “inherited” mess, he said, but long-term growth of the country remains the vision.
Fed changes to speed up interest rates?
14:04 , Karl MatchettInterest rates will quickly become one of the hot topics in markets over the coming weeks, with the BoE and the Fed in the UK and US respectively both opting to hold this month.
What comes next is still uncertain - but what’s definite is Donald trump wanting Jerome Powell to speed up the cutting process, as Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at City Index, notes.
“The big news overnight again raised questions about the Federal Reserve's independence. The report from the WSJ suggesting Trump was considering replacing Fed Chairman Jerome Powell early, gave stock markets another shot in the arm, as the dollar and bond yields declined. Whether or not Trump ultimately decides to get rid of Powell early remains to be seen, but has applied maximum pressure on the Fed Chairman to cut rates - so far to no avail,” he said.
Meta win judge decision in AI training case
14:22 , Karl MatchettA judge in the US has sided with Meta in a case where it was accused of breaching copywrite law.
Writers had argued the Facebook owner used their work without permission to train up its AI system.
The judge has far from ruled Meta was right to do so though.
“This ruling does not stand for the proposition that Meta’s use of copyrighted materials to train its language models is lawful,” US district judge Vince Chhabria said. “It stands only for the proposition that these plaintiffs made the wrong arguments and failed to develop a record in support of the right one.”
Skoda outsold Tesla in European EVs last month
14:40 , Karl MatchettData showing electric vehicle sales in Europe has revealed that Skoda sold more than Tesla last month.
Tesla’s falling market share across the EU and UK continued despite an increase in EV sales overall.
And now DataForce numbers show how far they’ve fallen, with May’s total of 14,055 being outshone by VW-owned Skoda’s 14,920.
Tesla shares are down 0.4 per cent today.
Nvidia continues recent surge in share price
15:13 , Karl MatchettNvidia hit a new all-time high price at the close of yesterday’s markets...and is on course for another today.
The semiconductor chip maker is up 1.0 per cent so far, $155.88 the share price for now - which takes it past the $3.8tn market cap milestone.
Microsoft was also at an all time high about ten minutes ago - it’s just dropped off but is up 0.6 per cent this afternoon and trading just over $495.
Fairtrade Foundation urge government to incentivise working toward business collaboration model
15:40 , Karl MatchettSome reaction now to the government’s trade strategy announced earlier today.
Fairtrade Foundation CEO Eleanor Harrison, said:
“With this trade strategy, the UK government has acknowledged the power of fair trade. They now need to move at pace to deliver trade that benefits British businesses, shores up our fragile supply chains and improves the lives of people around the world.
“The strategy’s endorsement of Fairtrade’s innovative pre-competitive business collaboration model, Shared ImPact, is welcome. The Government should encourage and incentivise this way of working. Fairtrade calls on other retailers, brands and traders to join current partners and source through Shared ImPact to deliver more secure and sustainable food supply chains for the UK.
“We urge the Government to move at pace with its planned review of its approach to responsible business conduct. The time for action is now. Human rights and environmental due diligence legislation, delivered well, is the best way to reduce abuses in business supply chains. We look forward to engaging with the review to make the case for mandatory human rights and environmental due diligence legislation for the benefit of British businesses, consumers and farmers and workers around the world.
Bank of England still on path to lower interest rates
16:00 , Karl MatchettBank of England governor Andrew Bailey says there’s still higher “uncertainty” but the impact of trade tariffs could be lower than feared.
Lower interest rates are still the direction of play for the MPC, but it’ll remain a slow process.
“Given the outlook, and continued disinflation, a gradual and careful approach to the further withdrawal of monetary policy restraint remains appropriate,” he said.
Tata Steel plant outside tariff exemptions
16:20 , Karl MatchettTrade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said that the Tata Steel plant in Port Talbot does not meet “melt and pour” rules needed to get exemptions from Donald Trump’s steel tariffs over the line. The steel industry faces uncertainty over the US-UK trade deal finalised this month, which slashed tariffs on aerospace and auto sectors, but left levies on steel standing at 25% rather than falling to zero as originally agreed. Negotiations are ongoing to secure the outstanding tariff agreements.
More here from PA:
Reynolds: Port Talbot plant does not meet US rules to get steel tariff exemption
