The FTSE 100 on Thursday morning outperformed its peers in Paris and Frankfurt, as investors await a Bank of England decision at midday which is expected to announce no change, following the Fed in the US and the People’s Bank of China.
The FTSE 100 index was up 12.10 points, 0.1%, at 8,718.76. The FTSE 250 was up 99.46 points, 0.5%, at 20,221.83, and the AIM All-Share was up 1.89 points, 0.3%, at 696.49.
The Bank of England is due to announce its interest rate decision at 1200 GMT, following the US Fed announcement on Wednesday that left rates unchanged.
The UK jobless rate steadied at the beginning of 2025, while pay growth largely slowed, data from the Office for National Statistics showed on Thursday.
For the three months to January 31, the UK unemployment rate was 4.4%, in line with FX Street-cited consensus and where it stood in the three months to December.
Including bonuses, average yearly pay growth was 5.8%, shrinking from 6.1% in the three months to December and falling short of a 5.9% FX Street-cited consensus.
‘Picking our way through the UK‘s jobs data has become tricky. Not only are we having to consider how reliable the numbers really are because of the health warnings from the ONS about small sample sizes, but we’re also hyper aware that the changes to labour costs announced in last year‘s budget have yet to really filter through,’ commented AJ Bell analyst Danni Hewson.
‘Working purely with today’s numbers things look pretty settled. Unemployment has held steady, wage growth has stayed firm and vacancy numbers have also remained pretty much where they were.
‘But we can‘t look at these numbers without considering the bigger picture. Business after business has said that they expect the increased labour costs will impact their decisions in the year ahead and with growth expectations considerably softened, the case for investment might be one being pushed into the long grass.’
The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.3% at 874.24, the Cboe UK 250 was 0.5% higher at 17,642, and the Cboe Small Companies gained 0.3% to 15,651.22.
Prudential led the FTSE 100 risers on Thursday, opening up 2.2% following the release of its full-year results.
Late on Wednesday, the insurance firm & asset manager announced strong annual profit growth, boosted by higher insurance revenue with robust performance across key Asian markets, prompting an increased dividend.
Pretax profit increased 41% to $2.95 billion in full-year 2024 from $2.10 billion a year prior. Basic earnings per share after tax were 84.1 US cents, up 35% from 62.1c.
Prudential announced a second interim dividend of 16.29 cents per share, up 15% from 14.21c. This increases the total dividend for the year by 13% to 23.13c from 20.47c.
In Asia on Thursday, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo was 0.3% lower. In China, the Shanghai Composite was down 0.5%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong declined 2.2%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed up 1.2%
In European equities on Thursday, the CAC 40 in Paris sank 0.3%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was down 0.5%.
Mast Energy Developments surged 52% higher on Thursday morning.
The developer and operator of small-scale, flexible-power generation plants on Thursday said it has signed a £5 million definitive investment deal with Powertree, formalising the long-term partnership between the two firms.
Under the agreement, Powertree will invest up to £5 million into Mast Energy’s Hindlip project.
3i Group, on the other hand, faded 6.1% at Thursday’s market open.
The private equity and venture capital firm said its largest investee, Action, had made a ‘good’ start to 2025. In the first eleven weeks of the year, Action reported net sales 17% ahead on-year at €2.95 billion.
However, in a statement ahead of a capital markets seminar on Thursday, 3i said like-for-like sales growth in the first 11 weeks of 2025 at Action was 6.1%, with growth in transactions being 6.5%.
Broker Citi said this was ‘meaningfully below’ its 9.0% estimate.
Year-to-date like-for-like sales at Action have been affected by temporary availability issues in certain stores and distribution centres as a result of the changeover of Action’s enterprise resource planning system at the turn of the year, 3i said.
These issues have now been dealt with, it noted. 3i is due to publish its full-year results in May.
The pound was quoted at $1.2973 early on Thursday in London, down slightly from $1.2974 at the equities close on Wednesday. The euro stood at $1.0867, down from $1.0883. Against the yen, the dollar was trading lower at JP¥148.57 compared to JP¥149.87.
In the US on Wednesday, Wall Street ended higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average up 0.9%, the S&P 500 up 1.1% and the Nasdaq Composite 1.4% higher.
Brent oil was quoted at $71.23 a barrel early in London on Thursday, up from $70.72 late Wednesday.
Gold was quoted at $3,041.20 an ounce, higher against $3,036.51 on Wednesday.
Still to come on Thursday’s economic calendar is eurozone construction output at 1000 GMT and US initial jobless claims at 1230 GMT.
Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
