Business
FTSE 100 extends slide as Brent crude tops 90 dollars a barrel
The FTSE 100 ended a bruising week on the back foot with oil heading above 90 US dollars a barrel sending UK bond yields soaring as inflation fears mount.
A soft US jobs report added to the downbeat mood as European and US markets also fell sharply.
The FTSE 100 index ended down 129.19 points, 1.2%, at 10,284.75.
The FTSE 250 closed down 199.25 points, 0.9%, at 22,500.95 and the AIM All-Share dropped 3.66 points, 0.5%, at 784.70.
For the week, the FTSE 100 was down 5.7%, the FTSE 250 fell 5.3% and the AIM All-Share dipped 4.2%.
Brent oil traded sharply higher at 90.85 dollars a barrel on Friday afternoon, up from 84.41 dollars at same time on Thursday.
The latest gains came after Kuwait joined Qatar and said that it was halting energy production, as the crisis in the Middle East deepened.
Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, noted US President Donald Trump also brushed off hopes that mediation was taking place to end this war in the Middle East, dashing hopes that the conflict will be averted quickly.
Attacks on oilfields were reported in southern Iraq and in the northern autonomous Kurdistan region, which forced a US-run oil field to shut production.
Earlier this week, Mr Trump pledged to protect ships through the Strait of Hormuz, but shipping companies have exercised caution in the region.
US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on Friday the US Navy was preparing to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz “as soon as it’s reasonable to do it”.
Iranian state television on Friday reported a fresh drone strike on a ship in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, resulting in a fire, on the seventh day of the war with the US and Israel.
Bank of America said history suggests only marked and persistent spikes in the price of crude trigger persistent inflationary cycles.
“If the status quo persists, with oil prices around 15 dollars higher than the pre-war level, we would fade (oil induced) inflation concerns. But an escalation driving oil prices persistently above 100 dollars would become more concerning,” the bank said.
Adding to market woes, total non-farm payroll employment in the US fell by 92,000 in February, data published by the US Bureau of Labour Statistics showed, sharply underperforming against FXStreet-cited expectations of a 59,000 rise.
January’s increase was revised down to 126,000 from 130,000, while December’s total was revised down by 65,000, from an increase of 48,000 to a fall of 17,000.
The US unemployment rate increased to 4.4% in February from 4.3% in January, where it had been expected to remain.
Analysts at Wells Fargo said the data will challenge what was a growing view among Fed officials that the labour market is stabilising, while the Iran conflict further compounds the outlook.
“Ultimately, the Federal Reserve cannot do much to combat higher inflation from a supply-side oil price shock. Yet, the inflationary impact of the conflict in Iran makes it harder to be a dove at the moment.
“On balance, we expect the FOMC to remain in wait-and-see mode, and our forecast for 50 bps of rate cuts this year remains unchanged,” Wells Fargo said.
ING said January jobs numbers probably overstated the strength in hiring, while bad weather and strike actions probably mean that the February numbers overstate the weakness.
“Nonetheless, hiring remains subdued, and higher energy costs will squeeze spending power, leaving the door open for Fed rates cuts. But that will be a late second half of the year story,” it added.
Rising energy prices put bonds under pressure amid expectations of delays to interest rate cuts due to expected higher inflation.
The yield on the US 10-year Treasury stretched to 4.16% on Friday from 4.15% on Thursday. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury widened to 4.78% from 4.76%.
Moves were more marked in the UK. The yield on UK 10-year gilts leapt to 4.61% on Friday from 4.48% on Thursday, having traded at about 4.23% a week ago.
“Amid the current energy shock, the UK has twin vulnerabilities given a high dependency on natural gas but also a rapidly weakening labour market,” Allan Monks, analyst at JPMorgan said.
He said a March Bank of England rate cut is “off the table” and April “requires a clear calming of geopolitical tensions”.
“For now we delay the next cut to April, but the risks are already shifting towards a lengthier pause and larger growth impact,” he added.
But Barclays still expects a 25 basis points cut, although it accepts the decision is on a “knife-edge”.
“If geopolitical uncertainty does not subside, or data come in hotter than we expect, then the balance could easily tip to a hold,” Barclays added.
In European equities on Friday, the CAC 40 in Paris closed down 0.9%, as did the DAX 40 in Frankfurt.
On Wall Street, markets also faltered. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 1.1%, the S&P 500 index was 1.0% lower while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.8%.
The pound was higher at 1.3387 US dollars on Friday afternoon, up from 1.3309 dollars at the equities close on Thursday.
The euro stood higher at 1.1597 dollars, from 1.1574 dollars. Against the Japanese yen, the dollar was trading a touch lower at 157.62 yen, compared to 157.67 yen.
Gold climbed to 5,142.35 dollars an ounce on Friday from 5,075.16 dollars on Thursday.
Stocks making waves on Friday included IMI, up 2.3%.
The Birmingham-based designer of engineering products in fluid and motion control applications announced a new £500 million share buyback as it reported what it called another year of “high-quality” revenue and profit growth.
Pretax profit rose 27% to £419 million in 2025 from £330 million the year prior, while revenue increased 4.1%, or 5% organically, to £2.30 billion from £2.21 billion.
Fading rate cut hopes put rate-sensitive housebuilders on the back foot, with Barratt Redrow down 2.6% and Berkeley down 3.0%, while DIY retailer Kingfisher fell 5.2%.
On the FTSE 250, cruise operator Carnival shed a further 6.4% as travel operators continued to come under pressure.
The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were: Rightmove, up 24.4p at 466.0p; Autotrader, up 22.1p at 494.8p; BAE Systems, up 64.0p at 2,214.0p; 3i Group, up 85.0p at 3,014.0p; and IMI, up 62.0p at 2,814.0p.
The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were: Kingfisher, down 17.7p at 325.7p; Anglo American, down 148.0p at 3,231.0p; Airtel Africa, down 14.8p at 342.2p; Pershing Square Holdings, down 166.0p at 3,966.0p; and Marks & Spencer, down 14.1p at 364.0p.
Monday’s global economic calendar has an inflation reading in China overnight, plus US consumer inflation expectations report.
Monday’s UK corporate calendar has full year results from London-based provider of shipping services, Clarkson.
Contributed by Alliance News
A few years ago, Grace Guo began to crave places in New York City where hanging out with friends didn’t have to involve alcohol.
Newly sober and surrounded by friends who also chose not to drink, Guo said she wanted alternatives to the typical social scene. After some research, she landed on Bathhouse and Othership: social wellness clubs designed to create communities around improving health.
“Honestly, it kind of just feels like going to a spa together and spending an afternoon together. I think for me, it just feels much better rather than staying out late at night,” Guo told CNBC.
She’s one of a growing number of people seeking out membership clubs and other places that are structured around maintaining health while also acting as a spot to foster connection.
And those spaces are becoming booming businesses, too. Bathhouse, which opened in 2019 in Brooklyn, New York, told CNBC exclusively that it expects to hit around $120 million in revenue by the end of this year. It declined to disclose any of its other financials, as did Othership.
Many of these types of companies are privately held, but publicly traded gym chain Life Time also began doubling down on premium wellness a few years ago. While investors initially did not like that reallocation of resources, it’s now paying off, with Life Time’s stock more than doubling since October 2023.
Companies old and new are trying to reach consumers like Guo. The 31-year-old said she’s seen an increased focus on health, wellness and peacefulness in her own social life and in those around her, as she searches for so-called third spaces with that focus.
“I’m kind of like, where can I go to try to plug into a community, or where can I go to express a particular interest that I have and find like-minded people?” Guo said. “It’s finding a group of like-minded people, but then also having the space and the novelty to try something or to pursue something.”
At Othership, between spending time in the sauna and the cold plunge and choosing a popular evening time slot, Guo said the environment of health-focused socializing spoke to her.
“Having a space to go to where it kind of shocks us out of our routine and complacency is really important, and I think probably the biggest thing is just the fact that it overcomes a lot of the inertia of doing something,” Guo said.
‘Loneliness is an epidemic’
Bathhouse pools
Source: Bathhouse
The concept of third spaces isn’t new. The term was first coined by sociologist Ray Oldenburg in his 1989 book, “The Great Good Place,” to refer to spaces outside of the home, or the first place, and work, the second place, where people gather and form relationships.
That definition came to encompass places like neighborhood coffee shops, libraries, bars and more, where people from different backgrounds came together in an informal setting with relatively low barriers to access.
But somewhere in the past few years, that definition has evolved, and the importance of third spaces has blossomed.
Richard Kyte, a professor at Viterbo University in Wisconsin and the author of “Finding Your Third Place,” said he’s been teaching courses on third places for nearly two decades, but only noticed the term becoming mainstream in the past few years.
That turning point, Kyte said, also coincided with the pandemic, which sent the world into lockdowns and practically eliminated social gatherings for a period while redefining them for the long term.
“During that time, all of a sudden, we were talking more about the cost of loneliness, the cost of social isolation. It really came home to us during the pandemic that this was not healthy,” Kyte told CNBC. “And at the same time that we were noticing that we need these places more, we were seeing that so many of them were closing. That kind of spurred a renewed interest.”
It’s a trend that’s also been compounded by an increasingly digital-forward society, he added, as younger generations crave more than just social media connections even with the rise of artificial intelligence and chatbots.
“We’ve got all of this huge investment in technology that increases the ease and desirability of being independent,” Kyte said, citing AI companies promoting products that pose as friends. “When we have people turning more to their screens instead of looking to find fulfillment through social interaction, it just takes all these people out of the pool.”
According to Cigna’s 2025 “Loneliness in America” report, 67% of Gen Zers reported feeling lonely, along with 65% of millennials. A 2024 Harvard survey found that 67% of adults feel social and emotional loneliness because they are not part of meaningful groups.
Harry Taylor first founded Othership alongside his wife and friends to create a space that incorporated the wellness trend while combating that isolation.
“We understand that there’s a huge market for people to meet other people. Loneliness is an epidemic right now,” Taylor told CNBC. “We realized, just through doing this, it has the capacity for people to come together and just be themselves, be vulnerable.”
What’s old is new
Third spaces have evolved to encompass specific purposes, justifying the price tag that often comes with them, since some membership clubs can thousands of dollars per month.
Wellness, specifically, has seen a recent boom, becoming one of the top categories for gifting items last holiday season. Equinox chairman Harvey Spevak told CNBC last month that “health is the new luxury,” with the global wellness market expected to reach nearly $10 trillion by 2030, according to estimates from the Global Wellness Institute.
Bathhouse, which operates roughly 90,000 square feet of facilities in New York City, offers a wellness experience based on the bathhouse legacy of Europe. The space has saunas and cold plunges, both guided and unguided, starting at $40 for a drop-in session. The company’s two New York locations see roughly 1,000 customers each day.
“It was really apparent that there was no bathhouse-like concept that was really oriented towards a modern consumer, especially not in America,” co-founder Travis Talmadge told CNBC.
Talmadge said he and his co-founder were focused on creating a human experience, tapping into each person’s body while also building community around the shared activities.
“Our spaces are really large scale, so one of the nice things is that everybody kind of feels like a background actor on set, where there’s just so many people moving around,” Talmadge said. “You can have this really personal time, either by yourself or with somebody else, but then you’re in this environment with a lot of people doing the same thing.”
Talmadge said the company has seen a “surplus of demand” and runs at a “very healthy margin,” with plans to open seven more locations through 2027.
It’s just one of many wellness spaces growing in popularity.
Othership is also tapping into a wellness mindset, incorporating practices from various cultures to address the “physical, mental emotional and spiritual.” It has locations in New York and Canada, with plans for more growth.
At Othership, members can choose between three options: a free-flow session, designed to allow members to use the space however they want; classes, which alternate between saunas and cold plunges with group-led activities; and socials, imitating clubs without the alcohol in an effort to be present.
Co-founder Taylor said through Othership, he’s seen customers form new friend groups, propose to their partners in the sauna and find belonging with others while also fueling their own health.
Creating alcohol-free spaces was one of the Othership founders’ aims when creating the vision. Othership now hosts comedians, live musicians and more at its saunas to mimic similar spaces seen in big cities that are often associated with alcohol.
“There’s so much social media, which gives us the false perception that there’s social engagement and interaction, but so many of us have experienced when we’re doomscrolling, it almost even does the opposite,” Taylor said. “There’s a void in the wake of that social satiation that we all require as humans, so it’s that coming together and just being so real with one another that really creates a deep sense of belonging.”
Building community
Glo30 skincare studio.
Courtesy: Arleen Lamba
Wellness communities can form in other ways, too. Glo30, a membership studio founded 13 years ago with locations across the country, offers personalized skincare treatments for members every 30 days, creating a schedule aligned with other members to foster community.
“Community building is a lot about not just getting the results and [feeling] good, but also being able to have a commonality on their experiences and share what they feel,” Glo30’s founder and CEO Arleen Lamba told CNBC.
While urban cities like New York and Los Angeles have seen a boom in wellness clubs, Lamba said her more than 100 locations represent the in-between, in places like Texas, Arizona, North Carolina and more.
Every Glo30 appointment is scheduled on the hour in each location to create more opportunities for social connection, Lamba said.
“As people come into the studio, people are also leaving the studio, and we recognize that they recognize each other, they would actually make new friends,” she said, adding that especially post-pandemic, the company has seen a growing number of social groups form in the treatment rooms.
Lamba said she’s seen the craving for social connection increase with the rise of social media, but that creating community can often happen in untraditional places, like Glo30. At the same time, that social interaction isn’t as “overwhelming” as other places like parties or big group events, allowing for intimate socializing, she said.
In the past two years, Lamba said the number of Glo30’s franchise units in development has grown 67.5% as it sees more demand for its services.
The boom of third spaces goes beyond wellness, too. Exclusive restaurant memberships, gyms, creative spaces, social clubs and more are gaining more popularity as consumers search for ways to build community outside of their houses and offices.
At Glo30, Lamba said she’s seen every type of customer base at the company’s locations, from families to girl groups to couples.
“The third space is interesting because it creates a true connection,” she said. “We get to be witness to someone’s life — their highs, their lows, their middles — and we are the constant, and that, to me, is what the third space is about: No matter what kind of day you had out there, good or bad or medium, this space belongs to you. And when you come to this space, people will know you, see you, appreciate you and be glad you’re there.”
Restaurant group Various Eateries is poised for a significant expansion, announcing plans to rebrand as the Coppa Collective and venture into the pub sector. The company, known for its Coppa Club and Noci venues, confirmed the name change alongside a deal to acquire a portfolio of pubs with rooms from Grosvenor Pubs and Inns.
The acquisition of four initial sites is expected to be finalised on or around 23 March, with an additional agreement for a potential fifth location. The pubs joining the new collective are Wild Thyme & Honey in the Cotswolds, The Hare & Hounds in Berkshire, The Stag on the River in Surrey, and The Wellington Arms in Hampshire.
Furthermore, terms have been secured for the potential acquisition of The Queen’s Head, also situated in Surrey.
This venue is subject to an “asset of community value” process, meaning it can only be sold after the relevant statutory notification and moratorium period has expired, which could take up to six weeks.
The group, which was founded by Punch Pubs founder Hugh Osmond, will pay £11.25 million for the initial four pubs once the deal completes.
Various Eateries will create a third brand within its portfolio, called The Linwood Collection, after completing the deal.
The hospitality group currently runs 20 sites, including restaurant, club house and hotel venues.
The deal comes a month after the business said it was considering merger and acquisition opportunities in a bid to drive growth.
Mark Loughborough, chief executive of Various Eateries, said: “Linwood marks an important step in the evolution of the group.
“We are bringing into the business a small collection of premium pubs with rooms that have earned their reputations the right way, through great hospitality, careful attention to detail and a real sense of place.
“This is also a format we know well and rate highly in the current market.
“Premium pubs with rooms combine food and drink with accommodation and a broader, destination-led appeal.”
Last Updated:
The layoffs account for 3-4% of Flipkart’s workforce, which is higher than the company’s practice of letting go of 1-2% of employees in the lowest performance bracket every year.
Flipkart Layoffs 2026.
Flipkart Layoffs 2026: Flipkart, the Walmart-owned e-commerce giant, has reportedly asked around 400-500 employees to exit the company this year following its annual performance review process. According to a report by The Economic Times, the layoffs account for roughly 3-4% of Flipkart’s workforce, which is higher than the company’s usual practice of letting go of 1-2% of employees in the lowest performance bracket every year.
Why Has Flipkart Laid Off Employees?
Responding to queries, Flipkart said the move is part of its routine evaluation process. “Flipkart conducts regular performance reviews aligned with clearly defined expectations. As part of this process, a small percentage of employees may transition from the organisation. We are supporting affected employees with transition support,” the company said, according to Mint.
Layoffs Across Teams, Hiring Continues For Senior Roles
The job cuts have reportedly impacted employees across multiple departments and job levels. At the same time, the company continues to recruit senior executives as it prepares for a potential initial public offering (IPO).
According to a report by ANI, Flipkart has recently strengthened its leadership team with several senior appointments.
These include Somnath Das as vice-president (supply chain), Digbijay Mishra as vice-president (corporate communications), Vipin Kapooria as vice-president (business finance), Yogita Shanbhag as vice-president (human resources), and Amer Hussain as vice-president (supply chain for its grocery and quick-commerce businesses).
Flipkart Preparing For India IPO
In December 2025, Flipkart received approval from the National Company Law Tribunal to shift its legal domicile from Singapore to India, a key step ahead of a potential domestic listing.
The restructuring involved merging eight Singapore-based entities into Flipkart Internet Pvt Ltd, simplifying the group’s holding structure across businesses such as fashion, health and logistics.
Loss Widens Despite Revenue Growth
Financial data shows that Flipkart continues to expand its business, although losses have widened.
According to data from Tofler, Flipkart India reported a consolidated loss of Rs 5,189 crore in FY25, compared with Rs 4,248.3 crore in FY24.
However, revenue from operations rose 17.3% to Rs 82,787.3 crore, up from Rs 70,541.9 crore a year earlier.
Total expenses also increased 17.4% to Rs 88,121.4 crore, largely due to higher stock-in-trade purchases, which climbed to Rs 87,737.8 crore, compared with Rs 74,271.2 crore in the previous financial year.
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March 07, 2026, 14:51 IST
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