Business
FTSE 100 reaches new high as gold and oil surge
Blue chips in London closed up sharply on Thursday, after hitting a new record peak on commodity price strength and well received trading updates.
The FTSE 100 index closed up 63.57 points, 0.7%, at 9,578.57. It had earlier established a new best level of 9,594.82.
The FTSE 250 ended 131.62 points higher, 0.6%, at 22,361.41 and the AIM All-Share advanced 7.26 points, 1.0%, at 775.29.
Boosting London’s lead index, there were gains in commodity prices with oil and gold moving ahead strongly.
Oil majors Shell and BP climbed 2.9% and 3.7%, respectively, as Brent crude surged.
Brent oil traded at 65.75 US dollars a barrel, up from 62.61 dollars late on Wednesday.
The rise followed co-ordinated US-EU sanctions aimed at cutting off Russian oil revenues.
Smaller energy producers tracked the move higher, with Tullow Oil jumping 7.4% and Harbour Energy up 5.1%.
US President Donald Trump said the sanctions would target Rosneft and Lukoil, Russia’s two largest oil companies, after talks with Vladimir Putin “went nowhere”.
He described the measures as “tremendous”, but said he hoped they would be short-lived, adding: “We hope that the war will be settled.”
The move was joined by another round of punishments by the EU as part of attempts to pressure Moscow to end its three-and-a-half-year invasion of Ukraine.
“These new sanctions are likely to have a real impact,” said Arne Lohmann Rasmussen, an analyst at Global Risk Management.
But Bridget Payne, analyst at Oxford Economics, expects any oil price strength to be limited.
“This is a significant escalation, but it doesn’t remove barrels from the market. It might add a modest risk premium if banks comply strictly, but any rally is likely to be limited by the surplus outlook,” Ms Payne wrote.
She expects the impact to fall mainly on Russian revenues rather than global supply.
Meanwhile, gold continued its roller-coaster week. The yellow metal traded at 4,146.49 dollars an ounce on Thursday, up from 4,028.64 dollars on Wednesday.
This saw Fresnillo rise 5.3% and Endeavour Mining jump 3.0%.
The price of gold fell sharply on Tuesday and Wednesday after recent strong gains.
Analysts at Goldman Sachs wrote: “While a correction in speculative upside call options structures likely contributed to the selloff; we believe sticky, structural buying will continue further, and still see upside risk to our 4,900 dollar end-2026 forecast from growing interest in gold as a strategic portfolio diversifier.”
Trading news also gave the FTSE 100 a leg up on a busy day of updates, with Rentokil Initial soaring 8.3% and London Stock Exchange Group jumping 7.2%.
Rentokil’s gains came as it reported improved trading in its North American business, fuelling optimism that plans to turn around the unit are working.
The Crawley, West Sussex pest control and hygiene services business said revenue rose 4.6% at constant currency to 1.81 billion dollars (£1.36 billion) in the three months to September from 1.72 billion dollars (£1.29 billion) the year prior. Organic sales growth was 3.4%, picking up speed from 1.6% in the second quarter of 2025.
Revenue growth in North America was 4.6% with organic revenue growth of 3.4%. That organic sales growth represented an improvement from 1.4% in the second quarter and was ahead of 1.8% consensus.
RBC Capital Markets said: “We believe this statement highlights that Rentokil is slowly getting back on track and heading in the right direction. For patient investors, we continue to see Rentokil’s issues as fixable and see significant re-rating potential over time.”
London Stock Exchange climbed as it raised margin guidance after a strong third-quarter driven by growth across the business, led by Risk Intelligence and FTSE Russell indices.
LSEG also announced a £1 billion share buyback and a deal with 11 major banks for its Post Trade division.
The pound was quoted lower at 1.3323 US dollars at the time of the London equity market close on Thursday, compared to 1.3366 dollars on Wednesday.
The euro stood at 1.1609 dollars, down slightly compared to 1.1610 dollars. Against the Japanese yen, the dollar was trading at 152.71 yen, higher compared to 151.78 yen.
In Europe, the CAC 40 in Paris ended 0.2% higher, as did the DAX 40 in Frankfurt.
Stocks in New York were higher at the time of the London close. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.1%, the S&P 500 was 0.3% higher, and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.6%.
The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was quoted at 4.00%, widened from 3.96% on Wednesday. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury stood at 4.58%, up from 4.55% on Wednesday.
Back in London, Unilever rose 0.8% after reaffirming its annual guidance and forecasting faster growth in the second half of the year despite challenging market conditions.
Underlying sales, however, rose 3.9%, amid a 1.5% boost from volumes and a 2.4% advance in price. Underlying sales beat the company-compiled consensus of 3.7% growth.
Barclays said the beat was “powered by a standout” 5.5% in North America, which “absolutely stole the show”.
On the FTSE 250, trading updates provided a boost for Hunting, up 6.1%, Molten Ventures, up 15%, but held back AJ Bell, down 2.5% and Renishaw, down 2.3%.
AJ Bell chief executive Michael Summergill said budget uncertainty is causing disruption.
“Speculation over pension taxation ahead of the November budget, which has developed in the absence of a clear and lasting government commitment to pension tax stability, creates damaging uncertainty for customers and advisers,” he said.
WH Smith was knocked back 1.0% as Barclays downgraded to “equal weight” from “overweight”.
Ahead of the outcome of the Deloitte review into WH Smith’s US business, Barclays said there are “too many unknowns to take a strong view”.
“Our perspective is that we lack the necessary information to form a clear view of the likely path for profits, which makes it difficult for us to retain conviction in an overweight rating.
“In addition, there are many other consumer-facing stocks in our coverage universe trading at multiples similar to or below this multiple,” the broker said.
The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were: Rentokil Initial, up 33.9 pence at 441.2p; London Stock Exchange Group, up 626.0p at 9,346.0p; Fresnillo, up 110.0p at 2,190.0p; BP, up 15.55p at 436.95p; and Endeavour Mining, up 92.0p at 3,142.0p.
The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were: easyJet, down 13.8p at 479.5p; Ashtead, down 138.0p at 5,292.0p; Schroders, down 7.0p at 372.0p; Relx, down 60.0p at 3,448.0p; and St James’s Place, down 22.0p at 1,331.0p.
Friday’s global economic diary has US CPI data, a slew of flash composite PMI readings, plus US retail sales and consumer confidence reports.
Friday’s UK corporate calendar has third quarter results from lender NatWest.
Contributed by Alliance News
Trump said on Saturday that an agreement would include the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, without giving further details.
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UK high streets and shopping destinations are showing signs of recovery as more than 13 retail stores opened each week over the past year, according to new figures.
However, England and Wales have still seen more than 6,000 retail premises vanish from local communities over the past five years.
Analysis of Valuation Office Agency data by tax firm Ryan, found that there were 507,810 retail premises across England and Wales at the end of 2025.
It said the figures showed that a recent contraction across the sector has appeared to stabilise, with a 723 net increase in the number of retail stores compared with a year earlier.
Property numbers increased across every region of England and Wales, with the exception of the North West, which saw a decline of 41.
It suggests that parts of the sector are now beginning to rebalance following significant structural contraction seen since the pandemic.
The creation of new retail units also comes as many retail real estate firms, such as Hammerson, have turned empty large units, often former department stores, into a greater number of smaller units.
Other retail groups, such as John Lewis, have moved away from ambitions to transform some retail property for other uses such as rental accommodation.
Nevertheless, the retail sector is still facing pressure from higher business rates for many firms, increased labour costs and concerns over consumer sentiment.
The data also shows that there has also been significant decline over the past few years, with a net reduction of 6,045 retail properties since the end of 2020.
London recorded the largest five-year regional reduction, with 1,266 retail premises disappearing over the period, followed by the South East (-1,191), North West (-719) and North East (-672).
The figures show retail premises which have permanently disappeared from communities altogether, having either been demolished or converted for alternative use.
The figures come as Ryan’s 2026 annual business rates review highlighted that the retail sector saw a 9.3% increase in rateable values at the 2026 business rates revaluation despite the major shift in the retail landscape since the pandemic.
Alex Probyn, practice leader for Europe and Asia-Pacific property tax at Ryan, said: “The pandemic accelerated structural changes that were already emerging across the retail sector, including changing consumer behaviour, hybrid working patterns and a reduced reliance on traditional retail floorspace in many locations.
“Many locations were arguably over-retailed before Covid and high streets have evolved towards more mixed-use environments, with retail space being rebalanced alongside growing demand for residential, leisure, hospitality and service-led uses.
“The revaluation outcome does suggest a large proportion of retail premises have seen bigger increases in their assessments than underlying market conditions and rental evidence would have led occupiers to expect.
“Retailers should therefore carefully review and, where appropriate, challenge their assessments.”
Indians sharply cut back on overseas travel spending in March, with remittances for foreign trips dropping by more than $212 million from the previous month, according to Reserve Bank of India data. The fall in outbound travel expenditure came amid rising oil prices linked to the Middle East conflict and persistent pressure on rupee, even as travel remained the single largest component of outward remittances under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme (LRS).In March, travel-related remittances fell to $1.09 billion from $1.3 billion in February and $1.65 billion in January. The decline came at a time when the West Asia conflict pushed oil prices higher and weakened rupee to record lows. Amid the situation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged citizens to cut down on foreign travel and adopt measures such as carpooling. Lower overseas travel spending could reduce foreign exchange outflows and help ease pressure on rupee.According to the RBI’s data on outward remittances by resident individuals, travel continued to account for the largest share of money sent abroad under the LRS in March. Total remittances during the month stood at $2.59 billion.The RBI tracks overseas spending across categories including travel, studies abroad, maintenance of close relatives, overseas investments, and property purchases. Under the LRS framework, resident individuals, including minors, can remit up to $250,000 in a financial year for permitted current or capital account transactions.Within the travel segment, the biggest component remained the ‘other travel’ category, which covers holiday spending and international credit card settlements. Indians spent $623.05 million under this category in March, accounting for nearly 57 per cent of total travel-related remittances during the month.Expenditure linked to education travel, including hostel and fee payments, stood at $450.16 million. Business travel, pilgrimage, and overseas medical treatment together accounted for $21.39 million.The data also showed a rise in remittances meant for the maintenance of close relatives abroad. Such transfers increased to $389.78 million in March from $266.18 million in February.At the same time, spending under the ‘studies abroad’ category declined. This category includes payments made for educational services accessed remotely without travelling overseas, such as correspondence courses. Remittances under this head stood at $151.71 million in March, compared to $175.68 million in February and $267.42 million in January.For the financial year 2024-25, Indians remitted a total of $29.56 billion under the LRS. Travel made up the largest portion of this amount at $16.96 billion.The RBI figures further showed that investments by Indians in overseas equity and debt instruments rose significantly to $440.22 million in March from $265.99 million in February.Meanwhile, outward remittances for the purchase of immovable property overseas declined to $38.68 million in March, down from $51.36 million a month earlier.
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