Business
FTSE fails to sparkle in tame pre-holiday trade
The FTSE 100 drifted lower on Wednesday in lacklustre trading ahead of the Christmas break, although a chunky disposal by BP brought some life to proceedings.
The FTSE 100 index closed down 18.54 points, 0.2%, at 9,870.68. The FTSE 250 ended down 35.05 points, 0.2%, at 22,314.50, while the AIM All-Share closed up 1.42 points, 0.2%, at 759.39.
BP closed down 0.4% after announcing the sale of a 65% stake in its lubricants business Castrol to private equity firm Stonepeak Partners.
The London-based oil major said it will receive proceeds of around six billion dollars (£4.4 billion) from the sale, which puts an enterprise value on Castrol of around 10.1 billion dollars (£7.48 billion).
In February this year, BP announced a strategic review of Castrol as part of plans to raise 20 billion dollars (£14.8 billion) in disposals by the end of 2027.
“The transaction represents a significant milestone in BP’s commitment to accelerate its strategy, including simplifying the portfolio, strengthening the balance sheet, and focusing the downstream on its leading integrated businesses,” the FTSE 100 listing said.
Citi equity analyst Alastair Syme said comments from BP that deal proceeds will be directed “towards de-leverage (as opposed to shareholder returns)” reinforces “our view that the current share buyback programme will be cancelled ahead of the arrival of the new CEO in 2026.”
Woodside Energy boss Meg O’Neill joins BP on April 1 2026 after last week’s exit of chief executive Murray Auchincloss.
But RBC Capital Markets questioned the rationale of selling this “highly cash generative, low volatility and low capital intensity asset, as ultimately this is detrimental to the long-term dividend sustainability and earnings quality of the business.”
In European equities on Wednesday, the CAC 40 in Paris closed up 0.1%.
Stocks in New York are expected to open slightly lower on Wednesday after strong gains so far this week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average is called 0.1% lower, while modest falls are seen for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite when Wednesday’s abridged trading day begins.
The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was quoted at 4.16%, trimmed from 4.18%. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury was quoted at 4.82%, narrowed from 4.84%.
Weekly initial jobless claims data in the US provides the last major data point ahead of the Christmas break.
The jobs market has become a key focus for the US Federal Reserve as it weighs monetary policy options heading into 2026.
On Tuesday, the Conference Board’s measure of consumer confidence fell to 89.1 in December from an upwardly revised 92.9 in November with concerns over job security a prominent concern.
The pound was quoted at 1.3510 dollars at the time of the London equities close on Wednesday, up from 1.3481 dollars on Tuesday.
The euro stood at 1.1790 dollars, higher against 1.1777 dollars. Against the yen, the dollar was trading lower at 155.92 yen compared to 156.37 yen.
Back in London, weak pharmaceuticals stocks held the blue index back with index heavyweights GSK and AstraZeneca both down 0.5%.
Elsewhere, retailers were in the picture with attention focused on performance in the key holiday trading period.
Data from BDO’s High Street sales tracker showed UK retail sales returned to modest growth in the week before Christmas, driven by a sharp rebound in online spending, although in-store sales and footfall remained under pressure.
Total like-for-like sales rose 1.0% in the week ended December 21, reversing two consecutive weeks of decline.
However, the increase came against 2.6% growth in the same week last year, highlighting fragility in consumer demand.
Meanwhile, figures from Barclays showed UK consumer spending increased 0.8% year-on-year in the four weeks ending December 12.
“Pubs, restaurants and fast food strengthen, while other tracked categories broadly weaken,” the Barclays report said.
On the FTSE 100, Next was down 0.3%, as was Marks & Spencer, while JD Sports Fashion rose 0.2%.
Barclays and NatWest are through to the second round of bidding for wealth management group Evelyn Partners, Sky News reported.
Sky said the two high street banks were among the bidders notified last week that they were through to the second round of the Evelyn auction.
Royal Bank of Canada also is said to be in the frame to buy Evelyn, Sky said, while a number of private equity firms also have tabled offers for the business, which could be worth £2.5 billion, it said.
Shares in Barclays closed up 0.1% while NatWest eased 0.3%.
Crimson Tide slumped 17% after reporting a “significant customer”, which it did not name but described as a “major retailer”, has exercised a break clause in its contract.
The contract, which began a year ago, represents 12% of Crimson Tide’s annual recurring revenue.
But Crimson Tide said the contract loss will enable the company to redeploy resources towards higher-margin opportunities.
Faring better, PipeHawk shares soared 44% as it agreed to sell its loss-making Utsi Electronics subsidiary to Hong Kong-based Leidi Global Supply for £1.0 million in cash.
Brent oil was quoted at 62.58 dollars a barrel at the time of the London equities close on Wednesday, up from 62.09 dollars late on Tuesday.
Gold traded at USD4,492.58 an ounce, up from 4,462.05 dollars on Tuesday. The yellow metal had earlier hit a fresh record of 4,525 dollars an ounce.
Bullion has broken multiple records this year, driven partly by looser US monetary policy, robust safe-haven demand and strong central bank buying.
The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Schroders, up 7.2 pence at 407.5p, Pershing Square Holdings, up 52.0p at 4,870.0p, Persimmon, up 13.50p at 1,334.25p, Melrose, up 5.2p at 585.4p and Entain, up 5.4p at 750.9p.
The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Games Workshop, down 280.0p at 18,875.0p, Fresnillo, down 32.0p at 3,206.0p, Rolls Royce, down 10.5p at 1,149.5p, Admiral, down 26.0p at 3,154.0p and Burberry, down 9.0p at 1,250.0p.
Next week’s global economic calendar has minutes from the December Federal Open Market Committee meeting, a raft of manufacturing PMI prints and house price data in the UK and US.
There are no significant events scheduled in next week’s UK corporate calendar.
– Contributed by Alliance News
Business
Four ports under construction in Andhra Pradesh, Centre tells Lok Sabha – The Times of India
The Centre is pushing port-led infrastructure expansion in Andhra Pradesh, with four ports currently under construction, even as it steps up nationwide port modernisation and efficiency measures.As per information shared on Friday in Parliament, the ports under construction in Andhra Pradesh are Mulapeta Port (formerly Bhavanapadu Port) in Srikakulam district, Machilipatnam Port in Krishna district, Ramayapatnam Port in SPSR Nellore district, and Kakinada SEZ Port in Kakinada district.The government said it is undertaking measures such as mechanisation of berths and terminals, digitalisation and logistics integration, new berth construction, capital dredging for larger vessels, and connectivity upgrades across road, rail and waterways.It has also rolled out initiatives including elimination of manual forms, direct port delivery and entry, container scanners, e-delivery of documents and payments, RFID-based gate automation and Maritime Single Window platform SagarSetu 2.0 to cut vessel turnaround time.Two new ports — Vadhavan Port in Maharashtra and Galathea Bay Port in Andaman and Nicobar Islands — have been notified as major ports. At present, 12 major ports operate under the central government, while 68 other-than-major ports are under state governments.Under the Sagarmala scheme, financial assistance is provided across five pillars including port modernisation, connectivity, port-led industrialisation, coastal community development and inland water transport.The government has also launched HaritSagar green port guidelines, the Green Tug Transition Programme (GTTP), and the Cruise Bharat Mission to promote sustainability and cruise tourism.The information was given by Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Sarbananda Sonowal in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.At present, 12 major ports operate under the administrative control of the central government, while 68 operational other-than-major ports are under state governments.The government said it has launched multiple national programmes for port development, expansion and upgradation. Under the Sagarmala scheme, financial assistance is provided under five pillars — port modernisation, port connectivity, port-led industrialisation, coastal community development, and coastal shipping and inland water transport.Green and sustainability-linked initiatives have also been introduced. The government has launched HaritSagar green port guidelines to promote environment-friendly port ecosystems and initiated the Green Tug Transition Programme (GTTP) to shift harbour tugs towards greener fuel alternatives.Further, the Cruise Bharat Mission has been launched to prioritise cruise tourism development across the country.
Business
Anthropic At $380 Billion Surpasses India’s Top IT Firms Combined As AI Fears Rock Stocks
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Anthropic’s AI tools have triggered a sharp decline in Indian IT stocks like TCS, Infosys, Wipro, eroding Rs 3,11,873 crore in market value.

Anthropic’s valuation surpassed combined value of total IT firms in India
The entire Information Technology (IT) industry in India is battering with the existential threat, which comes on the heels of rising generative AI, posing doubts over the viability of their business model.
Stocks of the IT industries, including Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys, Wipro, etc., hit brutally over the past week. This was triggered with the launch of new AI tools by Anthropic’s Claude for Cowork, which is like an office teammate helping the user to do tasks such as file sorting, reading legal drafts, etc.
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Anthropic’s Valuation vs Nifty IT Index
Anthropic’s phenomenal valuation rise has surpassed the combined value of India’s top IT firms. Standing at a valuation of $380 billion, the US-based AI company has eclipsed India’s Nifty IT index, whose market cap was at $296.4 billion by the time of writing this report.
Investors are accelerating their exit from technology stocks as concerns intensify that advanced artificial intelligence tools could disrupt core segments of the global software and IT services industry.
This week alone, TCS, Infosys and HCL Technologies dragged 9-11 per cent.
The sharp correction has wiped out substantial investor wealth. Based on intraday lows, the combined market capitalisation of the top five domestic IT companies has eroded by nearly Rs 3,11,873 crore this week.
TCS emerged as the biggest laggard, losing Rs 1,28,800 crore in market value, with its market capitalisation slipping to Rs 9,35,253 crore. The fall also pushed it to the fifth-most valued listed company from the fourth position.
Infosys has seen its market capitalisation shrink by Rs 91,431 crore following a 15 per cent decline this week. HCL Technologies has lost Rs 53,647 crore in market value over the past five trading sessions. Wipro and Tech Mahindra have also recorded declines, with their market capitalisations falling by Rs 22,762 crore and Rs 15,233 crore, respectively, during the same period.
| Company Name | Mcap ($Billion) |
| Tata Consultancy Services | 107.4 |
| Infosys | 61.2 |
| HCL Technologies | 43.6 |
| Wipro | 24.8 |
| Tech Mahindra | 16.6 |
| LTIMindtree | 16.7 |
| Persistent Systems | 9.5 |
| Oracle Financial Services Soft | 6.4 |
| Coforge | 5 |
| Mphasis | 5.2 |
| Total | 296.4 |
Source: Bloomberg
Anthropic’s Recent Funding Round
Anthropic has recently raised $30 billion in Series G funding led by GIC and Coatue, valuing Anthropic at $380 billion post-money, as announced by the company in the press release.
The investment will fuel the frontier research, product development, and infrastructure expansions that have made Anthropic the market leader in enterprise AI and coding.
February 14, 2026, 09:15 IST
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Business
IndiGo plans to hire over 1,000 pilots after December’s crew crunch – The Times of India
IndiGo, the country’s largest airline is set to go on a hiring spree, bringing over 1,000 pilots on board. This comes after the aviation giant faced massive operational disruption last December, when the company was forced to cancel more than 5,000 flights within seven days.The fresh intake will span trainee first officers, senior first officers and commanders. A recruitment notice shows the carrier is also ready to accept applicants without time on the Airbus A320, the workhorse aircraft across its network, ET reported.Under the updated framework, the number of landings permitted between 12 am and 6 am has been limited, while the mandatory weekly rest period for pilots has gone up.A review carried out by the irectorate General of Civil Aviation concluded that the airline had neither hired in line with the new rules nor accelerated its training capacity. This, the probe noted, resulted in pilots being stretched through repeated reassignments, lengthier duty spans and greater use of deadheading, in which crew are moved as passengers to operate flights elsewhere.
Stepping up expansion
A senior official, as cited by ET, maintained that IndiGo is now lining up a steady supply of cockpit crew to keep pace with rapid aircraft additions. The airline’s in-house system is currently upgrading about 20–25 first officers to captain each month. Now, alongside hiring, the carrier has begun adjusting its network planning to create more breathing space in daily operations. From almost no buffer in December, the margin has been raised to 3% this month. Standby crew availability has also been lifted to a minimum of 15%.Fleet expansion is continuing at a brisk rate, with roughly four aircraft joining the airline every month on average.Training remains a long lead activity. Trainee first officers require around six months before they are cleared to operate, while promotion to captaincy demands at least 1,500 hours of flying, though airlines may prescribe stricter benchmarks.While the regulator’s baseline requirement is three sets of pilots per aircraft, including one captain and one first officer, IndiGo’s intense utilisation levels push its need to well over twice that figure.Figures placed during the inquiry into the December episode showed the airline needed 2,422 captains but had 2,357.
DGCA findings
After the disruption, the watchdog stepped in with temporary relaxations, suspending night-duty restriction rules until February 10.In its assessment, the DGCA said there was an overriding focus on maximising utilisation of crew, aircraft, and network resources, which significantly reduced roster buffer margins.The Directorate General of Civil Aviation said that the airline structured its crew schedules to extract the longest possible duty hours, leaning heavily on deadheading, tail swaps and stretched work patterns while leaving very little room for recovery. It noted that such planning weakened roster integrity and hurt operational resilience.
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