Business
Stocks post modest gains while gold pushes higher

The FTSE 100 made steady progress on Monday with a boost from defence stocks and gold miners partially offset by falls in utility stocks.
The FTSE 100 index closed up 9.0 points, 0.1%, at 9,196.34. The FTSE 250 ended 27.97 points higher, 0.1%, at 21,633.69 and the AIM All-Share finished up 4.54 points, 0.6%, at 768.64.
In Europe, the CAC 40 in Paris up 0.1%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt closed 0.6% higher.
Financial markets in New York were closed on Monday for Labor Day.
This week’s US calendar is packed with labour market data, culminating in Friday’s August jobs report.
FactSet consensus looks for a nonfarms figure of 110,000 in August compared to 73,000 in July, and an unchanged unemployment rate of 4.2%.
Attention will focus on the extent of revisions to the prior month’s figures, given the hefty revisions in July’s report.
June was revised down from 147,000 to just 14,000, the worst monthly reading since January 2021, when 183,000 jobs were shed. May’s reading was downwardly revised to 19,000 from 144,000. In total, employment in May and June combined was 258,000 lower than previously reported.
The pound firmed to 1.3548 dollars late on Monday afternoon in London, compared to 1.3510 dollars at the equities close on Friday. The euro rose to 1.1705 dollars, against 1.1699 dollars. Against the yen, the dollar was trading higher at 147.27 yen compared to 146.92 yen.
There was mixed news on the UK housing market, with a stronger-than-forecast rise in mortgage approvals in July offset by a surprise drop in house prices in August.
Data from the Bank of England showed net mortgage borrowing by individuals fell to £4.5 billion in July from £5.4 billion in June, but mortgage approvals for house purchases edged up slightly to 65,400 from 64,600, beating FXStreet consensus for a fall to 64,000. Approvals for remortgaging fell to 38,900 from 41,600.
But separate figures from Nationwide showed UK annual house price growth softened in August as affordability concerns continue to weigh on buyers.
The Nationwide house price index showed a 0.1% monthly decline in seasonally adjusted UK house prices in August, weakening from 0.5% growth a month earlier.
This underperformed against an FXStreet-cited consensus of 0.2% growth.
RBC Capital Markets analyst Anthony Codling said transaction volumes are “more important” to housebuilders than house prices.
“It doesn’t matter how high the price is if no one is buying, but with mortgage approvals just above their 10-year average, there are plenty of willing home buyers in the housing market and mortgage lenders are willing to approve the mortgages required to complete those purchases,” he added.
This points to a picture of a “healthy” housing market, he said.
On the FTSE 100, housebuilders Taylor Wimpey, Persimmon and Berkeley Group rose 0.3%, 1.0%, 0.1% respectively.
Elsewhere, a report showed the downturn in the UK manufacturing sector sharpened in August, as the sector contracted for the 11th month running.
Data from S&P Global showed the manufacturing purchasing managers’ index fell to 47 points in August from 48 in July, remaining below the 50-point neutral mark. It also slightly underperformed the flash reading of 47.3 points.
Weak market conditions, tariff uncertainty and subdued client confidence contributed to a sharp drop in new order intake in August, as both domestic and overseas demand fell.
BAE Systems rose 1.9% after the UK government announced on Sunday that Norway had selected the firm’s Type 26 frigate for its anti-submarine requirement for five ships, worth about £10 billion.
Analysts at Citi said the Norwegian order is worth about 10p to 15p per share for BAE Systems.
Rolls-Royce climbed 2.8% after reports suggested it is speaking to advisers about funding options for its small nuclear reactor business, which could include an initial public offer of shares.
Endeavour Mining and Fresnillo benefited from the rising gold price, advancing 3.5% and 2.1%.
Gold climbed to 3,476.94 dollars an ounce against 3,445.38 dollars on Friday.
Tesco rose 2% as analysts at UBS and JPMorgan issued positive research notes.
UBS raised its share price target to 475p from 435p and thinks robust first-half results, due in October, will set the tone for further earnings upgrades.
The broker expects the food retailer to lift the lower end of group earnings before interest and tax guidance, currently £2.7 billion to £3 billion, though likely to maintain the top end for now.
Kainos jumped 23% as it said it expects revenue to be at the top end of expectations after a strong start to the financial year.
The London-based Workday partner and provider of IT services to public sector, commercial and healthcare customers said it delivered a sequential improvement in the period from April 1 to date, building on a “solid” fourth-quarter 2025 performance.
As a result, Kainos now expects revenue for the financial year ending March 31 at the upper end of the consensus range of forecasts of £378 million to £393.4 million, which would be growth of as much as 7.1% from £367.2 million the year prior.
Shore Capital analyst Martin O’Sullivan reckons “resilient, well-managed” Kainos is primed to capitalise on the upturn in digital services that is beginning to materialise.
Flying high, shares in Immupharma leapt 99% as it announced the filing of a “ground-breaking” new patent application for its lead asset P140, the world’s first immunormalizer.
London-based Immupharma said the patent application, which provides the potential for 20 years of commercial exclusivity, discloses a novel diagnostic test and precision treatment approach.
The new diagnostic test is expected to shorten the time to diagnosis, improve patient selection for clinical trials, and enable smaller, faster and more successful trials, significantly increasing the probability of regulatory approval.
A barrel of Brent traded at 68.63 dollars (£50.68) late Monday afternoon, up from 67.41 dollars (£49.78) on Thursday.
The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Endeavour Mining, up 88p at 2,624p; IAG, up 11.5p at 393.6p; Rolls Royce, up 30p at 1,100p; Fresnillo, up 37p at 1,825p and Babcock International Group, up 21p at 1,037p.
The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were SSE, down 53.5p at 1,676.5p; United Utilities, down 28.5p at 1,121.5p; National Grid, down 21.5p at 1,019.5p; BT Group, down 4.3p at 212.2p and Severn Trent, down 48p at 2,538p.
Tuesday’s local corporate calendar sees full-year results from Alumasc and half-year numbers from Oxford Nanopore, Johnson Service Group and Uniphar.
The global economic calendar on Tuesday has US manufacturing PMI data and a eurozone inflation print.
Contributed by Alliance News.
Business
Dhanteras turns record-breaking! Cars, electronics and jewellery see unprecedented demand; GST cuts, festive spirit fuel purchases – The Times of India

Dhanteras 2025 is turning into a record-breaking festival for Indian retailers, with strong demand across automobiles, electronics, and jewellery.Maruti Suzuki India expects to cross the 50,000-unit mark over the two-day festival, marking its highest-ever Dhanteras sales, said senior executive officer, marketing & sales, Partho Banerjee. “We are expecting around 41,000 deliveries today, with another 10,000 customers taking delivery tomorrow. This is going to be the all-time high for Dhanteras deliveries,” he told reporters. As per news agency PTI, Banerjee added that since the September 18 price reduction, the company has received nearly 4.5 lakh bookings, with small car bookings approaching one lakh units and retail deliveries reaching 3.25 lakh units in a month.Rival Hyundai Motor India Ltd MD & CEO designate Tarun Garg noted strong festive demand, with expected deliveries around 14,000 units, a 20 per cent increase from last year.“The positive momentum is driven by the festive spirit, a buoyant market environment and the encouraging impact of GST 2.0 reforms,” he said, as per PTI.Consumer electronics firms are also reporting a surge in sales. Panasonic Life Solutions director Sandeep Sehgal said large-screen TVs of 55 inches and above contributed to a 4K sellout growth of over 36 per cent from October 1 to 17, with overall TV and RAC sales expected to grow around 30 per cent compared to last year. Haier Appliances India reported strong demand for premium products such as large-screen TVs, side-by-side refrigerators, and front-load washing machines, with growth expected to exceed 50 per cent.The companies attributed the boost partly to the recent GST reforms, which reduced duties on electronics and essential goods, leaving more disposable income with consumers.Jewellery retailers also saw healthy festive sales, spanning investment-driven purchases above Rs 2 lakh to lightweight jewellery and gold coins, Tanishq senior vice president Arun said.Demand was robust across metros and Tier-2 and Tier-3 towns.Overall, the festival is witnessing an unprecedented consumer turnout, reflecting optimism fueled by GST rate cuts and the convenience of festive shopping across multiple categories, from cars and electronics to gold and jewellery.This year’s Dhanteras demonstrates a broad-based consumption surge, with both traditional purchases like gold and modern categories like automobiles and electronics benefiting from economic reforms and festive enthusiasm.
Business
Developing Rosebank oil field ‘pure climate vandalism’, Scottish Green insists

Scottish Greens will “call out the lies of big polluters”, co-leader Gillian Mackay said as she branded plans to develop the Rosebank oil field as “pure climate vandalism”.
Ms Mackay spoke out as demonstrators opposed to drilling the site gathered in London on Saturday.
Plans to develop the North Sea field – which is estimated to contain up to 300 million barrels of oil – have been submitted again by owners Equinor.
However, Ms Mackay told the Scottish Green Party conference in Edinburgh: “We have to be the party that calls out the lies of big polluters.”
Ms Mackay, who was elected co-leader with fellow MSP Ross Greer in August, told her fellow Scottish Greens: “Drilling for new oil and gas in fields like Rosebank will do nothing to lower energy bills or protect our planet.
“It is pure climate vandalism and we have to stop Rosebank.”
Development of the oil field, which lies 80 miles west of Shetland, had been approved by the Conservative government in 2023 but that decision was challenged in the courts in the wake of a Supreme Court ruling which said the emissions created from burning fossil fuels should be considered when granting permission for new drilling sites.
Her comments came as Zack Polanski, leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, insisted the UK is “one of the most nature depleted countries in the world”.
Addressing protesters in London, Mr Polanski said: “The very least this Government need to do is to stop making things worse.”
Ms Mackay also used her conference speech to hit out at the UK Government over the closure of Scotland’s only oil refinery in Grangemouth.
Hundreds of jobs were lost after owners Petroineos closed the refinery earlier this year, with Ms Mackay, who grew up in the area saying: “I’m sick of governments and corporations using tags like ‘just transition’ as a cheap slogan.
“What happened in Grangemouth is not a just transition.
“Our communities don’t need empty words, words don’t pay the bills, or put food on the table.
“They need real plans to provide real jobs and real opportunities.”
Ms Mackay insisted: “That site could have been saved. Labour promised to save it – they promised £200 million – and the message from the workers is clear: show us the money.”
She said that the Grangemouth plant “could have been nationalised”, adding: “We cannot leave the future of our communities in the hands of billionaires who are all too happy to abandon us when the money dries up.”
With the Scottish Greens having set the target of overtaking Labour in May’s Holyrood ballot, Ms Mackay said her party was “on the verge of a historic election” with the “chance to elect more green voices than ever before”.
She also told how the birth of her first child, Callan, in June meant she had “never felt more committed to building a greener Scotland”.
She joked that she was speaking at Saturday’s conference “in relatively one piece, without too much baby dribble on me” as she said the Green model, with two co-leaders at the helm, had allowed her to take on the challenge.
“In other parties there would have been a whole load of barriers to a new mum being elected to a leadership role,” Ms Mackay said.
“It is only because of our co-leadership model and the support of ordinary members, I have been afforded this opportunity.”
She continued: “The support I have had says something about our party and the values we stand for.
“When I think about the country I want us to be, it is one where we support each other, one where we lift each other up and one where we do things differently.”
Business
Zoho’s Sridhar Vembu Warns Of Massive Bubble In US Stock Market

New Delhi: Zoho’s Chief Scientist and Co-founder Sridhar Vembu on Saturday agreed with former IMF Chief Economist Gita Gopinath, regarding the huge economic bubble in the US stock market.
Vembu said that a systemic event like the global financial crisis of 2008-9 cannot be ruled out.
Zoho’s founder responded on social media platform X to Gopinath’s warning saying, “I agree with Dr Gita Gopinath. The US stock market is in a clear and massive bubble. The degree of leverage in the system means that we cannot rule out a systemic event like the global financial crisis of 2008.”
Vembu also warned that the gold price trend is indicative of a systemic financial risk.
“Gold is also flashing a big warning signal. I don’t think of gold as an investment, I think of it as insurance against systemic financial risk. Ultimately finance is all about trust and when debt levels reach this high, trust breaks down. I am sure AI will work hard to repay all the debt in the system,” his X post read.
His post tagged Gopinath’s warning which said that global exposure “to US equities is at record levels.”
“A stock market correction would have more severe and global consequences as compared to what followed the dot-com crash. The tariff wars and lack of fiscal space compounds the problem,” Gopinath said.
She urged for higher growth and returns across more countries and regions instead of a focus on the US, adding that the underlying problem is not “unbalanced trade” but “unbalanced growth”.
Earlier in the month, Gopinath said that US President Donald Trump’s tariff proposals acted as a tax on US consumers, raised inflation, and had no benefit to the American economy.
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