6th Nov 2025 12:25
(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London were mixed at midday on Thursday, as the FTSE 100 pared its earlier decline after the Bank of England voted to hold the bank rate at 4.00% in a finely balanced decision.
The pound was quoted at USD1.3060 just after midday on Thursday in London, up from USD1.3037 at the equities close on Wednesday, but lower than USD1.3086 just before the BoE decision.
The FTSE 100 index was down 10.20 points, 0.1%, at 9,766.88. The FTSE 250 was up 45.77 points, 0.2%, at 22,140.15, and the AIM All-Share was up 2.62 points, 0.4%, at 758.84.
The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.4% at 971.35, the Cboe UK 250 was 0.2% lower at 19,120.25, and the Cboe Small Companies was up 0.1% at 17,989.15.
The Bank of England left rates unmoved as expected, though the vote split showed a divided Monetary Policy Committee.
Five, including Governor Andrew Bailey, backed the hold. Four preferred a 25 basis point cut to 3.75%. This was more than the three expected by the market, according to consensus cited by FXStreet.
"CPI inflation is judged to have peaked. Progress on underlying disinflation continues, supported by the still restrictive stance of monetary policy. This is reflected in an easing of pay growth and services price inflation. Underlying disinflation is being underpinned by subdued economic growth and building slack in the labour market," the BoE said.
It said bank rate is "is likely to continue on a gradual downward path".
Pepperstone analyst Michael Brown commented: "Accompanying that decision was a policy statement that incorporated some notable dovish tweaks, with the MPC confirming that, provided progress on disinflation continues to be made, bank rate is 'likely to continue on a gradual downward path'. In any case, the MPC will continue to take a data-dependent approach to future decisions. Meanwhile, the November confab also saw the release of the Bank's updated, and refreshed, economic projections. These forecasts now point to inflation falling below the 2% inflation target by Q2 2027, though this must be taken with a 'pinch of salt', given how significantly the fiscal landscape is likely to change by the end of the month.
"Focus, of course, will now shift to Governor Bailey's press conference at the bottom of the hour. By and large, Bailey is likely to stick to the script used for much of the cycle, reiterating that the direction of travel for rates remains lower, but that the timing, and magnitude, of future rate reductions will hinge on the evolution of incoming economic releases."
In European equities on Thursday, the CAC 40 in Paris was down 0.4%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was 0.1% lower.
The euro was higher at USD1.1514 from USD1.1476. Against the yen, the dollar was lower at JPY153.66 versus JPY154.23.
"The FTSE 100 slipped on a negative reaction to corporate updates despite gains in Asia and the US overnight," said AJ Bell analyst Russ Mould, before the Bank of England decision.
UK construction activity fell at the fastest pace for over five years in October, in the longest period of continuous decline since the global financial crisis, data published by S&P Global showed.
The headline S&P Global UK construction purchasing managers' index fell to 44.1 points in October from 46.2 in September. The reading was below the neutral 50-point mark separating growth from contraction for the tenth consecutive month.
"Reduced workloads were again widely attributed to risk aversion and delayed decision-making among clients, which contributed to a slower-than-expected release of new projects. Subdued demand in the wake of heightened political and economic uncertainty also led to the steepest drop in input buying since May 2020," said Tim Moore, economics director at S&P Global Market Intelligence.
Stocks in New York were called broadly flat. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was called slightly down, while the S&P 500 index and the Nasdaq Composite were called to open 0.1% higher.
The yield on the 10-year US Treasury narrowed slightly to 4.14% at midday on Thursday from 4.15% on Wednesday. The yield on the 30-year widened to 4.73% from 4.72%.
In London, IMI led the way on the FTSE 100 and jumped 6.5% as it reiterated full-year guidance and said it was on track to deliver a fourth consecutive year of mid-single digit organic revenue growth.
In a trading update, the Birmingham based engineering firm said organic revenue was 12% higher in the third quarter than the same period last year, with group sales now 5% higher year to date.
Statutory revenue in the quarter was 11% higher than last year, reflecting the foreign currency movements seen in the period.
Chief Executive Roy Twite said IMI delivered an "excellent" performance in the quarter.
"We delivered an outstanding performance in the Process Automation sector, supported by rising global energy demand and our focus on high-margin aftermarket orders, which are now up 7% organically year to date. The Climate Control, Industrial Automation and Life Science & Fluid Control market sectors all performed well," he noted.
Shares in BT Group climbed 2.9% as it announced a higher dividend as profit and revenue fell due to losing customers to competitors in its first financial half, while it reiterated its mid-term outlook.
The London-based telecommunications company said pretax profit fell 11% to GBP862 million in the six months to September 30, from GBP967 million a year ago.
Revenue decreased 3.0% to GBP9.81 billion from GBP10.12 billion.
Capital expenditure increased by 7.7% to GBP2.44 billion from GBP2.27 billion.
Notably, the number of Openreach broadband customers declined by 242,000 in the second quarter of 2025, due to competition "and a weaker broadband market."
Meanwhile, BT said it cut its headcount by 6% to 111,000, as it targets between 75,000 and 90,000 employees.
Looking ahead, it reiterated all financial 2026 guidance and its mid-term outlook. BT targets financial 2026 adjusted revenue of around GBP20 billion, similar to GBP20.37 billion in financial 2025. Further, it plans sustained growth from financial 2027.
Smith & Nephew fell 11% despite raising its annual free cash flow outlook, as third quarter revenue fell short of consensus.
The medical device manufacturer said revenue in the third quarter to September 27 improved 6.3% on-year to USD1.50 billion from USD1.41 billion. Revenue fell short of company-compiled consensus of USD1.51 billion.
The Watford, England-based firm achieved underlying revenue growth of 5.0%, though this was shy of consensus of a 6.2% rise.
Smith & Nephew still expects full-year underlying revenue growth to be around 5.0%, 5.7% on a reported basis. A trading profit margin rise to between 19.0% and 20.0% is still expected, from 18.1% in 2024.
It raised free cash flow guidance to around USD750 million, from prior guidance of over USD600 million.
Hikma Pharmaceuticals sank 8.1% as it reduced medium term guidance and cut the top-end of its 2025 core operating profit view amid a delayed start to production at a US site.
Hikma now expects three-year compound annual revenue growth from 2024 to 2027 to be at the lower end of the 6% to 8% range.
In addition, the firm now expects core operating profit to grow in the range of 5% to 7%, down from the previous guidance range of 7% to 9%.
Over the medium-term, Hikma expects Injectables margins of approximately 30%, compared to previous guidance which was around the mid-30s.
This reflects a delay to the start of production at the new Bedford, Ohio manufacturing facility, partially related to global supply chain challenges.
For 2025, Hikma expects revenue to grow in the range of 4% to 6% but lowered the top-end of its guidance range for core operating profit.
Hikma expects core operating profit of USD730 million to USD750 million, which it said is in line with current market expectations, compared to the previous range of USD730 million to USD770 million.
On the FTSE 250 index, RS Group shares were up 6.5% as it said like-for-like sales returned to growth in the second quarter of the financial year despite "continued uncertainty" in most markets.
The London-based distributor of industrial and electronic products and service solutions said pretax profit rose 7.2% to GBP112.2 million in the financial half year to September from GBP104.7 million the year prior, although revenue eased 2.8% to GBP1.40 billion from GBP1.44 billion.
Basic earnings per share increased 7.9% to 17.7 pence from 16.4p, and RS raised the interim dividend by 2.6% to 8.7p per share from 8.5p a year ago.
On the AIM market, Asiamet Resources shares jumped 42%.
The Indonesia-based copper producer said it has agreed to sell its interest in the KSK project to Norin Mining for USD105 million.
"The sale introduces a well-funded copper producer with specialist skills in copper mine development and processing coupled with high-ESG standards, to advance the project into mining operations for the benefit of all stakeholders," Asiamet said.
The company said it expects that the net proceeds received from the sale will be "substantially utilised" to make a cash distribution to shareholders.
Tan Delta Systems shares jumped 87%.
The provider of oil-quality monitoring and maintenance systems said a paid for phase two trial of by "one of the world's largest multi-national online retailers" has started to evaluate its real time oil condition analysis and monitoring systems.
The customer is seeking to monitor critical gearboxes used on conveyor systems inside their distribution centres.
Gold was higher at USD4,015.80 an ounce at midday on Thursday from USD3,978.61 late Wednesday. Brent oil was trading lower at USD63.73 a barrel from USD64.35.
By Michael Hennessey, Alliance News reporter
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IMIBTSmith & NephewHikma PharmaceuticalsAsiamet ResTan Delta