9th Oct 2025 11:59
(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London were lower at midday on Thursday, while the DAX in Germany stayed in the green after reaching a record high near the open.
Meanwhile, the UK has signed a GBP350 million deal to supply the Indian Army with air defence missiles and launchers. The lightweight, multi-role missiles will be made in Northern Ireland, securing more than 700 jobs, the Ministry of Defence said.
A separate agreement worth an initial GBP250 million has also been signed to advance UK-India collaboration on electric-powered engines for naval ships.
It comes during UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer's two-day trade mission to Mumbai, and as the UK Carrier Strike Group takes part in joint air and naval exercises with the Indian navy in the western Indian Ocean.
The FTSE 100 index was down 38.46 points, 0.4%, at 9,510.41. The FTSE 250 was up 14.43 points, 0.1%, at 22,056.26, and the AIM All-Share was up 0.81 points, 0.1%, at 796.83.
The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.5% at 949.95, the Cboe UK 250 was up 0.4% at 19,330.13, and the Cboe Small Companies was down 0.4% at 17,877.70.
HSBC remained the worst-performing FTSE 100 stock, down 5.8%.
The London-based lender said it will pause share buybacks after making an offer to buy out minority investors in Hong Kong lender Hang Seng Bank.
HSBC has offered HKD155 per share, around USD19.92, for the 37% of Hang Seng Bank it does not already own. The offer values Hang Seng Bank at HKD290.31 billion, and HSBC's holding at HKD106.16 billion, or USD13.62 billion.
It also said it will not make any further share buybacks for the three quarters following the announcement of the deal, as it looks to restore its CET1 ratio to its target operating range of 14.0% to 14.5%.
Saying HSBC had "removed the share buyback carrot that has been keeping investors excited", AJ Bell's Russ Mould commented: "[The Hang Seng Bank buyout] is a key plank of HSBC's wider restructuring plan.
"However, given it is a tidying-up exercise it is unlikely to excite the market too much, particularly as Hang Seng has been hit by a property slump in Hong Kong...In the context of a continuing pivot towards Asia, HSBC's latest deal has logic. But along with the recent exit of chair Mark Tucker, the poor reception to it represents perhaps the biggest challenge [Chief Executive Georges Elhedery] has faced at HSBC to date."
Grainger, on the FTSE 250, was up 1.7%.
The Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England-based residential landlord said it is on track to grow earnings by 50% between financial 2024 and 2029, with a committed pipeline of 1,180 homes. Total like-for-like rental growth was 3.6% in the year that ended September 30, compared to 4.4% in the first half.
Grainger also reported a "strong sales pipeline" in the new financial year, with around GBP25 million in sales exchanged in the first week of October. The firm maintained that its business "is largely detached from much of the macro economic headwinds facing the UK" and praised the government's "focus on increasing supply and improving standards in the rental sector".
JD Wetherspoon was up 1.0% "on news that ministers are supportive of a hospitality industry-led plan to extend pub opening hours", Mould noted, while Fuller, Smith & Turner gained 0.3%.
UK PM Keir Starmer is fronting a fast-track bid to cut "red tape" thought to be making it hard for pubs to host live music and food pop-ups.
He said pubs are "the beating heart" of communities in the UK, after the government launched a four-week "blitz" survey of landlords, customers and neighbours.
It is understood the exercise could lead to a bonfire of old licensing rules, PA said, amid fears that some historic venues have shut over noise complaints or advertising concerns. The survey follows a probe by the government's licensing taskforce.
On AIM, Challenger Energy climbed 11%.
The offshore Uruguay-focused energy and mining company has agreed to a GBP45 million all-share offer by Canadian petroleum and natural gas explorer Sintana Energy.
For each Challenger share, stockholders will receive 0.4705 of a new Sintana share. This will mean that Challenger shareholders own roughly 25% of the enlarged firm.
The 16.61p per share valuation for each Challenger share is a 44% premium to its 11.50p closing price on Wednesday, and Challenger said the deal "fulfils all [its] strategic intentions".
In European equities on Thursday, the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.2%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was up 0.3%.
The DAX rose to a record high of 24,698 points shortly after opening, before dropping back slightly, DPA reports.
Analysts said the DAX may have been boosted by the prospect of interest rate cuts in the US, which could make shares more attractive than fixed-interest securities. Signs of a solution to the French political crisis may have encouraged investors, while technology stocks have also continued to soar over confidence in artificial intelligence.
The rise also came one day after the German government forecast economic growth to hit 1.3% next year, up from the previous 1% estimate.
Meanwhile in Ireland, the annual consumer price index inflation rate increased significantly in September, while prices fell monthly, data published by the Central Statistics Office showed.
The country's annual CPI inflation rate rose to 2.7% in September from 2.0% in August. Monthly however, consumer prices fell by 0.2% in September after an increase of 0.4% in August.
On a harmonised level allowing for EU-wide comparison, annual CPI inflation increased to 2.7% in September from 1.9% in August. Monthly, harmonised prices were down 0.2% after a rise of 0.4% in August.
Separately, the CSO reported that over the three months to the end of August, production in manufacturing industries fell by 5.7% when compared to the three months to the end of May. This was worse than the fall of 3.6% the CSO had reported for the three months to July-end when compared to the three months to the end of April.
Monthly however, production in manufacturing industries rose by 9.6% in August, compared to just 1.5% growth the CSO had reported for July.
The pound was quoted lower at USD1.3380 at midday on Thursday in London, compared to USD1.3406 at the equities close on Wednesday. The euro stood slightly higher at USD1.1620, against USD1.1615. Against the yen, the dollar was trading flat at JPY152.68.
Stocks in New York were called mixed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was called 10.00 points higher, the S&P 500 index 1.25 points lower, and the Nasdaq Composite down 0.1%.
The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was quoted flat at 4.12%. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury was also flat at 4.71%.
"Another day, another record closing level [on Wednesday] for both AI chip giant Nvidia and the tech-heavy Nasdaq index in the US," Mould commented. Nvidia closed 2.2% higher and was up 1.4% in pre-market trading.
Mould continued: "Investors who have held their nerve are cleaning up, yet the drums of worry are banging louder each day. Concerns around excessive valuations, elevated levels of government borrowing, uncertain economic growth, and political turbulence are omnipresent.
"There are a multitude of factors that could trigger a market pullback, but for now it is another day where there are more bulls than bears."
Brent oil was quoted at USD65.84 a barrel at midday in London on Thursday, down from USD66.40 late Wednesday.
Gold was quoted lower at USD4,039.60 an ounce against USD4,044.28.
Still to come on Thursday's economic calendar, the US has the World Agricultural Supply & Demand Estimates report and EIA natural gas stocks.
Also, comments are scheduled from the Federal Reserve's Vice Chair Michael Barr and Governor Michelle Bowman, and from European Central Bank Governor Philip Lane.
By Emma Curzon, Alliance News reporter
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