4th Sep 2025 09:17
(Alliance News) - London blue chips opened in the green on Thursday, as investors look to this afternoon's US private payrolls data, and gold prices begin to retreat following their record-high rally earlier in the week.
The FTSE 100 index opened up 17.91 points, 0.2%, at 9,195.90. The FTSE 250 was up 115.05 points, 0.5%, at 21,428.12, and the AIM All-Share was down 6.13 points, 0.8%, at 762.34.
The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.2% at 922.28, the Cboe UK 250 was up 0.5% at 18,730.92, and the Cboe Small Companies was up 0.1% at 17,094.76.
In European equities on Thursday, the CAC 40 in Paris faded 0.1%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt edged up 0.3%.
The pound was quoted lower at USD1.3428 early on Thursday in London, compared to USD1.3448 at the equities close on Wednesday. The euro stood lower at USD1.1652, against USD1.1679. Against the yen, the dollar was trading up at JPY148.33 compared to JPY147.95.
The Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders said new car registrations in August were at 82,908 units, down 2.0% on-year, a milder decline than that of 5.0% in July.
Notably, battery electric vehicle registrations were up 15% on-year, reaching a market share of 26.5% in August, up from 22.6% a year ago, and compared to 21.3% in July.
August's share of BEV registrations was the highest in 2025 so far, and the fourth-highest on record.
However, it was still below 2025's nominal zero emission vehicle mandate target of 28%.
Genus soared 25% at London's market open, with that gain softening to 10% a bit later.
The Basingstoke, England-based animal biotechnology and genetics company reported pretax profit of GBP28.5 million for the year that ended June 30, jumping from GBP5.5 million the year before.
Revenue grew 0.6% to GBP672.8 million from GBP668.8 million, while net exceptional items reduced to GBP27.3 million from GBP36.0 million a year earlier. Genus declared a total dividend of 32.0 pence per share, unchanged on-year.
Looking ahead, Genus expects adjusted pretax profit for financial 2026 in line with a company-compiled consensus between GBP76.1 million to GBP86.0 million. This would be up 16% at best from GBP74.3 million in financial 2025.
Genus also announced the accelerated formation of a Chinese porcine joint venture with Beijing Capital Agribusiness Co, under which Genus will receive an accelerated milestone payment of USD7.5 million plus a USD160 million gross cash payment. In return, BCA will acquire 51% of Genus subsidiary PIC China, which is expected to complete in financial 2026. PIC China will then acquire 100% of BCA's Future Bio-Tech business, which is also expected to complete in 2026.
Eco Buildings rose 27%.
The London-based manufacturer of prefabricated modular housing products said it has been awarded a new contract to build a luxury 18-unit apartment block in Tirana, Albania, which is expected to generate EUR2.2 million in revenue. Anticipated gross margins are consistent with the 40% previously reported by the firm.
The company has a letter of intent in place to build two further identical apartment blocks in the first and second quarter next year, with talks ongoing to then build an additional three blocks when the first three have been built.
Eco Buildings also raised GBP300,000 via the issue of a two-year loan note, convertible at 4 pence per share, to provide additional working capital for the construction of the first apartment block.
At other end, Jet2 fell 14%.
The Leeds-based tour operator and airline said it was reducing seats on sale for winter 2025/26 to 5.6 million from 5.8 million, due to a "less certain consumer environment", though this still marks a 9% on-year increase from capacity during winter 2024/25. On sale seat capacity for summer 2025 was 8.0% higher than the summer of 2024, at 18.5 million seats.
Jet2 currently expects earnings before interest and tax at the lower end of a company-compiled GBP449 million to GBP496 million consensus range, for the year ending March 31, 2026. This would be up at least 0.6% from GBP446.5 million the year before.
In Asia on Thursday, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo improved 1.5%. In China, the Shanghai Composite lost 1.2%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong shed 1.1%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed up 1.0%.
In the US on Wednesday, Wall Street ended mixed, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average fading 0.1%, the S&P 500 gaining 0.5% and the Nasdaq Composite advancing 1.0%.
The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was quoted at 4.21%, narrowing from 4.22%. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury was quoted at 4.89%, trimmed from 4.91%.
"Sovereign bonds in developed economies are under pressure, with long-maturity yields near multi-decade highs on the back of ballooning debt, political obstacles to fiscal tightening and structurally higher inflation. To finance higher debt servicing costs, governments are issuing more bonds — further pushing yields higher," said Swissquote analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya.
"The US 30-year yield briefly tested the 5% psychological level before retreating, while a softer-than-expected JOLTS report — with job openings falling to a one-year low — reinforced expectations of a slowing labour market. The US 2-year yield fell to its lowest this summer, with futures pricing a 95% probability of a September 25bp Fed cut. Markets now await ADP data today and nonfarm payrolls Friday to confirm the trend.
"A soft ADP read today and weak official jobs data on Friday could further support this trend and pull yields lower. We’re yet to see whether the steepening of the yield curve will slow, now that the 30-year bond offers around 5%. Upcoming rate cuts could boost medium- to long-term inflation expectations and keep the long end under pressure. Indeed, the 2-year yield is pushing lower, while the 30-year yield shows a modest rebound this morning."
Brent oil was quoted lower at USD66.90 a barrel early in London on Thursday from USD67.62 late Wednesday. Gold was quoted down at USD3,539.83 an ounce against USD3,565.82.
Still to come on Thursday's economic calendar, there are eurozone retail sales figures at 1000 BST, US ADP private payrolls data at 1315 and weekly jobless claims figures 1330. There is also a US services sector PMI at 1445.
By Emily Parsons, Alliance News reporter
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