19th Jun 2025 08:56
(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London opened mostly in the red on Thursday, with US markets closed for Juneteenth and all eyes on the Bank of England's interest rate decision.
In global news, the United Nations Security Council will convene Friday to discuss the ongoing war between Israel and Iran, council president Guyana said.
Following a first, urgent meeting after Israel attacked last Friday, this second session was requested by Iran, with support from Russia, China and Pakistan, a diplomat told AFP on Wednesday.
The FTSE 100 index opened down 33.17 points, 0.4%, at 8,810.30. The FTSE 250 was down 149.75 points, 0.7%, at 21,140.51, and the AIM All-Share was down 3.28 points, 0.4%, at 760.08.
The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.4% at 877.95, the Cboe UK 250 was down 0.7% at 18,675.04, and the Cboe Small Companies was up marginally at 16,918.47.
BP and Shell led the FTSE 100 again, up 1.5% and 1.2% respectively.
Vodafone came in third, up 0.9%, after it appointed Microsoft alumnus Pilar Lopez as chief financial officer designate from October 1. Outgoing CFO Luka Mucic will remain until November 30, before Lopez becomes CFO outright on December 1.
Syncona led the FTSE 250, up 6.1%.
It reported a negative 9.5% NAV total return for the year ended March 31, with its NAV decreasing, as the healthcare investor said it continues to navigate "sustained challenging market conditions".
However, Syncona also announced that it is proposing a change of investment objective to move to an orderly realisation of its assets, "balancing returning cash to shareholders in timely manner with maximising value".
Among smaller caps, Kenmare Resources plummeted 20%.
The Mozambique-focused titanium minerals and zircon producer has terminated offer discussions regarding a potential takeover by Oryx Global Partners and Michael Carvill, saying the consortium would only offer an amount substantially below its initial proposal.
Revolution Beauty dropped 16% after Frasers, down 1.3% on the FTSE 250, ruled out a bid for the London-based cosmetics retailer.
Revolution Beauty noted the Sports Direct owner's announcement, and said it "continues to have constructive engagement" with several other interested parties.
In European equities on Thursday, the CAC 40 in Paris and the DAX 40 in Frankfurt were both down 0.7%.
The pound was quoted at USD1.3406 early on Thursday in London, lower compared to USD1.3472 at the equities close on Wednesday. The euro stood at USD1.1466, lower against USD1.1526. Against the yen, the dollar was trading higher at JPY145.32 compared to JPY144.65.
In Asia on Thursday, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo was down 1.0%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was down 0.8%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was down 2.1%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed down 0.1%.
In the US on Wednesday, Wall Street ended mixed, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.1%, the S&P 500 down 1.85 points and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.1%.
The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was quoted at 4.40%, widening from 4.36%. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury was quoted at 4.89%, widening from 4.86%.
Brent oil was quoted higher at USD77.29 a barrel early in London on Thursday from USD75.06 late Wednesday.
Gold was quoted lower at USD3,351.61 an ounce against USD3,387.84.
Meanwhile, the Swiss National Bank lowered its interest rate by 0.25 percentage points to 0%.
Still to come on Thursday's economic calendar are eurozone construction output and UK Monetary Policy Committee meeting minutes after the BoE rate call.
By Emma Curzon, Alliance News reporter
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