Lunchtime market roundup: Stocks mostly lower despite Nvidia spark

Stock prices in London were mostly lower on Thursday midday despite a boost for tech stocks owing to Nvidia’s half-year results and outlook, ahead of US weekly jobless data being released shortly.

“Euphoria around Nvidia’s latest results failed to spread across the rest of the market as European equities were in the red on Thursday,” AJ Bell Head of Markets Dan Coatsworth said.

The FTSE 100 index was down 54.88 points, 0.5%, at 10,823.24. The FTSE 250 was down 11.61 points, 0.1%, at 24,886.23, and the AIM all-share was marginally lower at 814.84.

The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.7% at 1,075.39 and the Cboe UK 250 was down 0.1% at 21,667.30, although the Cboe small companies was up 0.1% at 19,011.60.

IT services firm Computacenter continued to lead the FTSE 100, up 4.5%, while investora Polar Capital Technology Trust and Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust rose 1.8% and 0.8%.

Insurance company Admiral was down 0.9%, after Berenberg cut its rating to ‘hold’ from ‘buy’, although the price target remains at 4,200 pence.

Unilever was down 1.4%.

Sky News reported around midday that Unilever and McCormick have instructed bankers to seek a buyer for mustard brand Colman’s.

Citing “people close to the process”, Sky said the disposal plan has been hatched because of McCormick’s existing ownership of French’s, McCormick having agreed in July to merge with Unilever’s food business.

“One source said the auction of Colman’s had been initiated while competition regulators scrutinise the proposed transaction, which will create a global foods business worth in the region of USD66 billion [GBP48.4 billion],” Sky added.

On the FTSE 250, Halfords continued to lead, up 11%, after its brief but optimistic trading update predicting market guidance-beating underlying pretax profit.

“A summer of sunshine has got people out of the house to enjoy the fresh air and go explore near and far,” Coatsworth said. “That’s been music to the ears of Halfords as it has played a key role in helping to support people’s summer activities.”

Hospitality major PPHE Hotel Group was the second-biggest loser, down 4.4%, while vehicle rental firm Zigup lost 5.3%.

PPHE maintained its interim dividend at 17p per share, and said it expects 2026 results to be in line with market expectations.

The Park Plaza and art’otel operator flipped to pretax profit of £135.1 million in the half-year ended June 30, from a loss of £10.2 million the previous year. Revenue increased 4.7% to £209.3 million, and Ebitda increased 6.3% to £48.4 million, although PPHE said this was partially offset by higher business rate costs in the UK.

Co-Chief Executive Officer Greg Hegarty said the earnings boost was “despite continuing macro and fiscal headwinds”.

On AIM, Thruvision was 29% higher.

The walk-through security technology provider has received an order from its first Canadian government customer, meaning that its 8108 WalkTHRU solution will be deployed at a municipal building.

It has also received “a number of orders” from new and existing retail customers in the UK, Europe and the US, and from a new European government client.

Xtract Resources lost 1.6% after announcing the issue of 210.0 million shares at 1.00p each “to certain existing shareholders and new investors”.

The £2.1 million fundraise comprises a placing of 177.0 million shares for £1.8 million, and direct share subscriptions for 33.0 million shares for £330,000. Executive Chair Colin Bird is subscribing for 2.5 million subscription shares for £25,000.

In other UK news, the number of young people in the UK not in education, employment or training has fallen in recent months after going over one million earlier this year, official figures have shown.

There were an estimated 981,000 so-called Neets, aged 16 to 24, in April to June, a fall of 30,000 compared to the first quarter of the year. The figure is still 30,000 higher than a year ago, the Office for National Statistics said.

The total had gone over one million earlier this year for the first time in more than a decade, fuelling calls for more help to get young people into work.

In European equities on Thursday, the CAC 40 in Paris was down 1.1%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was up 0.2%.

The pound was quoted at USD1.3579 midday Thursday, compared to USD1.3590 Wednesday. Against the euro, sterling softened to EUR1.1660 from EUR1.1664 a day prior. The euro stood lower at USD1.1640, against USD1.1651. Against the yen, the dollar was trading higher at JPY159.47 compared to JPY159.37.

Stocks in New York were called mostly higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was called down 0.1%, the S&P 500 index up 0.4%, and the Nasdaq Composite up 1.1%.

Nvidia was up 7.1% in pre-market trading, as the mood remained buoyant after its interim earnings report on Wednesday.

The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was quoted at 4.67%, widening from 4.66%. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury was quoted at 5.19%, widening from 5.18%.

China, meanwhile, warned the US on Thursday against “smearing” Beijing with hacking allegations after US law enforcement disrupted internet domains it said were used by Chinese state-sponsored groups.

The US Justice Department and FBI said Tuesday they had seized domains used by a Chinese state-sponsored hacking group known as “QTFY” and hacking platforms “QScan” and “QTRouter”. They said that victims of QTFY intrusion included NASA, the Federal Reserve, the US Senate and the departments of energy, justice and health and human services.

Beijing’s foreign ministry called the allegations “false information” on Thursday, accusing the US of “distorting right and wrong”.

And Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has highlighted problems in relations with the US, during a meeting with US ambassador David Perdue.

The meeting came just days after Washington threatened to impose sanctions on Iran’s trading partners, China being considered the main buyer of Iranian crude oil.

Brent oil was quoted lower at USD87.22 a barrel at midday in London on Thursday, from USD88.09 late Wednesday.

Gold was quoted lower at USD4,588.05 an ounce against USD4,596.56.

Still to come on Thursday’s economic calendar are the US weekly jobless and wholesale inventory figures.

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