{"id":37808,"date":"2025-08-01T09:22:22","date_gmt":"2025-08-01T09:22:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/37808\/"},"modified":"2025-08-01T09:22:22","modified_gmt":"2025-08-01T09:22:22","slug":"business-live-blog-thursday-july-31-as-it-happened","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/37808\/","title":{"rendered":"Business live blog, Thursday July 31 \u2014 as it happened"},"content":{"rendered":"

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq have opened at new highs, lifted by strong results from Meta and Microsoft after the market closed last night.<\/p>\n

Also affecting sentiment was a 0.3 per cent rise in a key measure of inflation, the personal consumption expenditures price index, in June. It was the biggest increase since February.<\/p>\n

The rise in the index, which is closely watched by the US Federal Reserve, raises questions about whether the central bank will cut interest rates soon.<\/p>\n

As Wall Street opened, the FTSE 100 was trading up 18 points, or 0.2 per cent, at 9,155.06. This was below the previous intraday high of 9,163.24 on July 27. However, if it maintains this level it will close at a new high. The previous record was 9,138.37 on Thursday last week.<\/p>\n

Uncertainty drives demand for gold<\/p>\n

Demand for gold rose 3 per cent year-on-year in the second quarter of the year, driven by strong investor interest amid geopolitical uncertainty and sustained price momentum.<\/p>\n

The World Gold Council\u2019s quarterly demand trends report showed a rise to 1,249 tonnes. Central banks continued to buy, albeit at a slower pace, while jewellery demand continued to decline, particularly in the big markets of China and India.<\/p>\n

The price of gold rose during the quarter from just below $3,000 an ounce to a record high above $3,400 an ounce. The price has eased recently, however, as President Trump\u2019s trade deals have created more certainty.<\/p>\n

Louise Street, an analyst at the council, said: \u201cGlobal markets have navigated a volatile start to the year marked by trade tensions, unpredictable US policy shifts and frequent geopolitical flash points. The robust investment activity we have seen in the first half of 2025 underscores gold\u2019s role as a hedge against economic and geopolitical risks.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yorkshire Water fined \u00a3865,000<\/p>\n

Yorkshire Water has been fined \u00a3865,000 after one of its water treatment facilities was found guilty of illegally discharging chlorinated water for almost a month.<\/p>\n

Company representatives appeared at Sheffield Magistrates\u2019 Court on Wednesday for sentencing, after previously pleading guilty in February to one charge of polluting Ingbirchworth Dike, near Barnsley.<\/p>\n

About 1 million litres a day of chlorinated water were discharged, which even at low levels of chlorine is toxic to fish and other aquatic life, resulting in more than 430 dead fish being found in one day.<\/p>\n

Yorkshire Water was fined \u00a3865,000, ordered to pay costs of \u00a334,979.79 and a victim surcharge of \u00a3170.<\/p>\n

Pound heads for biggest loss since mini budget<\/p>\n

The pound is heading towards its largest monthly loss against the dollar since the mini budget in September 2022.<\/p>\n

The currency, down 0.17 per cent at $1.3234, has fallen 3.7 per cent in July, the most since losing 3.9 per cent and hitting a record low in September 2022 during the market crisis triggered by Liz Truss\u2019s budget.<\/p>\n

Most of the weakness has been down to a strengthening in the dollar over the past month. The currency has risen as President Trump\u2019s trade deals significantly reduced the uncertainty that had seen people selling the dollar.<\/p>\n

The currency has also been buoyed by Federal Reserve\u2019s pause in interest-rate cuts, which has increased demand for dollar assets, and strong economic data.<\/p>\n

Big Tech results to push Wall Street to new highs<\/p>\n

The S&P 500 and Nasdaq are expected to rise to new highs when trading starts, after strong results from Meta and Microsoft reinforced investor confidence that artificial intelligence investments are paying off.<\/p>\n

Meta Platforms shares rose 11.5 per cent in pre-market trading after the Facebook owner forecast third-quarter revenue well above estimates, as AI boosted its core advertising business.<\/p>\n

Microsoft had a record capital spending outlook of $30 billion for the current quarter and higher-than-expected sales at its Azure cloud computing business. The stock surged 8.3 per cent and the company was on track to hit a market value of $4 trillion for the first time.<\/p>\n

Futures prices point to the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite opening up 1.06 per cent and 1.45 per cent, respectively. The indexes dipped yesterday after hitting all-time highs on Monday of 6,389.77 and 21,178.58.<\/p>\n

CMA to clamp down on Microsoft and Amazon<\/p>\n

The competition watchdog is considering ways to improve competition in Britain\u2019s cloud computing market after concluding that the dominance of Microsoft and Amazon Web Services meant the market was \u201cnot working well\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), in its final decision following a two-year investigation, said it would now look at whether to hand them \u201cstrategic market status\u201d. This would enable the regulator to impose targeted and bespoke interventions to address its concerns about a lack of competition.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Amazon Web Services (AWS) said the report \u201cdisregards clear evidence of robust competition in the UK\u2019s IT services industry\u201d, adding: \u201cThe action proposed by the inquiry group is unwarranted and undermines the substantial investment and innovation that have already benefited hundreds of thousands of UK businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n

Copper price drops after tariff exclusions\"The<\/p>\n

The production of copper rods at a factory in China<\/p>\n

WU JUNQI\/VCG VIA GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n

Copper prices fell by a fifth in New York after President Trump watered down his 50 per cent import tariff on copper, set to go into force tomorrow.<\/p>\n

In New York, copper prices fell by 21.7 per cent to $9,647 per metric ton in early morning trading, the single largest fall in the history of the Comex exchange. On the London Metal Exchange, three-month copper was down 0.77 per cent to $9,623.5 per metric ton.<\/p>\n

The White House said the duties would not apply to copper input materials such as ores, concentrates, mattes, cathodes and anodes and copper scrap metal. They only apply to semi\u2011finished copper like pipes, wires, rods, sheets and tubes and copper-intensive derivative products such as cables, connectors and electrical components.<\/p>\n

Notably, if copper content is part of an automotive product, it falls under the existing 25 per cent auto\u2011related tariffs instead of the copper tariff.<\/p>\n

While traders were relieved at the exclusions from the tariffs, shares in miners with copper operations fell in London. Antofagasta, Anglo American, Glencore and Rio Tinto dropped 5.7 per cent, 5.36 per cent, 4.53 per cent and 3.9 per cent, respectively.<\/p>\n

Trump hardens stance on India and Russia\"Prime<\/p>\n

Donald Trump with Narendra Modi<\/p>\n

JIM WATSON\/GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n

President Trump has branded the economies of India and Russia as being \u201cdead\u201d as he threatened to punish Delhi for its relationship with Moscow and sparked an online spat with Dmitry Medvedev, the former Russian president.<\/p>\n

Trump posted on Truth Social just after midnight: \u201cI don\u2019t care what India does with Russia. They can take their dead economies down together, for all I care. We have done very little business with India, their Tariffs are too high, among the highest in the World.\u201d<\/p>\n

The US has imposed a 25 per cent tariff on goods imported from India, which has led to criticism in the country.<\/p>\n

Trump also appeared to respond to a comment by Medvedev, who on Monday urged him not to \u201cgo down the Sleepy Joe [Biden] road\u201d. Trump warned the \u201cfailed former President of Russia\u201d to \u201cwatch his words\u201d, adding: \u201cHe\u2019s entering very dangerous territory!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022 Trump brands India and Russia \u2018dead economies\u2019 in tariff row<\/a><\/p>\n

Lower power prices weigh on Drax profits<\/p>\n

Drax, whose biomass facility in North Yorkshire is the UK\u2019s largest power station, has reported a sharp drop in first-half profits due to lower UK wholesale power prices.<\/p>\n

Pre-tax profits fell 39 per cent year on year to \u00a3281 million.<\/p>\n

Adjusted profits slipped to \u00a3460 million, from \u00a3515 million last year, but Drax kept its full-year guidance for adjusted profits unchanged at \u00a3899 million to \u00a3910 million.<\/p>\n

Wholesale power prices have being falling since spiking after Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n

Hammerson takes control of Bullring\"a<\/p>\n

Birmingham\u2019s Bullring Shopping Centre<\/p>\n

KATIE STEWART\/ALAMY<\/p>\n

Hammerson is to take full control of the Bullring & Grand Central shopping centre in Birmingham in a deal that underscores the slide in retail property valuations over the past decade.<\/p>\n

The landlord is paying \u00a3319 million for the 50 per cent of the mall that it does not already own, valuing it at \u00a3638 million. Eight years ago, Bullring & Grand Central was valued at more than \u00a31.6 billion.<\/p>\n

Hammerson chief executive Rita-Rose Gagn\u00e9 has been using the company\u2019s strengthened balance sheet to buy out joint venture partners, including those at Brent Cross in north London and Westquay in Southampton.<\/p>\n

The timing of those deals looks good: in the first six months of this year, Hammerson has seen the values of its shopping centres increase, albeit modestly, for the first time since 2017.<\/p>\n

Challenging market knocks Mondi\"Mondi<\/p>\n

Mondi said challenging macroeconomic conditions could linger<\/p>\n

The FTSE 100-listed packaging company reported a 16.5 per cent fall in first-half profits due to a challenging macroeconomic and geopolitical environment that it warned would carry into the second half of the year.<\/p>\n

Pre-tax profits fell to \u20ac247 million in the six months to the end of June, from \u20ac296 million in the same period last year.<\/p>\n

The company said that volume growth and price increases were offset by currency headwinds and inflationary pressures. Mondi expects a limited direct impact from tariffs, with just 2 per cent to 3 per cent of revenue tied to US exports, but it remained cautious about the broader effect on trade flows, consumer sentiment and supply chains.<\/p>\n

Shares in Mondi fell 5 per cent, or 61p, to \u00a311.07.<\/p>\n

St James\u2019s Place net inflows double<\/p>\n

The wealth manager reported that net inflows doubled to \u00a33.8 billion in the first half of the year, helped by rising demand for financial advice and renewed foreign interest in the UK markets.<\/p>\n

Funds under management climbed to a record \u00a3198.5 billion at the end of June, from \u00a3190.2 billion at the end of last year.<\/p>\n

St James\u2019s Place announced an \u00a384.5 million release from its provisions for redress regarding ongoing client service charges. The company has changed its fee structure after pressure from regulators and clients about high charges. After tax, the figures came to \u00a363.4 million, which will be returned to shareholders via a share buyback.<\/p>\n

Funds under management and flows were ahead of forecasts and the shares rose 5 per cent, or 61p, to \u00a312.30. The shares have risen nearly 80 per cent over the past year.<\/p>\n

FTSE 100 hits new intraday high<\/p>\n

London\u2019s leading share index rose to a new intraday high at the start trading this morning, buoyed a flurry of strong corporate results.<\/p>\n

The FTSE 100 advanced 43 points, or 0.48 per cent, to 9,180.54, above its previous intraday high of 9,163.24 on July 27. If it maintains this winning streak it will closed at a new high. The previous record was 9,138.37 on Thursday last week.<\/p>\n

Rolls-Royce was the biggest gainer after the aero-engine maker reported first-half profits that more than doubled and raised its full-year guidance.<\/p>\n

Pest control company Rentokil Initial climbed after first-half adjusted profits were ahead of market expectations, and Schroders, the fund manager, was higher on upbeat first-half results with gross inflows rising 8 per cent year on year.<\/p>\n

President Trump\u2019s decision to put a 50 per cent import tariff on copper is weighing on the miner Antofagasta, the biggest faller on the index. Anglo American and Rio Tinto were also down.<\/p>\n

Haleon, the consumer goods group, fell after it lowered its full-year revenue growth forecast following a slowdown in demand in North America in its first half.<\/p>\n

Its shares fell 4.3% in early trading.<\/p>\n

Shell profits beat expectations\"Shell<\/p>\n

Shell was hit by a weaker performance at its gas trading business<\/p>\n

CHRISTOPHER NEUNDORF\/EPA<\/p>\n

The oil giant said a weaker performance at its gas trading business and lower liquefied natural gas prices drove a 32 per cent year-on-year decline in adjusted profits to $4.3 billion during the second quarter. However, that was ahead of the $3.7 billion that City analysts had forecast. The energy group also announced a fresh $3.5 billion round of share buybacks.<\/p>\n

In other corporate news:<\/p>\n

Haleon: Organic revenues at the consumer goods group behind Sensodyne toothpaste and Centrum multivitamins grew 3.2 per cent in the first half of the year, a fraction less than the 3.4 per cent forecast. Operating profit rose 9.9 per cent to \u00a31.24 billion over the period, in line with City expectations.<\/p>\n

London Stock Exchange: The financial data and trading group reported a better-that-expected rise in operating profit to \u00a31.06 billion in the six months to the end of June, up from \u00a3812 million over the same period last year. Total income rose 6.4 per cent to \u00a34.67 billion. The group also announced plans to buy back a further \u00a31 billion of its own shares.<\/p>\n

Rentokil Initial: Pre-tax profits at the FTSE 100 pest control group slipped 8.4 per cent to $444 million in the first six months of the year, on revenue up 3 per cent to $3.36 billion. In May Rentokil announced that Andy Ransom was to step down as chief executive<\/a> after 12 years as it overhauled its executive team in an attempt to improve its troubled US business.<\/p>\n

Anglo American posts loss amid restructuring\"The<\/p>\n

The diamond market is \u201cchallenging\u201d<\/p>\n

ALAMY<\/p>\n

A \u201cchallenging\u201d rough diamond market and losses from the sale of its platinum mining arm pushed Anglo American to a $1.9 billion loss, as the company continued its radical restructuring.<\/p>\n

The FTSE 100 mining group said underlying earnings declined by 20 per cent to just under $3 billion during the first half of the year, hit by the continued downturn in diamond prices and weaker copper production. However, that was better than the $2.9 billion that analysts had forecast.<\/p>\n

It completed the spin-off of Valterra Platinum in May on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, retaining a 20 per cent stake that it intends to divest over time. <\/p>\n

The company is just months away from a deadline to either sell or spin-off its coking coal and platinum mining operations as well as its trophy diamonds business, in a radical restructuring plan set out by Duncan Wanblad, its chief executive, to fend off a takeover approach from BHP. <\/p>\n

Just Group recommends \u00a32.4bn takeover offer<\/p>\n

The specialist retirement insurer\u2019s board has recommended that shareholders accept a \u00a32.4 billion, 220p-a-share bid from Canada\u2019s Brookfield, one of the world\u2019s biggest investment firms.<\/p>\n

Just Group, which was created eight years ago by the merger of Just Retirement and Partnership Assurance, has long been at the centre of takeover speculation.<\/p>\n

The offer from Brookfield Wealth Solutions, which was spun off from Brookfield Corporation in 2021 but remains part of it, is at a 75 per cent premium to Just Group\u2019s closing share price on July 30.<\/p>\n

The deal comes a month after Brookfield Wealth Solutions announced plans to enter the UK pension risk transfer market.<\/p>\n

Rolls-Royce profits more than double\"Rolls-Royce<\/p>\n

Rolls-Royce profits and revenue jumped<\/p>\n

PA<\/p>\n

The aerospace engineer raised its underlying operating profit guidance for the year after first-half profits more than doubled.<\/p>\n

Pre-tax profits rose to \u00a34.84 billion from \u00a31.42 billion, and revenue increased to \u00a39.06 billion from \u00a38.18 billion.<\/p>\n

Tufan Erginbilgic, the chief executive who has led a turnaround at the FTSE 100 group, said the better performance was \u201cdespite the challenges of the supply chain and tariffs\u201d during the first half of the year.<\/p>\n

Rolls now expects underlying operating profit of \u00a33.1 billion to \u00a33.2 billion, up from \u00a32.7 billion to \u00a32.9 billion previously.<\/p>\n

Shares in the company have risen nearly 70 per cent since the start of the year.<\/p>\n

Unilever ice cream demerger set for November\"The<\/p>\n

The new business includes the Magnum brand<\/p>\n

EPA\/JIM LO SCALZO<\/p>\n

Consumer goods giant Unilever has completed the operational separation of its ice cream business and it is on track to demerge the division in mid-November.<\/p>\n

The ice cream business, which includes Magnum and Ben & Jerry\u2019s, reported impressive underlying sales growth of 5.9 per cent for its first half, the company said in its interim results.<\/p>\n

Unilever announced last year that it planned to spin off the unit. This morning it said it would keep a stake of no more than 20 per cent in the demerged business, which is to be named The Magnum Ice Cream Company.<\/p>\n

In February, it chose the Amsterdam stock exchange for the primary listing for the business. It will have secondary listings in London and New York, generating more than \u20ac8 billion in annual revenue.<\/p>\n

Unilever reported total underlying sales growth of 3.4 per cent in the first six months of the year, a fraction higher than the City had forecast, with volume growth of 1.5 per cent.<\/p>\n

Next raises guidance after strong sales\"Next<\/p>\n

The high street fashion retailer raised its annual profit outlook for the third time in five months after reporting better-than-expected second-quarter figures.<\/p>\n

Sales outperformed in the UK and overseas, Next said. In Britain, they were helped by the hot weather and trading disruption at major rival Marks & Spencer after a cyberattack.<\/p>\n

In the thirteen weeks to July 26, full price sales rose 10.5 per cent from the same period last year, and compared to previous guidance of a 6.5 per cent rise.<\/p>\n

Next increased its full-year guidance for pre-tax profit by \u00a325 million to \u00a31.1 billion.<\/p>\n

Business confidence rises<\/p>\n

Businesses plan to embark on a hiring spree amid a \u201ccautiously optimistic\u201d outlook for the UK economy despite the \u00a325 billion rise in payroll taxes, a survey released overnight by Lloyds Bank has revealed.<\/p>\n

The index of hiring intentions produced by Lloyds Bank climbed to its highest level in ten years in July, driven by an improvement in attitudes toward recruitment within the services sector.<\/p>\n

Overall, the business confidence index jumped by one point to 52 per cent, the strongest reading in almost a decade and the third successive month that optimism has improved.<\/p>\n

Standard Chartered profits jump\"Standard<\/p>\n

Standard Chartered beat analysts\u2019 forecasts<\/p>\n

REUTERS<\/p>\n

Standard Chartered, the lender that makes most of its revenue in Asia and Africa, reported a higher-than-expected 26 per cent jump in first-half profits and announced a further $1.3 billion share buyback. <\/p>\n

Strong performances in wealth, markets and global banking lifted pre-tax profit to $4.38 billion in the first six months of the year, up from $3.49 billion a year earlier. Analysts had forecast a rise to $3.83 billion.<\/p>\n

Despite the strong results, Standard Chartered kept its key performance targets largely unchanged, saying the global economy could suffer from the broader fallout of President Trump\u2019s trade policy.<\/p>\n

The bank slightly raised its guidance for income this year, saying it now expected growth to be at the bottom of a 5 per cent to 7 per cent range rather than below it.<\/p>\n

Asian markets: China slides, Japan rises<\/p>\n

Stock markets in Asia were mixed following downbeat economic data in China and more optimistic news in Japan.<\/p>\n

China\u2019s SSE Composite and Hong Kong\u2019s Hang Seng fell 0.7 per cent and 1 per cent, respectively, with sentiment hit by official PMI gauges showing weaker-than-expected economic activity during July. <\/p>\n

However, Japan\u2019s Nikkei 225 rose 1 per cent after the central bank kept interest rates on hold, as expected, but revised up its inflation forecasts and was less gloomy about the economy, raising hopes of rate increases later in the year.<\/p>\n

South Korea\u2019s Kospi fell 0.5 per cent after a trade deal with the US. It means goods sent to America face a 15 per cent tariff. Shares in carmakers fell because while the tariff was cut from a potential 25 per cent, it removed the 2.5 per cent advantage in tariffs that South Korean carmakers had enjoyed over Japanese rivals under the Korea-US free trade deal.<\/p>\n

Overnight, Wall Street closed down after the Fed held interest rates. The FTSE 100 is forecast to open up 5 points. It closed at 9,136.94 last night, near its all-time high of 9,138.37, hit last Thursday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The S&P 500 and Nasdaq have opened at new highs, lifted by strong results from Meta and Microsoft…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":37809,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[84,467,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-37808","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-markets","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-markets","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37808","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37808"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37808\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37809"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37808"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37808"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37808"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}