Rio Tinto (RIO.L)
Shares in Rio Tinto fell 2% in London after the miner confirmed it was holding talks with Glencore (GLEN.L) about a potential tie-up that would create the world’s largest mining company, reviving discussions that collapsed over a year ago. Glencore shares were up by almost 8%.
If agreed, a deal between the two London-listed groups would vault the combined company ahead of industry leader BHP (BHP.L) and create a global copper powerhouse with operations spanning multiple continents.
“Rio Tinto and Glencore have been engaging in preliminary discussions about a possible combination of some or all of their businesses, which could include an all-share merger between Rio Tinto and Glencore,” Rio Tinto said in a statement early on Friday.
“The parties’ current expectation is that any merger transaction would be effected through the acquisition of Glencore by Rio Tinto by way of a court-sanctioned scheme of arrangement.”
On an equity basis, the combined group would be valued at about £130bn, rising to roughly £190bn when debt and cash are included.
The companies held merger talks in late 2024 but negotiations broke down over disagreements including valuation and the future of Glencore’s coal assets.
Read more: FTSE 100 LIVE: Markets in the green as talks restart over mining mega-merger
Derren Nathan, head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “Details are thin on the ground, but a deal could see Rio scoop up some or all of Glencore’s assets. A full combination would create a global leader in multiple industrial metals including iron ore and transition metals such as copper, cobalt and lithium.
But M&A isn’t an automatic path to extracting value for investors, with Rio’s Australian shares down 6% and Glencore ending Thursday in negative territory. Under the UK’s takeover code, the management teams now have until 5 February to outline a compelling case for both sets of shareholders.
“The diverse asset base and likely synergies have the potential to provide further protection against commodity price fluctuations, but just how Glencore’s coal and trading arms fit in with Rio’s business model, and push for improved sustainability credentials, are key questions to answer.”
Founded in 1873 by a group of British miners, Rio Tinto is significantly larger than Glencore, which has built its business through decades of trading and acquisitions.
Ford (F)
Ford was the number one trending ticker on Yahoo Finance this Friday morning after Piper Sandler upgraded the shares to Overweight from Neutral and raised its price target to $16 from $11.
The upgrade followed the automaker’s announcement that it plans to introduce “eyes-off driving technology” on an upcoming $30,000 (£22,360) all-electric vehicle in 2028.
Piper Sandler described Ford’s retreat from aggressive electric vehicle expansion as a positive shift. The firm said the company’s next generation EV platform “aligns with the modern manufacturing philosophy” of Tesla and Chinese carmakers, according to financial publication, TheFly.
The bank said Ford’s strategic realignment should improve performance in 2026 and 2027.
Analysts were also encouraged by Ford’s plans for a Level 3 autonomous driving system by 2028, built on a new EV platform. They said a successful expansion into autonomy software could open up new sources of revenue and profit for the group.
The Dearborn-based car manufacturer said in December that it expects to incur $19.5bn in EV-related charges after scrapping plans for several large electric models in an effort to curb losses. The company said most of the charges would be booked in the fourth quarter of 2025, with the remainder spread across 2026 and 2027.
Shares in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) rose overnight after the chipmaker reported quarterly revenue that exceeded analysts’ expectations.
The world’s largest contract chipmaker said fourth quarter revenue reached T$1,046.08bn, equivalent to $33.05bn (£24.5bn), according to Reuters calculations based on the company’s monthly disclosures.
The result beat market forecasts and marked an increase of 20.45% from a year earlier, driven by surging demand linked to AI applications.
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An LSEG SmartEstimate, compiled from 20 analysts, had forecast fourth quarter revenue of T$1,035.913bn, or $32.73bn.
TSMC is a key supplier to some of the world’s largest technology groups, including Nvidia (NVDA) and Apple (AAPL).
Shares of China-based AI start-up MiniMax Group more than doubled on their first day of trading in Hong Kong on Friday, making it the second major Chinese developer of large language models to list publicly.
The company raised HKD4.8bn (£460m/$620m) in its initial public offering, outperforming local rival Zhipu AI, which listed in Hong Kong a day earlier and rose 13% on its debut.
MiniMax shares closed at HKD345, up 109% from the offer price of HKD165.
Both MiniMax and Zhipu are part of China’s so called AI tigers, a group of start-ups developing large language models intended to rival US groups such as OpenAI, which they have now beaten to the public markets.
Founded in 2022, MiniMax is backed by investors including Alibaba Group (BABA) and Tencent Holdings (0700.HK). The company focuses on artificial intelligence applications such as chatbots, image generation and video synthesis.
Sainsbury’s (SBRY.L)
Shares in Sainsbury’s fell over 4% at the start of trading in London after the supermarket reported weaker than expected sales growth over the key Christmas period.
Like for like sales excluding fuel across the group, which includes Sainsbury’s supermarkets and the Argos catalogue business, rose 3.4% in the quarter to 3 January, below analysts’ forecasts, according to Bloomberg.
Simon Roberts, chief executive of J Sainsbury, said the company had gained grocery market share for the sixth consecutive Christmas, adding: “Fresh food sales grew by 8% and Taste the Difference was the fastest growing Premium Own Label brand in the market, with our best ever ranges of Christmas innovation driving Taste the Difference Fresh sales growth of 15%.”
Grocery sales at Sainsbury’s supermarkets increased by 5.4% during the quarter, while sales of general merchandise and clothing fell 1.1%.
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Argos also underperformed, with sales at the retailer declining by 1% over the period.
Roberts said the business was continuing to make progress, telling investors: “The Argos transformation plan continues to make progress, delivering volume growth across the whole quarter despite significant headwinds from online traffic trends, a tough and promotional general merchandise market and weak consumer confidence.”
Industry data published on Tuesday showed Sainsbury’s ended 2025 with a UK grocery market share of 16.3%, up 30 basis points on the year.
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