{"id":93000,"date":"2026-07-29T13:46:57","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T13:46:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/93000\/"},"modified":"2026-07-29T13:46:57","modified_gmt":"2026-07-29T13:46:57","slug":"ftse-100-live-unilever-leads-index-close-to-record-highs-us-semi-sell-off-deepens-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/93000\/","title":{"rendered":"FTSE 100 Live: Unilever leads index close to record highs, US semi sell-off deepens"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"FTSE<\/a> FTSE 100 Live: Unilever leads index close to record highs, US semi sell-off deepens Proactive uses images sourced from Shutterstock <\/p>\n

FTSE 100 up 89\u00a0points to\u00a010,871 <\/p>\n

Unilever jumps after best quarter in a decade <\/p>\n

Barclays and Games Workshop fall on results <\/p>\n

US Fed meeting begins today\u00a0 <\/p>\n

5.15pm: Stocks rise <\/p>\n

It was another winning day for London stocks, with the FTSE 100 up 89 points at 10,871 as Unilever’s almost 5% surge offset the global chip selloff. <\/p>\n

“The euphoria of May and June is long gone, but the selloff is still mostly limited to these tech sectors. Oil’s ongoing slump provides a cushion for a broad swathe of other sectors, but it is unlikely that these can remain immune for long,” IG chief market analyst Chris Beauchamp said. <\/p>\n

“Rising CDS prices for tech heavyweights are a sign that this has the potential to turn into something quite nasty, and then in that eventuality few stocks will be able to remain immune.” <\/p>\n

4.18pm: Apple number one, Nvidia number two <\/p>\n

Looking across the pond, Apple has overtaken Nvidia as the largest listed company, and today has seen its market valuation reach $5 trillion.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

Nvidia shares fell over 4% yesterday and were down another 1.8% in early trading today, but are back in positive territory. <\/p>\n

Apple was up 1.3% in early trade but has eased back to a 0.7% gain, with its earnings due on Thursday.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

The stellar stock market debut of Chinese chipmaker\u00a0CXMT this was is part of this. <\/p>\n

Partly, it “shows China is now a major player in the chip-making space, and it threatens US dominance of AI”, says analyst Kathleen Brooks at XTB.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

This is “shaking up the AI trade” this week, while the increase in competition should be “a good thing and could bring down the cost of the AI infrastructure build out”, she adds. <\/p>\n

“Of course, Chinese AI dominance could come under the radar of US tariffs, however, Apple has requested that CXMT is not included on the US trade blacklist, which suggests that Apple is willing to expand its usage of Chinese chips.” <\/p>\n

3.36pm: FTSE gaining more ground <\/p>\n

The FTSE 100 is continuing to gain ground, having enjoyed a\u00a0shot in the arm since 2pm as US investors woke up.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

Unilever is up 8.5% now and Croda 6.5% after both posted results earlier.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

GSK has climbed 6.3% after announcing earnings at midday and announced extra investment in UK R&D.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

Diageo is up 5.6% from LVMH read-across, with drinks bottlers\u00a0Coca-Cola Europacific and\u00a0Coca-Cola HBC up 5% and 2.6% after US giant Coke’s earnings<\/a>\u00a0across the pond.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n

Other gainers include RELX, Experian, Sage and Compass, all up 5-4%.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

At 10,876, the index is now a good day’s distance from its all time high of\u00a010,934.94 from February.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

3.09pm: GSK expands operations in Cambridge <\/p>\n

As well as its half-year numbers, GSK has announced a \u00a3400 million investment in a new R&D centre for more than 1,000 scientists at its biomedical campus in Cambridge. <\/p>\n

The drugmaker says\u00a0the move puts its researchers closer to the university, as well as hospitals and biotech companies in the city, a proximity that directors expect to produce “faster, bolder medicines discovery”. <\/p>\n

The less celebratory part is the closure of its Stevenage R&D site, with employees moving to Cambridge and Ware by 2029. <\/p>\n

“This investment will accelerate our R&D and help us deliver new, competitive products. It integrates GSK further into one of the world’s leading centres of knowledge and demonstrates the attractiveness of the UK’s life sciences ecosystem,” says\u00a0CEO Luke Miels. <\/p>\n

Chief scientific officer Tony Wood says the city has “one of the world’s best life sciences ecosystems, with leading universities, hospitals and biotech companies… [and so] provides exceptional opportunities for collaboration”. <\/p>\n

The\u00a0site is currently in development by Prologis, the company buying Segro. <\/p>\n

2.53pm: US chips stocks tumble, but Dow rises <\/p>\n

Wall Street has opened with stocks pulling in two directions again, in short Dow Jones up and Nasdaq down.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

The blue-chip Dow has gained 332 points, or 0.6%, while the Nasdaq has tumbled 1.2% and the S&P 500 is down 0.2%. <\/p>\n

On the Dow, paints maker Sherwin-Williams is top of the tree, jumping 7%, with Coca-Cola climbing 6.2%, while Amgen, Salesforce and Home Depot also well bid. <\/p>\n

The Nasdaq 100’s biggest fallers are again semiconductors as the sweeping sell-off deepens, with Western Digital, Lumentum, Seagate and SanDisk all plunging more than 11%. <\/p>\n

Micron, Lam Research, Marvell, AMD, Arm and Applied Materials lost 7-10%, as concerns over AI financing and Chinese competition intensified. <\/p>\n

2.12pm: Diageo boost from LVMH <\/p>\n

Diageo shares are up 3.2% today, and that’s probably to do with strong sales trends from LVMH’s wine & spirits division, where cognac and spirits volumes turned positive in the past quarter.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

LVMH’s Wine & Spirits division reported Q2 organic sales +5%, significantly ahead of the City\u00a0consensus <\/p>\n

UBS analyst Sanjeet Aujla says the stronger margin at Mo\u00ebt Hennessy creates “upside risk” for Diageo’s associate income, given its 34% stake in the business. <\/p>\n

The \u20ac110 million contribution attributable to Diageo could add around 2% to second-half earnings per share and 1% to the full-year figure. Improving Hennessy demand in China also helped offset continued weakness in the US cognac market. <\/p>\n

1.14pm: Straight story <\/p>\n

Oman has presented a proposal to Iran for a joint regional mechanism to manage the Strait of Hormuz with voluntary fees, Reuters is reporting, whereby\u00a0Tehran would not exercise sole control of the shipping route. <\/p>\n

The proposal is based on a similar scheme used in\u00a0the Strait of Malacca off the south coast of Malaysia, where those who use the strait contribute to fund navigation, environmental protection and search and rescue. <\/p>\n

Oman’s suggestion has regional backing, Reuters said.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

And as everyone by now knows, the Strait of Hormuz before the war carried a fifth of global energy supplies.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

12.40pm: Copper bottomed <\/p>\n

China could put some support under copper prices, Citi’s Tom Mulqueen\u00a0reckon<\/a>s. <\/p>\n

The analyst is reiterating his bullish outlook for the orange metal, targeting US$14,500 a tonne over the next three months and US$15,000 by year-end. <\/p>\n

He points out that\u00a0prices have held firm despite weakness across other commodities, pointing to falling visible inventories outside the US, particularly in China, alongside continued pressure on global mine production and a limited increase in scrap supply despite higher prices. <\/p>\n

Potential disruption to Chilean output and constraints in sulphur supplies could provide further support to copper prices, Mulqueen suggests. <\/p>\n

12.24pm: GSK beats expectations <\/p>\n

GSK has put out results in the midday slot it prefers (to benefit US investors?), beating earnings expectations as growth in speciality medicines and vaccines helping the drugmaker reaffirm its 2026 guidance. <\/p>\n

Second-quarter sales rose 5% to \u00a38.4 billion, versus the \u00a38.25 billion average analyst forecast, while core earnings per share climbed 9% to 50.5p,\u00a0versus the 46.8p expected. <\/p>\n

Specialty Medicines led the performance with sales growth of 14%. Respiratory, Immunology & Inflammation advanced 19%, Oncology rose 17% and HIV increased 10%. <\/p>\n

Vaccines revenue grew 8%, supported by a more than doubling of sales from respiratory syncytial virus vaccine Arexvy. Meningitis vaccines increased 21%, while Shingrix rose 3%. <\/p>\n

General Medicines declined 9%, however, with Trelegy sales down 7%. <\/p>\n

GSK expects full-year sales and core operating profit growth to finish in the upper half of their respective 3%-5% and 7%-9% ranges. Core earnings growth is expected in the lower half of its 7%-9% range. <\/p>\n

12.02pm: Admiral admired <\/p>\n

Admiral\u00a0shares are second on the blue-chip leaderboard, up 4.5% after a Citi upgrade<\/a>, with analyst James Shuck arguing that market forecasts for earnings have become too cautious. <\/p>\n

The US investment bank has moved to a ‘buy’ rating, saying the motor insurer has “drip fed” small inflation-adjusted premium increases during early 2026, with the benefit expected to build from the second half. <\/p>\n

Shuck compared conditions in UK motor insurance with a “frog boiling slowly”, the description once used by Admiral co-founder Henry Engelhardt for the market two decades ago. <\/p>\n

11.34am: EY fined over failures in Made.com audit <\/p>\n

Ernst & Young (EY) has been fined \u00a31.2 million by the\u00a0Financial Reporting Council\u00a0(FRC) over the audit of the collapsed furniture retailer\u00a0Made.com, which delisted in 2023. <\/p>\n

The UK’s accounting regulator issued a fine of just under \u00a31.2 million to the accounting giant (reduced from \u00a31.8 million due to “mitigating factors”), with a \u00a349,000 fine and “severe reprimand” for Julie Carlyle, the partner who signed off on the audit. <\/p>\n

Following an investigation, the FRC said the audit failed to challenge the accuracy and reliability of the company’s own numbers. <\/p>\n

Made.com called in the administrators less than two years after floating in London. <\/p>\n

Penrose Foss, executive counsel at the FRC, said: “In this case the auditors relied on management’s forecasts without applying sufficient challenge or carrying out adequate testing to obtain sufficient evidence. <\/p>\n

“Absent such challenge and evidence, there is a heightened risk that financial statements present an inaccurate picture of a company’s financial position.” <\/p>\n

10.54am: Unilever gets more praise\u00a0 <\/p>\n

Unilever delivered a “stand out performance”, says Barclays analyst Warren Ackerman, driven by a big beat from home and personal care that was broad based. <\/p>\n

Emerging markets were “stronger than even we hoped” but the US was also “very dynamic”. <\/p>\n

Q2 underlying sales growth (USG) of 5.8% with volume growth of 5.5% was ahead of even Barclays’ top-of-range forecast of 4.5%, with the bottom end of USG range also upgraded for the full year. <\/p>\n

“The one softer area was Foods, where management acknowledged weaker developed market conditions and increased competition in US condiments but have very specific plans to improve the performance from here.” <\/p>\n

Ackerman says there is “scant picking for the bears who can really only focus on Foods and the low pricing”.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

10.11am: Oil prices soften further <\/p>\n

Oil prices are taking another leg lower, with Brent crude falling to $85.70 a barrel, while the FTSE 100 has moved to within 100 points of its all-time high from February.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

Reports have been saying that more oil tankers are heading toward Egypt to pick up Saudi crude to avoid the Red Sea threat poised by the Houthis. <\/p>\n

Market analyst Lale Akoner at eToro says: “Oil’s sharp drop after the US paused military strikes against Iran suggests investors are becoming more confident that diplomacy can prevent a prolonged disruption to global energy supplies. But we think that the bigger story may lie outside the Middle East. <\/p>\n

“China has quietly been the world’s biggest shock absorber. By sharply reducing crude imports, it has helped offset much of the supply disruption and prevented oil prices from rising much further. <\/p>\n

“If those imports begin to recover as economic activity improves, oil prices could move higher even without a fresh escalation in the conflict.” <\/p>\n

Akoner says this enables the focus for investors to shift beyond the latest geopolitical headlines onto ‘normal’ macro and corporate news. <\/p>\n

“While diplomacy has reduced the immediate risk premium, the next move in oil may depend just as much on when China returns to the market as on events in the Strait of Hormuz. Hence, lower oil prices may reflect improving sentiment today, but they do not necessarily mean the supply picture has fully normalised.” <\/p>\n

9.19am: FTSE held back by Barclays and Games Workshop <\/p>\n

The FTSE 100 is struggling to make headway this morning, up seven points at\u00a010,789. Other mainland European benchmarks are up a bit more.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

Gains for Unilever and Croda off the back of results are being offset by falls at Barclays and\u00a0Games Workshop. <\/p>\n

The disappointment in Barclays has hit other lenders too, with Lion Finance, NatWest and Lloyds down 2.5-1.3%.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

It was a “slightly messy set of numbers”, says\u00a0Jefferies analyst Jonathan Pierce, with an investment banking income beat partly offset by small misses elsewhere. <\/p>\n

“There are also some additional costs (arguably one-off?) coming through in H2 that may not be in estimates,” he says, while balancing that by pointing out that shareholder distributions are well ahead of estimates and the group remains “committed” and “confident” in its 2028 targets.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

Other brakes on progress come from oil giants Shell and BP, down 1.1% and 0.8%, along with Centrica, AstraZeneca and Polar Capital<\/a> Tech Trust.\u00a0\u00a0 <\/p>\n

8.55am: Openreach\u00a0discount scheme faces regulatory block <\/p>\n

Regulator Ofcom says it could block BT-owned Openreach’s discount scheme for the first time over concerns it could squeeze rival broadband networks out of the market. <\/p>\n

Network operator Openreach has planned to offer discounts of up to \u00a39.50 a month for 30 months to providers when they bring additional full-fibre customers onto its network. <\/p>\n

Ofcom said in a statement this morning that it\u00a0provisionally found that the charges were not “fair and reasonable”, warning that smaller alternative networks might be unable to match them while recovering their costs. <\/p>\n

“Openreach must be able to compete, but they cannot use their significant market power to drive other networks out of the market,” Ofcom’s Natalie Black said. <\/p>\n

Other planned Openreach offers will not face intervention. The consultation closes on 27 August, with a final decision expected by the end of September. <\/p>\n

BT shares were up 1.6% initially but are flatter now.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

8.37am: Warhammered? <\/p>\n

It’s not clear why Games Workshop is down over 5% on these record results.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

Jefferies analyst Andrew Wade sees “little in here not to like”, noting that pre-tax profit beat May guidance by 4%, while core operating profit rose 17% at constant currencies. <\/p>\n

Trade accounts grew 12%, MyWarhammer customers climbed 21% and Warhammer+ subscriptions increased 16%, he points out.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

It could be the licensing hangover from Space Marine 2, as Wade lists one of the key risks to his ‘buy’ rating is that the animation “one-off boost was bigger than expected”. <\/p>\n

8.15am: FTSE 100 edges higher at open, Unilever at front <\/p>\n

The FTSE 100 has begun the session with a small step higher, edging up just over nine points to\u00a010,791. <\/p>\n

Dragging the index into positive territory is Unilever’s early 5.5% gain on the back of its best sales quarter in a decade.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

Other risers include fellow consumer goods group Reckitt Bckiser, up 2%, as well as Diageo, and tobacco companies Imperial Brands and BAT.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

Barclays is down 4.8% despite its buyback, while\u00a0Games Workshop is down on its results too.\u00a0 <\/p>\n

7.52am: Barclays adds another \u00a31bn buyback <\/p>\n

Barclays upgraded its 2026 income target and announced a \u00a31 billion share buyback<\/a> after stronger investment banking and interest income lifted second-quarter profit. <\/p>\n

The FTSE 100 bank reported group income of \u00a38.3 billion in the second quarter, up 16% on a year ago, while pre-tax profit rose 31% to \u00a33.3 billion. Return on tangible equity in the quarter improved to 16.1% from 12.3% a year earlier and\u00a013.5% in Q1. <\/p>\n

Investment banking revenue rose 20% to \u00a33.96 billion, beating the \u00a33.66 billion City consensus, as global markets income and advisory fees increased. Fixed-income, currencies and commodities revenue of \u00a31.47 billion fell slightly short of the \u00a31.51 billion forecast. <\/p>\n

7.31am: Unilever’s best sales in a decade <\/p>\n

Unilever has nudged its full-year outlook\u00a0upwards after\u00a0posting its strongest quarterly volume growth in more than a decade<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The consumer goods group reported underlying sales rose 5.8% in the second quarter, ahead of the 4.14% City analyst consensus and up from 3.8% in the first quarter. Sales volumes increased 5.5% against expectations of 2.29% and revenue rose 3.8% to \u20ac13.05 billion, topping the \u20ac12.87 billion forecast. <\/p>\n

Chief executive Fernando Fernandez called it “the best volume quarter at Unilever in over a decade”, with Power Brands and emerging markets leading the improvement. <\/p>\n

Unilever now expects full-year underlying sales growth of 4% to 6%, with volume growth of around 3%. It previously expected sales growth at the lower end of the\u00a0multi-year 4-6% range and at least 2% volume growth. <\/p>\n

FTSE 100 Live: Lower start expected <\/p>\n

The FTSE 100 is expected to open slightly lower on Tuesday as oil prices extend their sharp retreat and technology stocks come under renewed pressure. <\/p>\n

Futures point to a 13-point decline for London’s blue-chip index, which yesterday added 45.5 points to finish the day at 10,781.75. <\/p>\n

while on mainland Europe, Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 are seen opening 0.1% and 0.2% lower, respectively. <\/p>\n

Oil prices have continued to fall after the US halted its attacks on Iran since Friday and President Donald Trump said there was “a good chance” of reaching a deal with Tehran. <\/p>\n

Having stood at $100 last week, Brent crude fell below $87\u00a0a barrel in the early hours and is now at just under $88. <\/p>\n

The fall could weigh further on heavyweight FTSE 100 energy companies but ease pressure on inflation and bond yields. <\/p>\n

Iran has denied that talks are taking place, however, leaving doubts over whether the retreat will last. <\/p>\n

Swissquote analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya says\u00a0Trump’s statement could be “another empty promise” or a verbal intervention intended to halt the rise in US yields. The US 10-year yield has fallen from a recent peak of 4.70%, while the two-year yield has retreated to 4.30% as the Federal Reserve begins its two-day policy meeting. <\/p>\n

An initial boost from the drop in energy prices proved short-lived as Wall Street offered a mixed handover, with the Dow Jones up 0.5% overnight, while the S&P 500 was broadly flat and the Nasdaq fell 0.2%. <\/p>\n

Technology shares, especially the chip sector, remain under pressure, with Nasdaq futures down 1.1% this morning, after Nvidia dropped more than 4% and ASML slumped almost 6% overnight. S&P 500 futures are 0.4% lower, while the Dow is seen roughly flat. <\/p>\n

In UK company news, results are due from Unilever, Barclays, Games Workshop, Unite, Croda, SSP, Man Group and many more.\u00a0 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FTSE 100 Live: Unilever leads index close to record highs, US semi sell-off deepens Proactive uses images sourced…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":93001,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[20694],"tags":[7077,24552,320,7923,22715,12213],"class_list":["post-93000","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-unilever","tag-oil-prices","tag-copper-prices","tag-ftse-100","tag-games-workshop","tag-market-valuation","tag-unilever"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/117003579728429600","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93000","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93000"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93000\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/93001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93000"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}