Wall Street and FTSE advance as US unemployment rises and jobs report beats expectations

Wall Street opened higher on Thursday as September’s delayed nonfarm-payrolls report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) prompted traders to ramp up bets on the US Federal Reserve cutting interest rates. The US economy added 119,000 jobs during the month, the latest data showed — well above the modest gain of 51,000 expected.

The BLS’s monthly jobs reports are widely watched, giving investors an overview of the health of the US labour market. Money markets indicate there is a 37% chance that the Federal Reserve will lower borrowing costs next month, compared to 29% before the data.

Elsewhere, the US unemployment rate rose more than expected in September to 4.4%. The number of people classed as unemployed rose to 7.603 million, up from 7.384 million in August.

Seema Shah, chief global strategist at Principal Asset Management, said: “Equities and bonds seem to be picking the parts of the jobs release they like. Equities like the fact that payrolls were stronger than expected, suggesting the economy is still on a firm footing, while the bond market likes the rise in unemployment and slowdown in wage growth which may keep the case for a December Fed cut just about alive.

“Overall though, in the face of so much FOMC hawkishness and without any further jobs reports ahead of the December FOMC meeting, today’s jobs release is unlikely to tip the balance to a December cut.”

Meanwhile, the FTSE 100 (^FTSE) and European stocks climbed higher as a relief rally swept markets following Nvidia’s (NVDA) earnings update on Wednesday.

The US chipmaker changed the sour market mood after revealing that sales rose 62% year-on-year, thanks to a huge demand for its chips to power AI systems. The company reported $51.2bn in revenue from data-centre sales, beating expectations of $49bn.

Nvidia also projected revenue of $65bn plus or minus 2%, while Wall Street was expecting revenue of $62bn. It added that Blackwell chip sales “are off the charts, and cloud GPUs are sold out”.

Boss Jensen Huang told analysts on Wednesday night: “There’s been a lot of talk about an AI bubble. From our vantage point, we see something very different. As a reminder, Nvidia is unlike any other accelerator. We excel at every phase of AI from pre-training to post-training to inference.”

It also came as Swiss bank UBS (UBS) forecast in its 2026 outlook that AI spending commitments could almost double compared to existing plans

It predicted that AI capital expenditure will remain a driver of near-term growth in the markets, pointing to the opportunities in both agentic and physical AI.

UBS said $4.7tn would be spent on global AI capex between 2026 and 2030, with $2.4tn already planned based on more than 40 announcements disclosed this year alone. It expects $571bn of this spending to come in 2026, up from a previous forecast of £500bn.

London’s benchmark index (^FTSE) was 0.7% higher in afternoon trade.
Germany’s DAX (^GDAXI) advanced 1.1% and the CAC (^FCHI) in Paris also headed 1% into the green.
The pan-European STOXX 600 (^STOXX) was up 0.9%.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) led the way higher, rising 2.2%, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) was up nearly 1.7%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI), which includes fewer tech stocks, rose 1.3%, or over 500 points. Stocks on Wall Street had seen a modest rebound on Wednesday, breaking a four-day losing streak.
The pound was 0.5% up against the US dollar (GBPUSD=X) at 1.3117

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US earnings growth slows
Today’s US jobs data also revealed that average earnings growth slowed in September, in a blow to workers.

Average hourly earnings for all employees on private nonfarm payrolls rose by nine cents, or 0.2%, to $36.67 in September, down from 0.3% growth in August.

Over the past 12 months, average hourly earnings have increased by 3.8%.

Isaac Stell, investment manager at Wealth Club, said:
Delayed US jobs print comes in better than expected
The US economy added more than double the number of jobs expected in September, according to figures delayed by the government shutdown.

Some 119,000 jobs were added during the month, well above the modest gain of 51,000 positions expected by economists, per Bloomberg data.

The BLS’s monthly jobs reports are widely watched, giving investors an overview of the health of the US labor market. It also factors into the Fed’s interest rate policy decisions.

Also on Thursday, Labour Department data showed fewer than anticipated US jobless claims in the week through 15 November. The initial unemployment filings totalled 220,000 versus the 227,000 expected, according to Bloomberg data.

The report was initially due on 3 October 3, but was delayed by the 43-day shutdown of the government.
US unemployment rose more than expected in September
The US unemployment rate rose more than expected in September to 4.4%.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics released its monthly jobs report for September at 8:30 am ET on Thursday after a six-week delay due to the longest-ever government shutdown.

August’s jobs report had shown the unemployment rate stood at 4.3%.

Economists polled by Bloomberg expected the rate to remain unchanged in September, while the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago projected that it had inched up to 4.35%.
Walmart sales top expectations as it raises full-year forecasts
Walmart (WMT) stock was muted after the company reported third quarter results, showing that the world’s largest retailer still sees growth despite an uncertain consumer environment that caused some of its rivals to stumble.

Shares fell 0.2% in premarket trading after initially dipping 2%.

The company reported adjusted earnings per share of $0.62, above the $0.60 that Wall Street analysts were expecting, according to data from Bloomberg. Revenue rose 6% from the prior year to $179.5 billion, above the $177.6 billion that had been expected.

Same-store sales at its US business also topped expectations, rising 4.5% against forecasts for a 4% rise. The company reported a 1.8% rise in foot traffic and a 2.7% rise in the average ticket at its US stores.

The company also raised its guidance for the fiscal year, saying it now expects net sales to increase in the range of 4.8%-5.1%, up from 3.75%-4.75% previously.

Walmart said its adjusted earnings are expected to fall in the range of $2.58-$2.63, up from the previous expectation of $2.52-$2.62. Its wholesale business, Sam’s Club, grew 3.8%, less than the 4.8% Wall Street predicted. Walmart’s global eCommerce sales rose 27% in the quarter.

Read more here
Asda to sell off stores for £568m to shore up finances
Asda is set to sell a raft of supermarket stores and a depot in order to shore up its finances, securing £568m through sale of the sites.

It said it will lease them back and continue to operate, with two separate buyers have agreeing to purchase.

Asda stressed that all locations will continue to run as normal, with no changes for their workers.

Ten of the stores and an Asda depot in Lutterworth, Leicestershire, will be sold to US investment firm Blue Owl Capital while a further 10 will be sold to Blue Owl’s joint venture with Supermarket Income REIT (real estate investment trust).

Asda said a further four stores will be sold to London-based DTZ investors.

Both deals will see Asda rent back the properties on 25-year lease deals, with options to extend by a further ten years.

It is understood the deals are part of efforts to bolster Asda’s financial position as it continues to push through turnaround plans to improve its performance under boss Allan Leighton.

An Asda spokesman said:

It comes as the company is set to report on its trading over the third quarter and latest financial position next week.
AI spend to nearly double, says UBS
Swiss bank UBS forecast in its 2026 outlook that AI spending commitments could almost double compared to existing plans

It predicted that AI capital expenditure will remain a driver of near-term growth in the markets, pointing to the opportunities in both agentic and physical AI.

UBS said $4.7trn would be spent on global AI capex between 2026 and 2030, with $2.4trn already planned based on more than 40 announcements disclosed this year alone.

It expects $571bn of this spending to come in 2026, up from a previous forecast of £500bn.

It said:
UK sees fall of young people not in work, education or training
The number of young people not in employment, education or training has fallen slightly but remains close to a million, figures show.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the number of so-called Neets aged 16 to 24 in July to September was estimated to be 946,000, down from 948,000 in April to June.

The proportion of young people who are Neet has been rising since 2021, and the current level is the highest since 2014.

A total of 39% of the young people who were Neet in April to June 2025 were unemployed.

The remaining 61% were economically inactive, which means they were not working, not seeking work and/or not available to start work.

Historically more women than men have been Neet, but in recent years there have generally been more men who are Neet.

James Toop, chief executive of Teach First, said:

Meanwhile, TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said:
Dr Martens to raise US prices due to Trump tariffs
Shares in Dr Martens (DOCS.L) slid 10% after the iconic bootmaker warned of a multi-million pound tariff hit this year.

In half-year results, released on Thursday, the British bootmaker said that it expects a “high single digit” million-pound impact from tariffs on full-year profits. However, the company added that given the timing of its mitigation actions, it expected to offset roughly half of this impact.

Dr Martens said that it expected to see a currency headwind of approximately £10m ($13m) to group revenue and a benefit of around £2m to adjusted profit before tax.

For the first half of the year, Dr Martens delivered revenue of £322m, which was slightly lower than the £324.6m reported for the same period last year.

The company also narrowed its loss before tax to £11m versus £28.7m for the first half of last year.

Mark Crouch, market analyst for eToro, said: “Dr Martens’ half-year results offer the faint outline of a company trying to regain its footing.”

“Cash discipline remains one of the group’s few uncontroversial strengths, with debt reduced significantly,” he said. “And while these numbers don’t yet signal a full turnaround, they do suggest Dr Martens is at least beginning to regain some traction.”
Games Workshop shares surge
Shares in Games Workshop (GAW.L), the maker of the popular Warhammer game series, soared to the top of the FTSE 100 (^FTSE) on Thursday, rising by almost 13%, after the company announced it was expecting a substantial jump in sales and profits this year.

In a brief trading update, Games Workshop said:

It also announced a dividend of £1.00 per share taking dividends declared so far in 2025-26 to £3.25 per share. This is up from £1.85 a year ago.

Games Workshop was promoted to the FTSE 100 last year, just under 50 years after founders Ian Livingstone, Steve Jackson and John Peake set up the company in in 1975.
Bitcoin price edges higher as Nvidia earnings lift crypto miners
Bitcoin (BTC-USD) nudged higher on Thursday, trading near $92,000, as stronger-than-expected earnings from Nvidia (NVDA) helped lift risk assets and fuel a rally in crypto-mining stocks. The bounce comes after a volatile week marked by record bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) outflows and a brief dip below the key $90,000 level.

Nvidia’s optimistic results late Wednesday have temporarily eased fears of an AI-market slowdown. The chipmaker posted $57.01bn in third-quarter revenue, a 62% jump from a year earlier, and delivered a bullish fourth-quarter outlook.

The company’s CEO Jensen Huang said demand for its AI chips remains overwhelming, noting that “Blackwell sales are off the charts, and cloud GPUs are sold out,” with compute needs accelerating across both AI training and inference.

The upbeat outlook has sparked broad gains in pre-market trading, particularly among bitcoin-mining companies that rely heavily on high-performance GPUs. Cipher Mining (CIFR) is up 11%, IREN (IREN) has gained 8%, and Hut 8 (HUT) has risen by 6%.

The optimism helped bitcoin stabilise after a steep midweek decline driven by large-scale ETF redemptions. BlackRock’s (BLK) IBIT, the world’s largest spot bitcoin ETF, saw $523m in outflows on Wednesday, its biggest single-day withdrawal since launching in January 2024, according to Farside data. The sell-off pushed bitcoin to a local low of around $88,400, shedding all year-to-date gains.

Read the full article here
JD Sports profits to be at low end of expectations
JD Sports Fashion (JD.L) fell out of fashion with investors on Thursday, with shares falling nearly 3% after the company warned that it was “mindful of weaker near-term consumer indicators”.

In its third-quarter trading update, JD Sports reported a 1.7% dip in like-for-like group sales for the 13 weeks to 1 November. The biggest drag came from the UK, with like-for-like sales down 3.3% in the third quarter.

In its outlook, JD Sports said that it was “particularly mindful of the pressures on our core customer demographic, including rising unemployment levels, as well as near-term volatility around consumer sentiment”.

As a result, the sportswear retailer said that it expected profit before tax and adjusting items for the year to be within the lower end of current market expectations.

Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, said:
Traders braced for biggest UK bond sales since COVID
The Treasury is set to borrow £9bn more than expected this year amid mounting pressure on Rachel Reeves to balance the books in the budget next week.

According to a median estimate of dealers surveyed by Bloomberg, gilt sales are expected to top £308bn in 2025 — the highest amount of government debt issued since the pandemic in 2021.

The Debt Management Office will update its gilt sales forecast when the chancellor delivers the autumn statement on 26 November.

It comes as borrowing costs have risen over the past week after Reeves U-turned on plans to increase income tax to fill an expected £20bn black hole in UK public finances.

Evangelia Gkeka, an analyst at Morningstar, said she expects borrowing costs to fall after the budget speech as weaker growth forecasts will increase the chances of the Bank of England (BoE) cutting interest rates.

She said:
Nando’s to open 14 UK restaurants as profits rise
Nando’s is accelerating its UK restaurant openings as the chicken chain reported stronger sales and profits over the past year.

The peri-peri chicken business however also flagged that increased cost pressures, after tax and wage increases in April, will affect its performance for the current financial year.

The South African-owned business revealed in its latest set of accounts it is seeking to open 14 new restaurants across the UK over the current year to February.

The expansion programme, which includes a number of sites which have already launched, comes after the business opened 12 UK sites a year earlier.

Nando’s said the new restaurants include sites in Bedford, Derby, Peterborough, Bishop Auckland, Maidenhead, Sheffield, Edinburgh Gyle, Paddington and Liverpool Edge Lane.

The group said it is seeking to increase the number of company-owned restaurants and also expand its wider international footprint.

In freshly filed accounts, Nando’s said it saw sales grow over the half-year to August and it has been “encouraged by customer demand”.

The company said it has been seeking to manage increased cost pressures on the group through productivity improvements and measures such as rolling out energy efficient grills in the UK and Ireland to reduce energy costs.

It added: “While these actions have been effective in mitigating some of the impact, we anticipate that cost pressures will continue to affect our overall performance in the current financial year.”

Nando’s reported revenues lifted by 8% to £1.48bn for the previous financial year, to February 23 2025, as “strong customer demand” helped drive an increase in sales volumes.

Meanwhile, its operating profits more than doubled to £146.6m for the year from £59.8m, boosted by stronger sales and a one-off receipt.
What the autumn budget could mean for the property market
With just a week to go until the autumn budget, speculation is rife as to which areas chancellor Rachel Reeves could target to help repair the UK’s public finances, with changes to property taxes rumoured to be on the table.

The chancellor is expected to announce billions in tax rises in the budget on 26 November in an effort to raise funds.

Reeves laid the ground for potential tax rises in a speech delivered at Downing Street in early November, as she said that since last year’s autumn budget, the “world has thrown even more challenges out way” and that “each of us must do our bit” for the future of the country.

When speaking to journalists after her speech at the time, Reeves refused to say whether she would stick to the Labour party’s manifesto pledge of not raising taxes on “working people”, in which it promised not to increase the rates of value added tax (VAT), national insurance and income tax.

However, it was reported on Friday that the chancellor had dropped a manifesto-breaking plan to increase the rates of income tax. The decision reportedly came after she received better-than-expected economic forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), with the UK’s fiscal hole now anticipated to be closer to £20bn, down from a previous estimation of £30bn.

Instead, it has been reported that Reeves could be looking at freezing the threshold at which people start paying income tax for another two years, along with changes to other areas of tax.

That includes taxes on property, with changes to stamp duty and council tax said to have been among the options considered by the Treasury.

Read the full article here
Nvidia stock soars after third quarter earnings
Nvidia (NVDA) reported its third quarter earnings on Wednesday, beating analysts’ estimates on the top and bottom lines and offering a better-than-anticipated outlook.

For the fourth quarter, Nvidia projects revenue of $65bn plus or minus 2%. Wall Street was expecting revenue of $62bn.

“Blackwell sales are off the charts, and cloud GPUs are sold out,” CEO Jensen Huang said in a statement.

“We’ve entered the virtuous cycle of AI. The AI ecosystem is scaling fast — with more new foundation model makers, more AI startups, across more industries, and in more countries. AI is going everywhere, doing everything, all at once,” he added.

He also told analysts last night:

Nvidia stock rose more than 5% on the news. The chipmaker’s report buoyed other AI companies, with AMD’s stock rising nearly 4% and Micron (MU) climbing more than 3% in after-hours action. Amazon (AMZN), Google (GOOG), Meta (META), and Microsoft (MSFT) stock also rose slightly.

For Q3, Nvidia saw earnings per share (EPS) of $1.30 on revenue of $57.01bn. Analysts were anticipating EPS of $1.26 on revenue of $55.2bn, according to Bloomberg consensus data. The company saw EPS and revenue of $0.81 and $35.1bn, respectively, in the same period last year.

The AI giant’s data centre business brought in $51.2bn versus estimates of $49.3bn. Nvidia’s gaming revenue was $4.3bn, just short of the $4.4bn estimate.
Asia and US overnight
Stocks in Asia were mostly higher overnight after Nvidia (NVDA) reported stronger than expected quarterly earnings, soothing concerns that AI-driven stock prices may have climbed too high.

The Nikkei (^N225) rose 2.7% on the day in Japan, as technology stocks rallied, while the Hang Seng (^HSI) was flat in Hong Kong.

The Shanghai Composite (000001.SS) was 0.4% down by the end of the session and in South Korea, the Kospi (^KS11) added 1.9% on the day.

Samsung (005930.KS) gained 4.3%, while the world’s second-largest manufacturer of memory semiconductors, SK Hynix (000660.KS), added 1.6%.

Across the pond on Wall Street, the S&P 500 (^GSPC) rose 0.4% to 6,642.16 points, marking the end of a four-day losing streak. The tech-heavy Nasdaq (^IXIC) was 0.6% higher to 24,640.52 and the Dow Jones (^DJI) also gained 0.1% to 46,138.77.
Coming up
Good morning, and welcome back to our markets live blog. As usual we will be taking a deep dive into what’s moving markets and happening across the global economy.

To the day ahead now, and the main highlight will be the US jobs report for September, with jobless claims also due. Otherwise, we will get US existing home sales for October, the Kansas City Fed’s manufacturing index for November, and the Philadelphia Fed’s manufacturing business outlook for November.

In Europe, there’s also the German PPI for October, and the European Commission’s preliminary consumer confidence reading for the Euro Area in November.

Here’s a snapshot of what’s on the agenda:
- 7am: Trading updates: Halma, JD Sports Fashion, LondonMetric Property, Mitie, Nationwide Building Society, Johnson Matthey, Investec, Close Brothers, Dr Martens, Grainger, Liontrust Asset Management, CMC Markets, Breedon, PayPoint, Norcros, Tracsis
- 9.30am: ONS data on young people not in education employment or training
- 10am: Eurozone construction data for September
- 1.30pm: US non-farm payroll report for September
- 3pm: US home sales data for October

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Wall Street and FTSE advance as US unemployment rises and jobs report beats expectations

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