Late market roundup: Caution keeps lid on FTSE100 before Warsh speech

London-listed equities closed mostly lower on Thursday, with inflation fears keeping a lid on tech-related optimism, as eyes turn to the Jackson Hole symposium in the US.

The FTSE 100 index closed down 85.58 points, 0.8%, at 10,792.54. The FTSE 250 ended up slightly at 24,898.86, and the AIM All-Share closed down 1.79 points, 0.2%, at 813.11.

The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.9% at 1,073.06, the Cboe UK 250 was down 0.2% at 21,651.79, and the Cboe Small Companies fell 0.1% at 18,983.47.

The mood was brighter on Wall Street. At the time of the London equity close on Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.5%, the S&P 500 index was 0.7% higher and the Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.3%.

In New York, Nvidia gave technology stocks a leg up after delivering better-than-forecast guidance after bumper second quarter earnings.

Nvidia, up 7.5%, expects to grow revenue by 70% in financial 2028, which runs to January of that year, according to Chief Financial Officer Colette Kress, in what she termed as a "supply constrained outlook." Analysts had pencilled in 45% growth.

"We've got a huge year coming up next year and it's going to be pretty extraordinary," Chief Executive Jensen Huang added on the earnings call following second quarter results.

Kathleen Brooks, research director XTB commented: "With revenues this big, and demand for its products getting bigger every month, it will be a brave trader who will bet against Nvidia."

In London, technology-exposed stocks were in the green, with Computacenter up 7.3%, Polar Capital Technology Trust up 1.5% and Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust up 0.8%.

But as Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell, noted the euphoria over Nvidia's results "failed to spread across the rest of the market".

Wednesday's US inflation figures were seen as keeping the pressure on the Federal Reserve to raise rates.

Susannah Streeter, chief investment strategist at Wealth Club, thinks that sentiment "looks set to become more cautious as investors refocus on worries about inflation proving sticky, huge government debt piles and the prospect of interest rates lingering at elevated levels."

Cleveland Federal Reserve President Beth Hammack repeated her call for higher interest rates, saying recent inflation data show the central bank is still too far from its goal.

"I don't want to prejudge anything. But I believe now is the time to act," she said in a CNBC interview from the Fed's annual symposium in Jackson Hole.

Friday sees Fed Chair Kevin Warsh address that conference although he has expressed a reluctance at giving forward looking guidance.

The pound traded at USD1.3588 on Thursday afternoon, little changed from USD1.3590 at the equities close on Wednesday. Against the euro, sterling was also flat at EUR1.1663 from EUR1.1664.

The euro stood flat at USD1.1650 against USD1.1651. Against the yen, the dollar was lower at JPY159.31, compared to JPY159.37.

In European equities on Thursday, the CAC 40 in Paris closed down 1.7%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt rose 0.3%.

Minutes of the European Central Bank's July meeting "suggest that the ECB is still struggling with how to react to a textbook supply-side shock," according to ING Global Head of Macro Carsten Brzeski.

At its July meeting, the ECB left interest rates unchanged, but President Christine Lagarde revealed that some members had argued in favour of a rate hike, even though they ultimately backed the decision to stay on hold.

"That was an important signal that the ECB was edging closer to further tightening," said Brzeski, who thinks the "stage looks increasingly set for another rate hike," when the central bank next meets in two weeks.

The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was unchanged at 4.66% on Thursday when compared to Wednesday. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury was also flat at 5.18%.

On London's FTSE 100, Prudential fell 2.5% as the insurer reported a slow down in new business profit growth.

Late Wednesday, the London-based insurer focused on Asia said new business profit rose 9.8% to USD1.38 billion in the six months to June 30 from USD1.26 billion in the same period a year ago, in line with company compiled consensus. At constant currency, growth was 8%.

But Citigroup analyst Michelle Ma said the half-year figures implied reported second quarter new business profit growth slowed to 7% from 13% in the first three months of 2026.

In the first quarter, Prudential reported new business profit growth of 13% to USD686 million, or 10% at constant currency.

Stocks going ex-dividend also weighed on the FTSE 100 with Games Workshop down 2.6%, Croda International off 1.6% and LondonMetric Property 2.7% lower.

On the FTSE 250, Halfords stormed 11% higher as it raised full-year profit guidance amid strong trading boosted by the warm weather.

The Redditch, England-based motoring and cycling products retailer now expects between £55 million and £65 million in underlying pretax profit for financial 2027, which it says is ahead of current market consensus of £52.6 million.

On AIM, Thruvision was 31% 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.

Gold traded at USD4,597.90 an ounce on Thursday, up slightly from USD4,596.56 on Wednesday.

David Morrison, senior market analyst at Trade Nation, said: "Gold has put in an impressive rally over the past four weeks. But this has left it looking a touch overbought. If it can steady around USD4,600 and then consolidate, that could be enough to recharge it for another rally. But this would be difficult if the US dollar were to continue to push higher. In the short term, much may depend on Fed Chair Kevin Warsh's speech at Jackson Hole tomorrow afternoon."

Brent oil for October delivery traded at USD88.67 a barrel on Thursday, up from USD88.09 late Wednesday.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Computacenter, up 410.00p at 5,625.00p, Sage Group, up 40.50p at 1,103.50p, London Stock Exchange, up 292.00p at 8,980.00p, Relx, up 82.00p at 2,668.80p and Experian, up 78.00p at 3,045.00p.

The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Entain, down 19.40p at 511.00p, LondonMetric Property, down 5.30p at 189.40p, Games Workshop, down 480.00p at 18,320.00p, Prudential, down 26.00p at 1,013.50p and GSK, down 47.50p at 1,852.00p.

Friday's global economic calendar has economic growth figures in Canada, a eurozone consumer confidence reading, French CPI data and the Chicago PMI in the US.

Friday's UK corporate calendar has half year results from Beowulf Mining.

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