Daily market update: FTSE 100, Close Brothers, NVIDIA, Wickes, Trustpilot

The FTSE 100 ticked higher and outperformed some of its counterparts as oil continued to climb.

The longer the oil price stays above $100 per barrel, the louder the alarm bells for the market over inflation risks. Iran’s continued attacks on regional energy infrastructure are helping to keep crude at elevated levels.

The FTSE 100 has a large weighting towards oil and gas producers, although it also has plenty of constituents that have big energy or fuel requirements or which might lose out from interest rates staying higher for longer.

Australia’s decision to increase interest rates is reflective of the shift in thinking on the part of central banks as they respond to renewed inflationary pressures. It’s a reminder we are in a different world to the one at the start of 2026.

Close Brothers

Close Brothers has swerved off the road with its latest results as profits crashed and it announced 600 job cuts.

The lender is still spinning from Viceroy’s short-selling report that alleged Close Brothers has not put enough money aside to cover potential liabilities from the car finance mis-selling scandal.

It was telling that the share price didn’t recover any of yesterday’s slump after Close Brothers denied the accusations were true, suggesting the market remains highly sceptical over the business until there is clarity on any compensation sums.

Job cuts and guidance for higher than previously expected annual cost savings would normally be the right ingredients to drive a share price higher, but not in Close Brothers’ case. The core business doesn’t look strong enough to warrant investors taking the risk of buying in the face of considerable uncertainty.

NVIDIA

A year ago, the idea of Jensen Huang saying NVIDIA would generate at least $1 trillion in chip revenue over the next two years, would have set the room alight. There would have been a ticker tape parade on the streets, and the shares might have continued their ascent to the moon.

While the NVIDIA CEO delivered such a message yesterday, it did nothing for the share price which suggests investors are getting tired of Huang’s dream-big presentation style. Huang continues to bang the same drum that the AI boom is just getting started, but the market no longer shares his enthusiasm.

There is growing scepticism around the scale and cost of AI developments, with widespread fears that too much money is being ploughed into the space, and that a bubble is waiting to burst.

Against a backdrop of war and a potential inflation shock, investors are treading carefully when it comes to stock selection. Risk appetite hasn’t evaporated completely, but tech has lost the magnetic draw it enjoyed between 2023 and 2025. The Iran conflict has the potential to put interest rates on a different path (i.e. firm to higher) and that is bad news for tech stocks when discounting future cash flows to the present.

Travis Perkins / Wickes

Having fixed some internal issues, Travis Perkins would have hoped to have put the worst behind it, but external geopolitical events could conspire to block its path to recovery.

In fairness, this makes the company’s efforts to restore its balance sheet more important. Having a more manageable borrowing pile could help if the backdrop gets more turbulent for a while.

New boss Gavin Slark, who joined at the start of the year, will be pleased the work on rolling out a new IT system – at the expense of short-term profitability – is done and dusted.

A part of the business where Slark will be looking to build on momentum is the Toolstation UK chain which is continuing to gobble up market share.

If there are one or two reasons for cautious optimism at Travis Perkins, at Wickes there is plenty to celebrate.

To beat profit forecasts when the going is good is one thing, to do it when market conditions are more volatile is another, which suggests Wickes has sharpened its proposition.

Shareholders will be encouraged to see accelerated investment in the business – with management clearly not resting on their laurels. Whether you’re selling scarves or shelving – the basics of retail involve getting the right products in the right places at the right time and at the right price points to encourage customers to buy. Wickes seems to be winning.

Trustpilot

Trustpilot’s latest results are highly rated by the market and are helping to repair the damage done by a short-seller report from Grizzly Research at the end of last year.

Claims Trustpilot was pressuring businesses to buy subscriptions to improve their ratings hurt its share price.

Trustpilot is only a useful tool if people have faith the ratings and feedback on its platform are fair and accurate and left by real people.

Like a lot of businesses, Trustpilot is working hard to convince the market it can be a beneficiary of the continued roll-out of artificial intelligence. Management’s decision to sanction a chunky share buyback programme helps underpin their faith in prospects.

Clearly Trustpilot is being cited by chatbots when answering user prompts, but the business is also using AI internally to try and weed out fake reviews. Maintaining the integrity of the platform will be an ongoing challenge but investors seem reassured that Trustpilot is being vigilant in this area.