FTSE down and Wall Street mixed as traders weigh up US jobs data and UK welfare bill

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13 hours ago

Wall Street was mixed after the bell in New York on Wednesday as the US labour market showed more signs of a cooldown in June.
ADP data showed private employers unexpectedly cut 33,000 jobs in the month, badly missing expectations of around 98,000 jobs added. It was the first month of job losses in the private sector in over two years.
The data paves the way for the release of the June US jobs report on Thursday, seen as a key factor for the Fed as investors bet an interest-rate cut could land sooner rather than later.
Meanwhile, investors are watching for signs the Trump administration will negotiate deals with the likes of the EU and Japan before a pause on Trump's "reciprocal" tariffs lifts on 9 July.
It came as the FTSE 100 (^FTSE) lagged behind European stocks during the session as traders focused on a welfare bill climbdown from the Labour government, which saw eleventh hour changes, leaving the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill, external gutted of its most significant measures.
Read more: Trending tickers: AstraZeneca, Constellation Brands, Ford, Santander and Greggs
London's benchmark index (^FTSE) was 0.1% down by the end of the session.
Germany's DAX (^GDAXI) rose 0.4% and the CAC (^FCHI) in Paris headed 1.1% into the green.
The pan-European STOXX 600 (^STOXX) was 0.1% higher.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) fell 0.2% after the bell. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 (^GSPC) dipped 0.1%, but kept a potential new record high in sight. The Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) moved up 0.2% as Tesla (TSLA) stock rose, after the EV maker produced more vehicles globally than expected in the second quarter.
The pound was around 0.3% down against the US dollar (GBPUSD=X) at 1.3710.
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Well that's all from us for today, thanks for following along. Be sure to join us again tomorrow, when we'll be back for more of the latest markets news, and all that's happening across the global economy.
Until then, have a great evening!
Apple (AAPL) stock climbed about 1% Wednesday before the market open following an upgrade from analysts at Jefferies, who raised their rating to Hold from Underperform previously.
Citing Counterpoint Research, Jefferies analyst Edison Lee said global iPhone sales rose 15% in April and May from the prior year, the strongest growth since the third quarter of 2021. Lee estimated that iPhone sales in China grew 19% in that period, partly due to targeted discounts and government subsidies as well as "pulled-in demand," or Chinese consumers buying phones ahead of anticipated tariffs.
"This is a strong sign that AAPL is determined to defend market share in China, and Chinese consumers are still willing to buy iPhone at lower prices," Lee wrote.
But he also said the release of the iPhone 17 in the second half of 2025 may not provide the boost Apple needs. Lee wrote that "sales could be at risk since there remains a lack of new features, and AI is not yet a game changer."
Apple shares jumped 1.3% Tuesday following a report from Bloomberg that the iPhone maker is considering using AI technology from startups Anthropic (ANTH.PVT) or OpenAI (OPAI.PVT) to power a new version of Siri.
Still, the stock was down 17% for the 12 months through Tuesday.
Private employers unexpectedly cut 33,000 jobs in June, the latest signal of an intensifying slowdown in the US labor market.
On Wednesday, data from ADP showed private payrolls fell by 33,000 last month in June, below the 29,000 job gains seen in May and the 98,000 additions expected by economists.
This marked the first month of job losses in the private sector since March 2023. May's initial reading of 37,000 private payroll additions had been the lowest monthly total since March 2023.
"Though layoffs continue to be rare, a hesitancy to hire and a reluctance to replace departing workers led to job losses last month," ADP chief economist Nela Richardson said in the release. "Still, the slowdown in hiring has yet to disrupt pay growth."Alan Taylor, a member of the Bank's monetary policy committee, said the UK economy's 'deteriorating outlook' warranted deeper interest rate cuts that financial markets currently predicted.
In a speech at the European Central Bank's (ECB's) annual conference in Sintra, Portgual, Taylor said five rate cuts would be needed this year, rather than the quarterly pace of four priced in by financial markets.
It comes as Threadneedle Street has already cut rates twice in 2025 by 0.25 percentage points on each occasion, to stand at the current level of 4.25%, most recently in May.
Taylor said he believed rates could be cut to about 2.75-3% within the next two years to bring borrowing costs to a 'neutral' level that would neither stimulate, or restrict, economic activity.
Buying a property off-plan involves purchasing a home before it's been built or the build is fully complete.
While you should get a pretty good idea of what the finished product will look like, thanks to CGI images, show home mock-ups, architects' drawings and floorplans, plus, of course, the site location, the home itself will still be in the planning or building phase when you hand over your deposit.
According to Hamptons Research, 32% of new builds sold in England and Wales were bought in this way in 2024. There are both advantages and disadvantages to buying a home off-plan, so we spoke to four property experts to get their take.
'The cash that comes in from off-plan sales provides important cashflow for the developer, and the revenue helps to fund building and holding costs,' says Marc Schneiderman, director at Arlington Residential. 'The sales also add an element of consumer confidence to the scheme.'
But, as well as securing investment and growing confidence, selling off-plan helps developers hone their proposition and work out what potential buyers do and don't want.
'It allows developers to work out which properties and specifications appeal to buyers, and potentially make tweaks to upcoming launches accordingly,' says Michael Burt, head of sales at City and Country.
Read the full article here
Gilt yields moved up but started to spike during PMQs on Wednesday as Reeves looked shaken.
Neil Wilson, UK investor strategist at Saxo Markets, said:
Chancellor Rachel Reeves appeared to cry in the Commons as prime minister Keir Starmer declined to guarantee she would remain in place until the election.
The prime minister faced MPs after being forced to scrap key planks of his welfare reforms, leaving an almost £5bn black hole in Reeves' spending plans and fuelling speculation she could be forced to hike taxes.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said Reeves looked 'absolutely miserable' and challenged the prime minister to say whether the chancellor would keep her job until the next election.
Starmer dodged the question about whether Reeves would be in place for the remainder of the Parliament, saying Badenoch 'certainly won't'.
The Tory leader said: 'How awful for the chancellor that he couldn't confirm that she would stay in place.'
Despite the prime minister not backing her in the Commons, Downing Street insisted she was 'going nowhere' and had Starmer's 'full backing'.
Asked about Reeves' tears, a spokesman for the chancellor said it was a 'personal matter'.
The Bank of England (BoE) has launched a public consultation on the theme of its next series of banknotes, inviting UK residents and British citizens abroad to help shape the nation's currency for years to come.
The consultation marks the latest phase in the evolution of British banknotes, which have featured historical figures since William Shakespeare first appeared on a note in 1970.
The BoE is now asking the public to weigh in on the theme they want to see illustrated on the next series of notes.
'Banknotes are more than just an important means of payment — they serve as a symbolic representation of our collective national identity and an opportunity to celebrate the UK,' said Victoria Cleland, the BoE's chief cashier.
'I am really keen to hear what themes the public would like to see represented on the next series of notes.'
The six potential themes identified include:
Notable historical figures
Architecture and landmarks
Arts, culture and sport
Noteworthy events in history
Innovation
Nature
Aviva (AV.L) has completed its £3.7bn acquisition of insurance rival Direct Line (DLG.L), a day after Britain's competition watchdog approved the deal.
An Aviva spokesperson told the Guardian on Wednesday that the combined UK workforce of 32,000 will get £500 of free shares in September, 'to recognise the milestone'.
However, the deal still puts up to 2,300 jobs at risk, the companies said last year, with cuts spread over three years.
Aviva said it has 1,000 vacancies at the moment, which will reduce the need for job cuts.
The acquisition is set to create the UK's largest home and motor insurer.
In currency markets, the US dollar remains on the defensive. The dollar has come under relentless selling pressure since the beginning of this year as investors considered Trump's plans for his second term.
David Morrison, senior market analyst at FCA regulated fintech and financial services provider Trade Nation, said:
Poole in Dorset has been identified as the most expensive seaside property location in Britain by housing platform Rightmove, which ranked coastal houses for sale by average asking price.
The average asking price of a pied-a-terre in Sandbanks, Poole, would set you back almost £1.3m, the data showed. It's the only coastal spot on the list with an average asking price of more than £1m.
A close second was Canford Cliffs — also in Poole. Both locations are cheaper now than they were a year ago.
Meanwhile, properties in Milford-on-Sea in Hampshire clocked average asking prices of nearly three-quarters of a million pounds. It was one of the only places in the top 10 that hadn't decreased in value on an annual basis.
Seaside homes in Devon also swept the top 10 list, with Dartmouth, Sidmouth and Budleigh Salterton all making an appearance, though costing considerably less than the table-toppers.
Rightmove also laid out the most affordable seaside locations for buyers. Saltcoats in Ayrshire, Scotland, took first place in that list with average prices of just 10% of the value of properties in Sandbanks. That was even after houses on the Scottish coast had gained value in double digits since the same time a year ago. On average, Saltcoats homes will set a buyer back around £122,208 — up 13% from the same point in 2024.
Read more here
Shares in Greggs (GRG.L) tumbled more than 15% on Wednesday morning, after the UK bakery chain warned that it expected first half operating profit to be lower than last year.
In a trading update, published on Wednesday, Greggs said like-for-like sales in company-managed shops were up 2.6% in the first half of 2025.
Greggs said it would publish its half-year figures on 29 July but said it expected operating profit for the period to be lower versus last year. In addition, it expected that full-year operating profit could be "modestly below what achieved in 2024".
Derren Nathan, head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "Sausage rolls may not be the first thing consumers yearn for when temperatures get into the 30s and that's been the case for Greggs. While cold drink sales were up in June, when customers flake in the heat, flaky bakes aren't first choice on the menu and footfall declined for the month."
The boss of Marks & Spencer (MKS.L) has said he hopes to have most of the impact from its cyber attack over with by August.
Stuart Machin, chief executive of the high street chain, said he is optimistic that its online operations will be running 'fully' within four weeks as it continues to recover.
In April, M&S was forced to halt online orders after it was targeted by hackers.
Machin said:
Meanwhile, chairman Archie Norman highlighted that the company has been progressing through its recovery programme to return operations to normal.
Volvo (VOLCAR-B.ST) posted a fourth straight month of falling sales volumes on Wednesday, thanks to trade tariffs and weaker electric vehicle demand.
The Sweden-based company, which is majority-owned by China's Geely (0175.HK), said that it sold 62,858 cars in June, a 12% drop from a year earlier.
The group added that sales of fully electric cars fell 26% to account for 22% of total sales volumes. Sales of electrified cars as a whole, also including plug-in hybrids, were down 19% to account for 44% of total sales volumes.
It comes as Volvo withdrew its earnings forecast for the next two years in April in the face of tariffs. Later in May it said it would cut 3,000 mostly white-collar jobs as it battles cost increases, an electric vehicle slowdown and global trade uncertainty.
Its sales volumes in Europe were down 14% while in the US and China they were down 7% and 3%, respectively.
Banco Sabadell (SAB.MC) is set to sell TSB to Santander (SAN.MC). The bank will ask shareholders to approve the sale of its TSB subsidiary to Banco Santander for £2.65bn, with the final price expected to rise to £2.9bn once estimated profits from that date until completion are included.
Santander said it "intends to integrate TSB in the Santander UK group" meaning that the takeover would create Britain's third largest bank by share of personal current accounts.
A Santander spokeswoman said:
Santander's chief executive Mike Regnier said "we haven't made any decisions yet" but "we tend to use the Santander brand on the high street around the world".
Mr Regnier told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "There's still a number of hurdles for us to get over, approvals from the shareholders of Sabadell, approvals from the UK regulator."
He said he expected a decision to be made in the early months of next year.
When asked about potential job losses and branch closures, Mr Regnier said: "We should be able to create efficiencies savings of around 13% of the combined cost base of Santander and TSB.
"That will probably come from a number of areas."
Here's a quick look at today's risers and fallers on the FTSE 100 (^FTSE).
Gold (GC=F) prices held steady in early European trading on Wednesday, consolidating gains from earlier in the week as concerns over the US fiscal outlook and trade policy underpinned demand for safe-haven assets.
Gold futures slipped 0.4% to $3,338.10 an ounce, while spot gold was just above the flatline at $3,329.43 per ounce.
Bullion has climbed more than 2% so far this week, rebounding from losses triggered by last week's Israel-Iran ceasefire, which had briefly eased geopolitical tensions.
The latest upward momentum came after the US Senate narrowly passed president Donald Trump's sweeping tax-and-spending package, legislation expected to add $3.3tn to the national debt. Fears over a widening fiscal deficit have reignited investor appetite for gold.
"We anticipate a wide and volatile trading range of $3,600–3,100/oz for the rest of the year and year-end prices of $3,175/oz for 2025 and $3,025/oz for 2026,' the bank said in a note. It raised its 2025 average price forecast to $3,215 an ounce, up from $3,015, and its 2026 outlook to $3,125 from $2,915.
Adding to market jitters is the fast-approaching July 9 deadline for Trump's proposed tariffs. The US president has reiterated there would be no extension, warning trading partners of pending tariff notifications, a move that has pushed investors to seek safe-havens.
The latest analysis by West One Loans, has revealed that despite overseeing an increased level of work starting on new homes, it appears that, as we approach their one-year anniversary in power, Labour still needs 12 years to honour its headline manifesto pledge on new-build housing delivery.
During the 2024 General Election, the Labour party manifesto was headlined by an ambitious promise to deliver 1.5m net additions to England's housing supply during its first five years in power. At the time, this was reported to mean an average of 370,000 homes must be added to the nation's stock each year, a target that was instantly labelled as nigh-on impossible by the majority of commentators.
Now, West One Loans' new research reveals that almost one year in, Labour's progress does indeed suggest that they are already falling significantly short of their target.
The analysis does, however, begin with some positive news for Labour. In the three quarters that have passed since the party came to power in Q3 2024, work has started on a total of 86,000 new homes in England. This marks a significant increase compared to the previous three quarters (Q4 2023 – Q2 2024) when starts totalled 68,080.*
New build progress and requirements
When outlining their housing target, Labour talks in terms of net additions, a term that includes the creation of new dwellings through things such as property conversions and changes of use of existing buildings. However, historic data shows that 89.8% of net additions come through new-build development.*
This means that new-builds can be expected to account for around 1.35m of Labour's overall 1.5m target.
Since coming into power, Labour has overseen an average of 28,667 new-build starts each quarter, which equates to an average of 114,667 per year.
By continuing at this rate, it is going to take the government 11.8 years to meet their new-build target of 1.35m new homes: a far cry from their five-year manifesto pledge, particularly when they're already one year in.
Thomas Cantor, co-head of short-term finance at West One Loans, said:
A report has found that an electrical substation which caused a fire that resulted in Heathrow Airport closing came from a 'preventable, technical fault'.
The root cause was reportedly detected seven years ago but not fixed. The National Energy System Operator (NESO) said moisture entering electrical components at the North Hyde substation caused the blaze at the site that supplies the UK's biggest airport with power.
It revealed an elevated moisture reading had been first detected in July 2018, but that the issue went "unaddressed", with basic maintenance by National Grid (NG.L) cancelled.
National Energy System Operator said:
In response to the report, Heathrow Airport said a "combination of outdated regulation, inadequate safety mechanisms, and National Grid's failure to maintain its infrastructure" that led to this "catastrophic power outage".
"We expect National Grid to be carefully considering what steps they can take to ensure this isn't repeated," it added.
Britain's energy watchdog has given the go-ahead to an initial £24bn of investment to upgrade UK energy infrastructure, but revealed the move will push up network charges on household bills by more than £100.
Ofgem's draft verdict on price controls for energy network firms approves more than £15n to be spent on gas transmission and distribution networks in the five years to 2031.
A further £8.9bn is set to be committed to the nation's high-voltage electricity network, which Ofgem said will power the biggest expansion of the grid since the 1960s, with another £1.3bn being earmarked.
The funding will allow 80 major energy infrastructure projects to be completed by 2030 and comes amid a push by the government to boost the UK's renewables sector to help improve energy security.
But Ofgem revealed households are set to see the network charges on bills – which make up around a fifth of average annual bills – surge by £104 to £324 by 2031 to cover the cost of the extra investment.
The regulator said this will include £30 for gas networks and £74 for the electricity grid.
It deals a blow to hopes of lower bills after the latest energy price cap change came into effect on Tuesday, seeing a 7% drop to £1,720 per year, and with the latest forecast showing another 1% fall may be in store from October.
The regulator insisted that bills would be even higher – around £30 more – without the investment, because the funding will allow the UK to make 'better use of our clean renewable energy so we are not having to pay for expensive gas plants to serve demand'.
Read the full article hereWell that's all from us for today, thanks for following along. Be sure to join us again tomorrow, when we'll be back for more of the latest markets news, and all that's happening across the global economy.
Until then, have a great evening!
Apple (AAPL) stock climbed about 1% Wednesday before the market open following an upgrade from analysts at Jefferies, who raised their rating to Hold from Underperform previously.
Citing Counterpoint Research, Jefferies analyst Edison Lee said global iPhone sales rose 15% in April and May from the prior year, the strongest growth since the third quarter of 2021. Lee estimated that iPhone sales in China grew 19% in that period, partly due to targeted discounts and government subsidies as well as "pulled-in demand," or Chinese consumers buying phones ahead of anticipated tariffs.
"This is a strong sign that AAPL is determined to defend market share in China, and Chinese consumers are still willing to buy iPhone at lower prices," Lee wrote.
But he also said the release of the iPhone 17 in the second half of 2025 may not provide the boost Apple needs. Lee wrote that "sales could be at risk since there remains a lack of new features, and AI is not yet a game changer."
Apple shares jumped 1.3% Tuesday following a report from Bloomberg that the iPhone maker is considering using AI technology from startups Anthropic (ANTH.PVT) or OpenAI (OPAI.PVT) to power a new version of Siri.
Still, the stock was down 17% for the 12 months through Tuesday.
Private employers unexpectedly cut 33,000 jobs in June, the latest signal of an intensifying slowdown in the US labor market.
On Wednesday, data from ADP showed private payrolls fell by 33,000 last month in June, below the 29,000 job gains seen in May and the 98,000 additions expected by economists.
This marked the first month of job losses in the private sector since March 2023. May's initial reading of 37,000 private payroll additions had been the lowest monthly total since March 2023.
"Though layoffs continue to be rare, a hesitancy to hire and a reluctance to replace departing workers led to job losses last month," ADP chief economist Nela Richardson said in the release. "Still, the slowdown in hiring has yet to disrupt pay growth."Alan Taylor, a member of the Bank's monetary policy committee, said the UK economy's 'deteriorating outlook' warranted deeper interest rate cuts that financial markets currently predicted.
In a speech at the European Central Bank's (ECB's) annual conference in Sintra, Portgual, Taylor said five rate cuts would be needed this year, rather than the quarterly pace of four priced in by financial markets.
It comes as Threadneedle Street has already cut rates twice in 2025 by 0.25 percentage points on each occasion, to stand at the current level of 4.25%, most recently in May.
Taylor said he believed rates could be cut to about 2.75-3% within the next two years to bring borrowing costs to a 'neutral' level that would neither stimulate, or restrict, economic activity.
Buying a property off-plan involves purchasing a home before it's been built or the build is fully complete.
While you should get a pretty good idea of what the finished product will look like, thanks to CGI images, show home mock-ups, architects' drawings and floorplans, plus, of course, the site location, the home itself will still be in the planning or building phase when you hand over your deposit.
According to Hamptons Research, 32% of new builds sold in England and Wales were bought in this way in 2024. There are both advantages and disadvantages to buying a home off-plan, so we spoke to four property experts to get their take.
'The cash that comes in from off-plan sales provides important cashflow for the developer, and the revenue helps to fund building and holding costs,' says Marc Schneiderman, director at Arlington Residential. 'The sales also add an element of consumer confidence to the scheme.'
But, as well as securing investment and growing confidence, selling off-plan helps developers hone their proposition and work out what potential buyers do and don't want.
'It allows developers to work out which properties and specifications appeal to buyers, and potentially make tweaks to upcoming launches accordingly,' says Michael Burt, head of sales at City and Country.
Read the full article here
Gilt yields moved up but started to spike during PMQs on Wednesday as Reeves looked shaken.
Neil Wilson, UK investor strategist at Saxo Markets, said:
Chancellor Rachel Reeves appeared to cry in the Commons as prime minister Keir Starmer declined to guarantee she would remain in place until the election.
The prime minister faced MPs after being forced to scrap key planks of his welfare reforms, leaving an almost £5bn black hole in Reeves' spending plans and fuelling speculation she could be forced to hike taxes.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said Reeves looked 'absolutely miserable' and challenged the prime minister to say whether the chancellor would keep her job until the next election.
Starmer dodged the question about whether Reeves would be in place for the remainder of the Parliament, saying Badenoch 'certainly won't'.
The Tory leader said: 'How awful for the chancellor that he couldn't confirm that she would stay in place.'
Despite the prime minister not backing her in the Commons, Downing Street insisted she was 'going nowhere' and had Starmer's 'full backing'.
Asked about Reeves' tears, a spokesman for the chancellor said it was a 'personal matter'.
The Bank of England (BoE) has launched a public consultation on the theme of its next series of banknotes, inviting UK residents and British citizens abroad to help shape the nation's currency for years to come.
The consultation marks the latest phase in the evolution of British banknotes, which have featured historical figures since William Shakespeare first appeared on a note in 1970.
The BoE is now asking the public to weigh in on the theme they want to see illustrated on the next series of notes.
'Banknotes are more than just an important means of payment — they serve as a symbolic representation of our collective national identity and an opportunity to celebrate the UK,' said Victoria Cleland, the BoE's chief cashier.
'I am really keen to hear what themes the public would like to see represented on the next series of notes.'
The six potential themes identified include:
Notable historical figures
Architecture and landmarks
Arts, culture and sport
Noteworthy events in history
Innovation
Nature
Aviva (AV.L) has completed its £3.7bn acquisition of insurance rival Direct Line (DLG.L), a day after Britain's competition watchdog approved the deal.
An Aviva spokesperson told the Guardian on Wednesday that the combined UK workforce of 32,000 will get £500 of free shares in September, 'to recognise the milestone'.
However, the deal still puts up to 2,300 jobs at risk, the companies said last year, with cuts spread over three years.
Aviva said it has 1,000 vacancies at the moment, which will reduce the need for job cuts.
The acquisition is set to create the UK's largest home and motor insurer.
In currency markets, the US dollar remains on the defensive. The dollar has come under relentless selling pressure since the beginning of this year as investors considered Trump's plans for his second term.
David Morrison, senior market analyst at FCA regulated fintech and financial services provider Trade Nation, said:
Poole in Dorset has been identified as the most expensive seaside property location in Britain by housing platform Rightmove, which ranked coastal houses for sale by average asking price.
The average asking price of a pied-a-terre in Sandbanks, Poole, would set you back almost £1.3m, the data showed. It's the only coastal spot on the list with an average asking price of more than £1m.
A close second was Canford Cliffs — also in Poole. Both locations are cheaper now than they were a year ago.
Meanwhile, properties in Milford-on-Sea in Hampshire clocked average asking prices of nearly three-quarters of a million pounds. It was one of the only places in the top 10 that hadn't decreased in value on an annual basis.
Seaside homes in Devon also swept the top 10 list, with Dartmouth, Sidmouth and Budleigh Salterton all making an appearance, though costing considerably less than the table-toppers.
Rightmove also laid out the most affordable seaside locations for buyers. Saltcoats in Ayrshire, Scotland, took first place in that list with average prices of just 10% of the value of properties in Sandbanks. That was even after houses on the Scottish coast had gained value in double digits since the same time a year ago. On average, Saltcoats homes will set a buyer back around £122,208 — up 13% from the same point in 2024.
Read more here
Shares in Greggs (GRG.L) tumbled more than 15% on Wednesday morning, after the UK bakery chain warned that it expected first half operating profit to be lower than last year.
In a trading update, published on Wednesday, Greggs said like-for-like sales in company-managed shops were up 2.6% in the first half of 2025.
Greggs said it would publish its half-year figures on 29 July but said it expected operating profit for the period to be lower versus last year. In addition, it expected that full-year operating profit could be "modestly below what achieved in 2024".
Derren Nathan, head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "Sausage rolls may not be the first thing consumers yearn for when temperatures get into the 30s and that's been the case for Greggs. While cold drink sales were up in June, when customers flake in the heat, flaky bakes aren't first choice on the menu and footfall declined for the month."
The boss of Marks & Spencer (MKS.L) has said he hopes to have most of the impact from its cyber attack over with by August.
Stuart Machin, chief executive of the high street chain, said he is optimistic that its online operations will be running 'fully' within four weeks as it continues to recover.
In April, M&S was forced to halt online orders after it was targeted by hackers.
Machin said:
Meanwhile, chairman Archie Norman highlighted that the company has been progressing through its recovery programme to return operations to normal.
Volvo (VOLCAR-B.ST) posted a fourth straight month of falling sales volumes on Wednesday, thanks to trade tariffs and weaker electric vehicle demand.
The Sweden-based company, which is majority-owned by China's Geely (0175.HK), said that it sold 62,858 cars in June, a 12% drop from a year earlier.
The group added that sales of fully electric cars fell 26% to account for 22% of total sales volumes. Sales of electrified cars as a whole, also including plug-in hybrids, were down 19% to account for 44% of total sales volumes.
It comes as Volvo withdrew its earnings forecast for the next two years in April in the face of tariffs. Later in May it said it would cut 3,000 mostly white-collar jobs as it battles cost increases, an electric vehicle slowdown and global trade uncertainty.
Its sales volumes in Europe were down 14% while in the US and China they were down 7% and 3%, respectively.
Banco Sabadell (SAB.MC) is set to sell TSB to Santander (SAN.MC). The bank will ask shareholders to approve the sale of its TSB subsidiary to Banco Santander for £2.65bn, with the final price expected to rise to £2.9bn once estimated profits from that date until completion are included.
Santander said it "intends to integrate TSB in the Santander UK group" meaning that the takeover would create Britain's third largest bank by share of personal current accounts.
A Santander spokeswoman said:
Santander's chief executive Mike Regnier said "we haven't made any decisions yet" but "we tend to use the Santander brand on the high street around the world".
Mr Regnier told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "There's still a number of hurdles for us to get over, approvals from the shareholders of Sabadell, approvals from the UK regulator."
He said he expected a decision to be made in the early months of next year.
When asked about potential job losses and branch closures, Mr Regnier said: "We should be able to create efficiencies savings of around 13% of the combined cost base of Santander and TSB.
"That will probably come from a number of areas."
Here's a quick look at today's risers and fallers on the FTSE 100 (^FTSE).
Gold (GC=F) prices held steady in early European trading on Wednesday, consolidating gains from earlier in the week as concerns over the US fiscal outlook and trade policy underpinned demand for safe-haven assets.
Gold futures slipped 0.4% to $3,338.10 an ounce, while spot gold was just above the flatline at $3,329.43 per ounce.
Bullion has climbed more than 2% so far this week, rebounding from losses triggered by last week's Israel-Iran ceasefire, which had briefly eased geopolitical tensions.
The latest upward momentum came after the US Senate narrowly passed president Donald Trump's sweeping tax-and-spending package, legislation expected to add $3.3tn to the national debt. Fears over a widening fiscal deficit have reignited investor appetite for gold.
"We anticipate a wide and volatile trading range of $3,600–3,100/oz for the rest of the year and year-end prices of $3,175/oz for 2025 and $3,025/oz for 2026,' the bank said in a note. It raised its 2025 average price forecast to $3,215 an ounce, up from $3,015, and its 2026 outlook to $3,125 from $2,915.
Adding to market jitters is the fast-approaching July 9 deadline for Trump's proposed tariffs. The US president has reiterated there would be no extension, warning trading partners of pending tariff notifications, a move that has pushed investors to seek safe-havens.
The latest analysis by West One Loans, has revealed that despite overseeing an increased level of work starting on new homes, it appears that, as we approach their one-year anniversary in power, Labour still needs 12 years to honour its headline manifesto pledge on new-build housing delivery.
During the 2024 General Election, the Labour party manifesto was headlined by an ambitious promise to deliver 1.5m net additions to England's housing supply during its first five years in power. At the time, this was reported to mean an average of 370,000 homes must be added to the nation's stock each year, a target that was instantly labelled as nigh-on impossible by the majority of commentators.
Now, West One Loans' new research reveals that almost one year in, Labour's progress does indeed suggest that they are already falling significantly short of their target.
The analysis does, however, begin with some positive news for Labour. In the three quarters that have passed since the party came to power in Q3 2024, work has started on a total of 86,000 new homes in England. This marks a significant increase compared to the previous three quarters (Q4 2023 – Q2 2024) when starts totalled 68,080.*
New build progress and requirements
When outlining their housing target, Labour talks in terms of net additions, a term that includes the creation of new dwellings through things such as property conversions and changes of use of existing buildings. However, historic data shows that 89.8% of net additions come through new-build development.*
This means that new-builds can be expected to account for around 1.35m of Labour's overall 1.5m target.
Since coming into power, Labour has overseen an average of 28,667 new-build starts each quarter, which equates to an average of 114,667 per year.
By continuing at this rate, it is going to take the government 11.8 years to meet their new-build target of 1.35m new homes: a far cry from their five-year manifesto pledge, particularly when they're already one year in.
Thomas Cantor, co-head of short-term finance at West One Loans, said:
A report has found that an electrical substation which caused a fire that resulted in Heathrow Airport closing came from a 'preventable, technical fault'.
The root cause was reportedly detected seven years ago but not fixed. The National Energy System Operator (NESO) said moisture entering electrical components at the North Hyde substation caused the blaze at the site that supplies the UK's biggest airport with power.
It revealed an elevated moisture reading had been first detected in July 2018, but that the issue went "unaddressed", with basic maintenance by National Grid (NG.L) cancelled.
National Energy System Operator said:
In response to the report, Heathrow Airport said a "combination of outdated regulation, inadequate safety mechanisms, and National Grid's failure to maintain its infrastructure" that led to this "catastrophic power outage".
"We expect National Grid to be carefully considering what steps they can take to ensure this isn't repeated," it added.
Britain's energy watchdog has given the go-ahead to an initial £24bn of investment to upgrade UK energy infrastructure, but revealed the move will push up network charges on household bills by more than £100.
Ofgem's draft verdict on price controls for energy network firms approves more than £15n to be spent on gas transmission and distribution networks in the five years to 2031.
A further £8.9bn is set to be committed to the nation's high-voltage electricity network, which Ofgem said will power the biggest expansion of the grid since the 1960s, with another £1.3bn being earmarked.
The funding will allow 80 major energy infrastructure projects to be completed by 2030 and comes amid a push by the government to boost the UK's renewables sector to help improve energy security.
But Ofgem revealed households are set to see the network charges on bills – which make up around a fifth of average annual bills – surge by £104 to £324 by 2031 to cover the cost of the extra investment.
The regulator said this will include £30 for gas networks and £74 for the electricity grid.
It deals a blow to hopes of lower bills after the latest energy price cap change came into effect on Tuesday, seeing a 7% drop to £1,720 per year, and with the latest forecast showing another 1% fall may be in store from October.
The regulator insisted that bills would be even higher – around £30 more – without the investment, because the funding will allow the UK to make 'better use of our clean renewable energy so we are not having to pay for expensive gas plants to serve demand'.
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