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(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London opened lower on Thursday, as investors digest a host of earnings, as well as look ahead to the weekly US jobs report.
Thursday's data is particularly important, due to the global sell-off seen at the start of the week, which was triggered by a slew of US economic data and recession fears.
The FTSE 100 index opened down 84.56 points, 1.0%, at 8,082.32. The FTSE 250 was down 282.48 points, 1.4%, at 20,293.55, and the AIM All-Share was down 5.40 points, 0.7%, at761.92.
The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.9% at 807.54, the Cboe UK 250 was down 1.4% at 17,786.75, and the Cboe Small Companies was down 1.0% at 14,266.78.
In European equities on Thursday, the CAC 40 in Paris was down 1.0%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was down 0.7%.
In the US on Wednesday, Wall Street ended lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.6%, the S&P 500 down 0.8% and the Nasdaq Composite down 1.1%.
In the US, President Joe Biden said Wednesday he is "not confident" Donald Trump would concede peacefully if he loses the US election, as the Republican's rival Kamala Harris warned a Trump victory would usher in a lawless administration set on curtailing Americans' freedoms.
"If Trump loses, I'm not confident at all," Biden told US network CBS after he was asked if he expected a peaceful transfer of power in 2025.
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"He means what he says. We don't take him seriously," Biden warned. "He means it."
In the UK, thousands of anti-racism protesters took to the streets in several English cities on Wednesday to oppose days of far-right violence that have had UK police on high alert.
Nightly riots – during which mosques and migrant-related facilities have been attacked – have erupted across towns and cities in England and Northern Ireland fuelled by a wave of misinformation surrounding the murder of three children on July 29.
But on Wednesday evening, it was anti-racism and anti-fascist counter-protesters who were out in greater numbers, holding rallies in cities up and down England including London, Birmingham, Bristol, Liverpool and Newcastle.
Looking ahead to the rest of Thursday, eyes are on the weekly US jobs report.
According to FXStreet, new claims are expected to rise by 240,000 in the week ended August 3, cooling from 249,000 a week earlier.
The pound was quoted at USD1.2702 early on Thursday in London, lower compared to USD1.2723 at the equities close on Wednesday. The euro stood at USD1.0940, higher against USD1.0936. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JPY145.82, lower compared to JPY147.40.
In the FTSE 100, there were just a handful of companies in the green, those of which got a boost from earnings.
Beazley jumped 10%.
The London-based specialist insurance underwriter reported that pretax profit in the first half of the year surged to a "record" USD728.9 million, from USD366.4 million a year ago.
Insurance written premiums increased to USD3.12 billion from USD2.92 billion.
Looking ahead, Chief Executive Adrian Cox said: "We see opportunities in the remainder of the year and are confident in delivering on our high single digit growth guidance."
Entain rose 7.2%.
The sports betting and iGaming operator reported that revenue in the first half of the year rose to GBP2.52 billion, up 6.0% from GBP2.38 billion a year ago. It noted that the figure is up 8% at constant currency. Its pretax loss narrowed to GBP27.6 million from GBP448.1 million.
Entain declared a 9.3p interim dividend, up 4.5% from 8.9p a year ago.
Looking ahead, Entain upgraded its annual guidance. It now expects 2024 Online NGR growth on a proforma basis to be low single digit positive, with the company delivering Ebitda in the range of GBP1.04 billion to GBP1.09 billion.
Barratt Developments shed 1.7%, meanwhile Redrow lost 1.5%.
The UK Competition & Markets Authority said the Barratt acquisition of Redrow raises competition concerns in one local area.
The CMA said it has found concerns about Redrow merger at area around Barratt project in Whitchurch. The watchdog noted that the Barratt and Redrow merger does not raise UK-wide competition concerns.
Matthew Pratt, CEO of Redrow, said, "Barratt and Redrow are two leading housebuilders, with strong reputations for quality, service and sustainability that have been decades in the making. Once the CMA process has completed, we are looking forward to our future as one team, accelerating the delivery of high-quality homes that the country so urgently needs."
In the FTSE 250, Helios lost 7.2%.
In the six months ended June 30, revenue rose 11% to USD389.9 million from USD350.2 million a year earlier. Its pretax loss narrowed to USD400,000 from USD39.4 million.
TI Fluid, a Oxford, England-based designer and manufacturer of thermal management and fluid handling systems, jumped 13%.
Revenue in the first half of 2024 fell by 2.8% to EUR1.72 billion from USD1.77 billion a year earlier.
Pretax profit jumped to GBP61.2 million from GBP58.9 million.
TI Fluid upped its dividend by 4.3% to 2.40 cents from 2.30 cents.
In Asia on Thursday, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo was down 0.7%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was up marginally, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong was down 0.1%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed down 0.2%.
Brent oil was quoted at USD78.33 a barrel early in London on Thursday, down from USD78.64 late Wednesday.
Gold was quoted at USD2,397.30 an ounce, lower against USD2,399.30.
By Sophie Rose, Alliance News senior reporter
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