The latest Investing Matters Podcast episode featuring financial educator and author Jared Dillian has been released. Listen here.

Less Ads, More Data, More Tools Register for FREE

Pin to quick picksDarktrace Share News (DARK)

Share Price Information for Darktrace (DARK)

London Stock Exchange
Share Price is delayed by 15 minutes
Get Live Data
Share Price: 596.00
Bid: 595.80
Ask: 596.40
Change: 1.00 (0.17%)
Spread: 0.60 (0.101%)
Open: 595.00
High: 599.00
Low: 595.00
Prev. Close: 595.00
DARK Live PriceLast checked at -

Watchlists are a member only feature

Login to your account

Alerts are a premium feature

Login to your account

LONDON MARKET MIDDAY: Europe struggles after US tech stock woe

Mon, 11th Mar 2024 12:05

(Alliance News) - The FTSE 100 was lower going into Monday afternoon, as last week's sell-off in US tech shares hurt risk appetite in Europe, after spilling over in Tokyo also.

A favourable inflation reading helped the Shanghai Composite achieve a 0.7% gain to start to the week, despite lingering concern for the Chinese economy. But it was the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo that was badly hit by tech share declines, giving back 2.2%. SoftBank Group closed among the worst performers, slumping 6.0%.

The FTSE 100 index fell 36.74 points, 0.5%, to 7,623.00. The FTSE 250 was down 65.24 points, 0.3%, at 19,536.54, and the AIM All-Share fell 1.42 points, 0.2%, at 739.14.

The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.5% at 763.37, the Cboe UK 250 lost 0.4% at 16,916.65, and the Cboe Small Companies fell 0.5% to 14,736.85.

In European equities on Monday, the CAC 40 in Paris was down 0.2%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was 0.5% lower.

In New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 are called to open 0.2% lower, and the Nasdaq Composite down 0.3%. The Nasdaq had slumped 1.2% on Friday.

"Artificial intelligence star Nvidia was a notable underperformer as investors absorbed a mixed jobs report," AJ Bell analyst Russ Mould commented.

Mould added that Friday's nonfarm payrolls release was a mixed bag.

"The headline number was higher than expected but revisions to previous data suggested the unemployment rate was at its highest in two years. Lower wage growth will have encouraged the idea rate cuts are on the way but the hints at a cooling economy suggest the landing may not be as soft as the market would have liked," the analyst commented.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday, nonfarm payroll employment rose by 275,000 in February, picking up speed from a 229,000 increase in January. January's figure was downwardly revised by some degree from an initially reported 353,000. December's figure, meanwhile, was lowered to 290,000 from 333,000.

In total, nonfarm payrolls for December and January were in total 167,000 lower than previously reported.

However, for February, the figure topped the FXStreet-cited consensus of 200,000.

Focus moves to Tuesday's US inflation reading. The headline annual US inflation rate is expected to sit unchanged at 3.1% for February, according to FXStreet cited consensus. The core rate of inflation is forecast to ebb to 3.7% from the 3.9% reported for January.

The US data is reported at 1230 GMT. Before that, there is a UK unemployment reading at 0700 GMT. UK gross domestic product data follows on Wednesday.

Ebury analyst Matthew Ryan commented: "The labour market will continue to show full employment with wage gains above 6%, while the economy is expected to have returned to growth in January.

"These will be key input to the Bank of England meeting next week."

The pound was quoted at USD1.2851 early Monday afternoon, down from USD1.2860 at the London equities close on Friday. The euro stood at USD1.0942, down from USD1.0949. Against the yen, the dollar bought JPY146.62, falling from JPY147.21.

Gold rose to USD2,179.36 an ounce midday Monday, from USD2,174.74 at the London equities close on Friday. The precious metal traded off the record high of USD2,195.13 it achieved on Friday, however.

"We remain positive on the price of gold for 2024, and continue to recommend it as a portfolio hedge. We expect gold to trend higher to USD 2,250/oz, but would wait for price setbacks to gain exposure, even if these turn out to be modest and brief," UBS analyst Mark Haefele commented.

Brent oil was quoted at USD81.65 a barrel early Monday afternoon, down slightly from USD81.72 at the time London equities close on Friday.

In London, miners traded lower as a key political meeting in China drew to a close. Rio Tinto was among the worst of the lot, down 3.3%. China is a major buyer of minerals.

China's leaders admitted more was needed to revive a sluggish economy battered by an ailing housing market, poor domestic demand and record high youth unemployment figures.

Also on the decline in London, Ladbrokes owner Entain fell 2.3%. Should it end the day in the red, it would extend its losing streak to six days.

On the flip side, one stock which has seen sentiment towards it improve, Darktrace surged 9.2%. The cybersecurity firm was the best FTSE 250-listed performer. It looks poised to extend its winning streak to five days. Shares had surged 6.2% last week Thursday on the back of improved interim results.

Currys gave back 7.5%. Suitor Elliott Advisors said it will not make an offer for the electricals retailer, following "multiple attempts to engage" with the FTSE 250 listing's board.

The private equity firm said it "is not in an informed position to make an improved offer for Currys on the basis of the public information available to it". Currys in February said it rejected an upgraded takeover offer from Elliott. It said it received a proposal worth around GBP750 million or 67 pence per share from Elliott, lifted from a previous tilt of 62p.

Before the second Elliott proposal was made, Chinese e-commerce firm JD.com threw its hat in the ring. JD.com, noting press coverage, said it is mulling an acquisition of Currys. The Telegraph newspaper had reported JD.com held early talks with Currys.

Vanquis slumped 38% as it warned on its 2024 outturn, but backed guidance for 2023. The lender still expects adjusted pretax profit of GBP25 million for 2023, which would be down markedly from GBP126.6 million for 2022.

However, for 2024, it expects income to be "materially lower than market consensus expectations" of GBP538.3 million.

Vanquis said that it is not part of Financial Conduct Authority investigations in motor financing.

Nonetheless, it has seen "significant levels of third-party complaint submissions," it stated.

It cautioned that even though the "vast majority" of complaints are not upheld, rising costs of reviewing them will "materially" impact profits.

Panmure Gordon analysts Rae Maile and Ross Luckman commented: "Another material downgrade to expectations is the last thing that long-suffering shareholders needed, but we have sympathy with the company that, this time, it is not entirely its own fault.

"2025 will bear the IFRS9 provisioning costs of seeking growth, and it will be 2026 before there is any semblance of a return to 'proper' profits and profitability. That is an awfully long time to wait, especially in such febrile stock markets, and without much in the way of dividends to ease the pain the shares will be moribund at best."

By Eric Cunha, Alliance News news editor

Comments and questions to newsroom@alliancenews.com

Copyright 2024 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

More News
11 Apr 2024 08:59

LONDON BROKER RATINGS: JPMorgan raises M&S; HSBC likes Kingfisher

(Alliance News) - The following London-listed shares received analyst recommendations Thursday morning:

Read more
11 Apr 2024 08:54

LONDON MARKET OPEN: European markets mixed ahead of ECB decision

(Alliance News) - European equities lacked direction early Thursday morning, ahead of an interest rate decision from the European Central Bank this afternoon.

Read more
11 Apr 2024 08:29

Darktrace shares rise as quarterly annual recurring revenue grows

(Alliance News) - Darktrace PLC on Thursday said it saw "strong growth" in revenue during the third quarter of its financial year.

Read more
11 Apr 2024 07:49

LONDON BRIEFING: Astra promises dividend hike; Darktrace ups guidance

(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are called to open slightly higher on Thursday, as investors eye the latest interest rate decision from the European Central Bank, a day after a hotter-than-expected US inflation reading.

Read more
11 Apr 2024 07:23

Darktrace lifts, focuses full-year guidance

(Sharecast News) - Cybersecurity specialist Darktrace reported solid growth in both operating and financial metrics in the March quarter on Thursday, as it raised its full-year guidance.

Read more
9 Apr 2024 09:30

Darktrace launches products as artificial intelligence threats rise

(Alliance News) - Darktrace PLC on Tuesday announced the launch of its latest ActiveAI Security Platform.

Read more
22 Mar 2024 16:09

London close: Stocks mixed as Bailey hints at rate cuts

(Sharecast News) - London's stock markets closed in a mixed state on Friday as investors weighed optimistic retail sales data against remarks from Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey.

Read more
22 Mar 2024 10:01

Darktrace shares down after investor sells entire position

(Alliance News) - Jefferies International Ltd on Friday confirmed that US investment firm KKR Dark Aggregator LP sold its stake in Darktrace PLC.

Read more
22 Mar 2024 08:53

LONDON MARKET OPEN: Phoenix Group leads FTSE 100 higher

(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London opened higher on Friday, after a busy week of interest rate decisions across the globe.

Read more
22 Mar 2024 07:52

KKR Dark Aggregator sells 19.4m Darktrace shares in placing

(Sharecast News) - Jefferies said on Friday that KKR Dark Aggregator sold 19.4m shares in cybersecurity firm Darktrace in a placing.

Read more
22 Mar 2024 07:40

LONDON BRIEFING: UK retail sales slightly better than expected

(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are called to open slightly lower on Friday, as investors pause for breath after a busy week of interest rate decisions.

Read more
21 Mar 2024 19:05

KKR Dark Aggregator to sell 2.5% stake in Darktrace in placing

(Sharecast News) - Jefferies said on Thursday that KKR Dark Aggregator plans to sell a stake of around 2.5% in cybersecurity firm Darktrace in a placing to institutional investors.

Read more
21 Mar 2024 18:16

Darktrace investor KKR to sell GBP80 million worth of shares

(Alliance News) - Jefferies International Ltd on Thursday said an investor plans to sell shares in Darktrace PLC worth around GBP80 million.

Read more
21 Mar 2024 15:57

Director deals: Darktrace boss sells some shares

(Sharecast News) - Darktrace boss Poppy Gustafsson unloaded some of her holdings in the company as the share price hit a 52-week high.

Read more
19 Mar 2024 20:08

DIRECTOR DEALINGS: Darktrace strategy chief sells GBP4 million shares

(Alliance News) - The following is a round-up of share dealings by London-listed company directors and managers announced on Tuesday and not separately reported by Alliance News:

Read more

Login to your account

Don't have an account? Click here to register.

Quickpicks are a member only feature

Login to your account

Don't have an account? Click here to register.