WH Smith (LON:SMWH) high-street sale faces investor focus after TG Jones court delay
TG Jones, which bought WH Smith’s high street stores, was still waiting on a High Court
Lloyds (LON:LLOY) buyback questioned as mortgages drop, stock eyes 109p
Lloyds Banking Group plc shares saw a slight gain in late-morning trade in London on Monday. The move came as new data showed UK mortgage approvals dropped about 15% in May, raising
Stock Market Today: Live Updates 12.08.2026
LIVEMarkets rolling coverageStarted: August 12, 2026, 4:00 AM EDTUpdated: August 12, 2026, 1:02 PM EDT IMI PLC: Wellington ups stake to 5.09% August 12, 2026, 12:59 PM EDT. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its voting rights in IMI PLC to 5.09% as of August 11, 2026, according to a major holding notification made public on August 12. The stake now splits into 5.08% direct voting rights, plus another 0.01% through financial instruments. Shares are held via several nominees like VIDACOS Nominees Limited and Goldman Sachs International. Wellington also reported equity swaps and depository receipts in the filing. The move is
Stock Market Today: Live Updates 11.08.2026
LIVEMarkets rolling coverageStarted: August 11, 2026, 4:00 AM EDTUpdated: August 12, 2026, 3:57 AM EDT Balfour Beatty Jumps 10% as Group Raises Outlook on Better H1 Profit August 12, 2026, 3:57 AM EDT. Balfour Beatty shares jumped 10% after the company lifted its full-year outlook, citing stronger first-half numbers. Underlying profit climbed 42% to £153 million. US construction improved and power transmission demand stayed high. Support Services made £66 million in profit, helped by National Grid and Scotland projects. The order book stands at £22.9 billion with £1.6 billion net cash. Interim dividend is up 12% to 4.7p. Balfour has
Stock Market Today: Live Updates 09.08.2026
LIVEMarkets rolling coverageStarted: August 9, 2026, 4:00 AM EDTUpdated: August 10, 2026, 3:59 AM EDT ASX Down 0.33% as Brent Climbs and Westpac Drops 5% August 10, 2026, 3:52 AM EDT. The S&P/ASX 200 eased 0.33% with Brent crude closing in on $84 a barrel. Westpac Banking Corp dropped over 5% after posting a AU$1.8 billion quarterly profit. The earnings number didn’t lift the mood as higher oil prices hit the wider market. Analysts are watching the energy side and tracking signals out of the major banks. ASX Slips As Oil Rises And Westpac Stumbles ASX 200 Ends Down 0.3%
Stock Market Today: Live Updates 08.08.2026
LIVEMarkets rolling coverageStarted: August 8, 2026, 4:00 AM EDTUpdated: August 9, 2026, 3:59 AM EDT FTSE 100 laggards Diageo, Sage, Legal & General jump in ISA portfolio August 9, 2026, 3:45 AM EDT. Diageo, Sage, and Legal & General, once called ‘Zombie’ stocks in the FTSE 100, have each bounced from March lows-Diageo up 31%, Sage 29%, Legal & General 33% in a Stocks and Shares ISA. Diageo has laid out FY26 plans to invest further in Guinness, try for more ready-to-drink sales, and cut costs. Sage posted 11% revenue growth, mostly from North America, stuck to its 9%+ organic
Diageo gains ground, but sales reset could last through 2028
Diageo plc added close to 3% on Tuesday, beating gains in the FTSE 100 after shares slipped at Monday’s close. Davy had the stock at 1,562p by 11:09 BST, up 50p on the session, trading between 1,528.5p and 1,566p so far. Hargreaves Lansdown quoted 1,559.5p/1,560.5p, showing a 3.21% move. The FTSE 100 was ahead 0.45%. The gain erased Monday’s 1.43% drop to £15.12, when Diageo lagged the FTSE 100, which slipped 0.26%. After Tuesday, the stock is still down about 27% from its 52-week peak of £21.42.
Glencore (LON:GLEN) gains as coal and copper boost takes focus off iron ore pressure
Glencore plc gained on Friday with the FTSE 100 down. The stock traded 0.61% up at 513.90p as of 11:01 BST; the FTSE 100 dropped 0.32% to 10,618.48 at about the same time. London Stock Exchange trading ran as usual. The live quote feed made the comparison obvious:
Lloyds trades at about 2x tangible book with car-finance review pause giving buyback window
Lloyds Banking Group plc ticked up on Friday, reaching a new year high. Shares are now near 2x their last stated tangible net asset value per share, putting the focus on whether the valuation still makes sense at these levels. The stock was last seen at 114.80 pence as of 09:21 BST, up 0.13%. It moved between 114.65p and 115.45p so far today. A delayed AJ Bell snapshot also showed 115.45p as both the trade high and year high. Market cap was listed at £66.81 billion. London Stock Exchange hours are 8:00 to 16:30, so the market was open then.
Rolls-Royce trades close to highs as buyback leeway narrows ahead of July earnings
Rolls-Royce Holdings plc goes into its July results with a clear share buyback figure on the books. By looking at daily data in its July 1 filing, the company bought 4,007,376 shares between June 23 and June 29 at an average price of about 1,409p, or around £56.5 million. Shares traded near 1,455p on Thursday morning, so that means last week's buys were roughly 3.3% under the market price. Rolls-Royce’s buyback gap has widened. The company said it has bought 74,601,999 shares so far in its active programme at a weighted average price of 1,212.92p. That price is almost 20% under Thursday’s level, and the buybacks total about £905 million, or 39% of the £2.3 billion programme outlined in its
WH Smith (LON:SMWH) high-street sale faces investor focus after TG Jones court delay
TG Jones, which bought WH Smith’s high street stores, was still waiting on a High Court decision over its rescue plan on Tuesday after a judge delayed ruling, The Telegraph reported. The judge warned the chain may not be able to cover bills if the restructuring isn’t approved. The investor angle is that the court dispute now covers more than just rent. It’s turned into a question of how fast a 233-year-old high-street brand shed value after leaving a listed travel retailer and moving under a new name. TG Jones warned that administration is likely if the plan fails.
Lloyds (LON:LLOY) buyback questioned as mortgages drop, stock eyes 109p
Lloyds Banking Group plc shares saw a slight gain in late-morning trade in London on Monday. The move came as new data showed UK mortgage approvals dropped about 15% in May, raising questions for Lloyds, given its heavy reliance on home loans. Lloyds traded up on delayed UK quotes, with two other local bank stocks down.
easyJet (LON:EZJ) stock trails Castlelake offer on deal terms snag
easyJet plc shares remain priced with a takeover discount, after the airline gave Castlelake access to only limited commercial information. The delayed quote showed the stock at 580.2p to sell, 580.6p to buy, off 0.51% for the day. Shares opened at 587p and closed previously at 583p. The discount figure is what investors are watching. Castlelake put forward a fourth offer at 650p a share in cash. easyJet turned it down, calling it too low, but said more access to data could bring a “more attractive proposal”.
Smith & Nephew (LON:SN) shares underperform as Cevian stake rises above 13%, buyback passes midpoint
Smith & Nephew plc is heading into next week with its buyback still running near the market. Funds tied to Cevian have taken their voting stake past 13%, bringing capital returns and governance issues back to the front. Shares ended Friday’s session at 1,138.5p, down 0.65% after trading wrapped in London. Cevian Capital II GP Limited increased its stake to 13.056468%, or about 110.5 million voting rights, after crossing a threshold on June 23, according to a Form 6-K filed June 25. That's up from 12.235936% earlier. The filing said Cevian held no position via financial instruments.
National Australia Bank Rises While Broader ASX Falls; Inflation Next Focus
National Australia Bank shares added 1.21% to A$38.33 on Tuesday. That’s while the S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.33% to 8,787, weighed down by declines in tech and mining stocks. Gains were spread across the big banks, with ANZ up 1.39%, Westpac adding 1.03%, and Commonwealth Bank rising 0.49%. The action wasn’t limited to NAB, suggesting the move was part of a sector-wide bank trade instead of a shift in outlook for just one name.
Glencore Drops Almost 5% in London as Fed Rate Moves Hit Copper Stocks
Glencore shares were down about 4.6% at around 533 pence early Tuesday in London, while the UK market slid 0.8%. Anglo American gave up 5.5%, Antofagasta, which is focused on copper, dropped 6.6%. The fall ran across the sector. Glencore is still about 94% higher over the past 12 months. Metals and other growth-linked assets dropped as markets priced more U.S. rate hikes. Europe’s basic-resources index slumped 3.3%, leading sector losses. The STOXX 600 was down nearly 0.9%. Traders were betting on around 50 basis points of rate hikes by year-end—a basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point.
ASX Shares Trade Over A$52, CHESS Risks Still Linger
ASX Ltd is set to open Tuesday at A$52.05. Investors are watching both the relief from a proposed settlement with regulators and a jump in the company’s technology spend. Shares inched up 4 cents, or 0.08%, on Monday. The cash market was still in pre-open at the turn of the session. ASX is up 5.8% since June 12, but it’s still down 11.5% from the May 25 close. That was the last session before new cost forecasts hit and ASX dropped 13.2% in a single day. The quiet end covers up a big reset.
Telstra (ASX:TLS) falls as buyback ends, investors look at July pricing reset
Telstra Group Limited shares slipped 1 Australian cent to finish at A$5.04 on Monday, down 0.2%. The stock traded from A$5.04 up to A$5.11, with 23.1 million shares changing hands. S&P/ASX 200 slipped 0.14% to 8,816.1, tracking a soft market as investors watched geopolitical news and tech stocks sold off. “The benchmark spent much of the day treading water,” said Global X ETFs strategist Marc Jocum. Telstra is seeing a different story — a big mechanical buyer is now out of the market.
Fortescue Ltd Drops Under A$20, Eyes on China and Iron Ore
Fortescue Ltd starts Monday on the back foot after dropping 1.1% to A$19.75 at Friday’s close. The ASX will trade as usual, and Fortescue’s grip on the high-A$19s could be shaky early on. No results or trading update arrived over the weekend to change the story. Fortescue’s last posted ASX update was its May 25 board changes, so near-term pricing is tracking iron-ore markets, currency trades and any China talk.
IAG shares slip after CEO downplays easyJet bid
International Consolidated Airlines Group shares slipped Friday, erasing some of Thursday’s 2.3% gain. CEO Luis Gallego said regulatory hurdles could complicate any deal with easyJet, sending the stock lower. IAG’s investment case for the near term is shifting away from bets on a big deal and leaning more on capital returns and how well it can run its business. Investors cleared every board proposal at the annual meeting Thursday, smoothing the way for its current plans.
Persimmon share price falls 6% after ex-dividend as UK rate worries return
Persimmon Plc shares fell about 6.2% on Thursday and ranked among the FTSE 100’s weakest performers as UK housebuilders gave back part of the previous session’s rally. The rate-sensitive homebuilding index dropped 2.4%, against a 0.87% decline in the blue-chip benchmark. The screen move looks worse than the fresh selling. Persimmon began trading without entitlement to its 40-pence final dividend — “ex-dividend” means a new buyer will not receive that payment. Adjusting Wednesday’s 1,119-pence close for the distribution gives a comparable starting point of 1,079 pence, making the underlying fall about 2.6%.
Goodman Group Gains With Data Centre Growth Back in Spotlight as ASX Rallies
Sydney, June 13, 2026, 05:17 AEST — Goodman Group shares are trading higher as a broader ASX rally steers investor focus toward data-centre growth. Goodman Group closed Friday in Sydney at A$31.52, gaining A$0.69, or 2.24%, with shares moving between A$30.86 and A$31.69 on volume of about 3.15 million. Shares bounced after Thursday’s drop. The stock is still trading below its 52-week high of A$37.31, with market cap near A$64.45 billion.