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 09.08.2026
LIVEMarkets rolling coverageStarted: August 9, 2026, 4:00 AM EDTUpdated: August 10, 2026, 12:20 AM EDT Alpha HPA (ASX:A4N) gets $225m for Gladstone alumina push, plans debt drawdowns August 10, 2026, 12:12 AM EDT. Alpha HPA (ASX:A4N) locked in $225 million in January 2026, with $75 million from the National Reconstruction Fund Corporation, for Stage 2 at its Gladstone high-purity alumina site. The build is on track with a new $699.2 million project budget, with foundation and gear installs done. The company has more than 12,000 tonnes in customer LOIs tied to semiconductors, batteries and pharma. Alpha HPA is after more
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
Stock Market Today: Live Updates 03.08.2026
LIVEMarkets rolling coverageStarted: August 3, 2026, 4:00 AM EDTUpdated: August 4, 2026, 3:59 AM EDT Frasers Group CEO Could Get £100m Payout on 50% Share Jump as Deals Stack Up August 4, 2026, 3:59 AM EDT. Frasers Group (LSE:FRAS) chief Michael Murray stands to pocket a £100m bonus if shares reach £12 by 2030, a 50% climb from the current £8. The remuneration committee called the target a ‘realistic stretch.’ As organic growth slows in retail, Frasers is piling into acquisitions, taking stakes in Debenhams, Asos, and pushing to own all of Hugo Boss in Germany, which trades at about
Stock Market Today: Live Updates 10.07.2026
LIVEMarkets rolling coverageStarted: July 10, 2026, 4:00 AM EDTUpdated: July 11, 2026, 3:59 AM EDT What it Takes to Build a £1 Million SIPP in 20 Years July 11, 2026, 3:45 AM EDT. To hit £1 million in a Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP) over 20 years, it comes down to how much you pay in and your investment returns. On a 10% compound annual return from dividends and share price gains, the monthly contribution needed is about £1,395. Because SIPPs get tax relief, that drops the cost for basic-rate taxpayers to £1,116 a month. That monthly figure is under the
Wolfram Resources PLC (LON:WFR) stock analysis: thin trade leaves cash and deal risk in control
Wolfram Resources PLC gave investors a cleaner signal through its lack of trade than through its price. The London Stock Exchange’s normal session runs to 16:30, and by the 17:09 BST dateline the market had closed. Hargreaves Lansdown showed WFR unchanged, with a 1.50p sell price, a 2.00p buy price, a 1.75p previous close, volume of 300 shares and a £1.44 million market value. The same page showed the FTSE 100 down 1.66%, while Reuters had reported broader London weakness earlier on Wednesday. WFR’s flat print should not be read as defensive strength. It was a low-volume quote. The spread is the main technical indicator. A buyer paying 2.00p and selling at 1.50p would start 25% down on the purchase
Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY) stock: buybacks near 52-week high test BoE capital boost
Lloyds Banking Group plc fell 0.6% to 114.65 pence at 11:59 BST on Tuesday, lagging a 0.2% gain in the FTSE 100. The stock still sat just 1.2% below its 116.00p 52-week high, putting the day’s fall in a narrower frame: Lloyds is no longer trading like a cheap recovery bank, even as capital rules turn friendlier. The fresh data point is the buyback price. Lloyds said it bought 6,986,031 ordinary shares on July 6 from Goldman Sachs International at a volume-weighted average price of 115.2851p, with the shares to be cancelled. That was about 0.6% above Tuesday’s late-morning quote and within touching distance of the 52-week high.
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.
OpenAI, Anthropic eye IPOs while $1 trillion talk tests token prices
OpenAI and Anthropic are lining up for public debuts, and Wall Street is already looking at the numbers. OpenAI’s most recent private valuation sits at about 1.7 times Anthropic’s when you compare annualized revenue. If OpenAI were to go public at $1 trillion, that lead would jump to nearly two times. The company marks are from their own statements. In March, OpenAI said it finished a $122 billion round, putting its post-money value at $852 billion and said monthly revenue had hit $2 billion. Anthropic said in May it raised $65 billion at a $965 billion post-money valuation, with run-rate revenue above $47 billion.
easyJet (LON:EZJ) sees £700 million in potential takeover spreads ahead of Monday open
easyJet is facing a £700 million takeover-spread test before the market opens Monday. easyJet plc starts the week with its deal spread now wider than its total decline over the past week. Shares finished Friday at 558.20p, nearly flat on the day, down 4.3% from last week’s close, daily price data shows. The stock touched 544.60p during Friday’s session, falling below Castlelake’s initial 560p bid.
Vodafone trails FTSE 100 as investors focus on Germany, Safaricom update fails to lift shares
Vodafone Group Public Limited Company slipped last week while the London market climbed, giving up ground after an earlier bounce in the spring. Shares ended Friday at 98.70p, down 6.6% from 105.65p on June 26. Over that stretch, the FTSE 100 added 1.6% to hit 10,679.03. Look at the value lost. Vodafone reported 23.03 billion voting rights as of June 30, according to its July 1 statement. Last week’s 6.95p slide in the share price wiped around £1.6 billion off the equity tied to those voting shares. That lines up with the £ value of the KES 272 billion cash spent on Vodacom’s Safaricom stake buys, referencing Vodafone’s FY27 rate of €1 to 87p.
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.
Lloyds shares up as motor-finance hit now a timing question for capital
Lloyds Banking Group plc shares gained in London Thursday after a tribunal halt slowed parts of the UK’s motor-finance compensation scheme. The move gives the bank extra time on payouts, though the scale of the risk is unchanged. The stock gained 0.67% to 112.90 pence by 12:47 BST, with volume showing 31.07 million shares traded. The FTSE 100 rose 0.44% to 10,524.09, using delayed data. The London Stock Exchange was open for its regular session at the 13:05 BST mark; normal hours are 0800 to 1630 local time.
Rio Tinto falls in London after Mongolia copper talks, iron ore drags
Rio Tinto plc slipped in Thursday London trade, trailing a strong FTSE 100. The company’s new terms on the $18 billion Oyu Tolgoi copper mine in Mongolia failed to offset softer iron ore prices and more signals of strain in China’s import market. Shares changed hands near 6,989 pence, off 1.5%. The UK blue-chip index traded about 0.5% higher at 10,529.92. Trading Economics showed Rio’s market cap around £110.86 billion.
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
Glencore stock: Congo cobalt quota deadline cuts across copper-led rebound
Key points Glencore plc rose about 2% on Tuesday, beating a modest rise in the FTSE 100, but the sharper investor question sat outside the London tape: how much cobalt can the miner turn into cash before Congo’s quota clock runs out. Hargreaves Lansdown showed a 521.70p/522.00p sell-buy quote, up 2.15%, with delayed prices; another price feed put the stock at 520.80p, up 1.92%.
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.