- The FTSE 100 ended the session in positive territory as London shrugged off the carnage in New York, where Alphabet shares tumbled 16% after the company missed sales forecasts, stoked fresh concerns about returns on AI capital spending and triggered a tech-sector sell-off that dragged the Nasdaq down 1.35%.
- Shell rose after announcing a $5 billion buyback and reporting third-quarter cash flow that beat forecasts, with the quarter its strongest since 2022 and record refining margins, driven by a sharp reduction in global refining capacity, doing much of the heavy lifting.
- Lloyds fell despite a 42% jump in nine-month profit, as underlying revenue came in modestly below expectations and the bank flagged a more competitive market for customer deposits, taking the shine off an otherwise solid update.
- Haleon, the consumer health group behind Sensodyne and Panadol, plunged 16%, the index's biggest faller, after a sales miss forced a cut to its full-year forecast and analysts warned the numbers point to a broader margin reset ahead.
- JP Morgan turned bearish on Vodafone following a rally sparked by the arrival of activist investor Xavier Niel, arguing that structural risks in Germany, Kenya and the fibre business had not gone away and that the shares had moved ahead of the fundamentals.
That's your five for Thursday. Over and out!
