The FTSE 100 closed up 68.26 points, or 0.7%, at 10,529.89 on Thursday, driven by an improving inflation outlook after a drop in oil prices and a new record high for the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The FTSE 250 gained 59.89 points, or 0.3%, to 23,161.41, while the AIM All-Share fell 5.45 points, or 0.7%, to 771.92.
Wall Street and global markets
In New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.9% to a new all-time high, the S&P 500 added 0.2%, but the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.4%. Micron Technology surged 11% after its third-quarter results and guidance beat expectations, driven by AI's demand for memory bandwidth. Chief executive Sanjay Mehrotra said AI's "insatiable" appetite for memory bandwidth has transformed the industry. Micron expects tight supply conditions to persist beyond calendar 2027.
Oil prices remained subdued, with Brent crude for August delivery trading at $74.42 a barrel on Thursday, up from $73.45 on Wednesday but well below levels seen during the Middle East conflict. David Morrison, senior analyst at Trade Nation, said: "It has proved to be a great relief that crude oil has fallen so rapidly so far this week. This helped to ease concerns over inflation and has thereby reduced expectations of aggressive central bank tightening."
European markets
In Europe, the CAC 40 in Paris closed up 0.6%, and the DAX 40 in Frankfurt advanced 1.0%. Bayer soared 19% after the US Supreme Court overturned a lower court ruling that exposed the company to thousands of claims that its Monsanto weedkiller Roundup causes cancer. In a 7-2 decision, the high court sent back a $1.25 million jury award to a Missouri state court, concluding that the EPA's determination that Roundup is not a carcinogen pre-empts state labelling requirements. JPMorgan analyst Richard Vosser said this covers around 80% of filed glyphosate cases and would prevent future claims on this basis. "Overall, this represents a significant step towards containment of the glyphosate litigation and hence we expect the shares to outperform by 15-20% today," Vosser added.
Currency and bond markets
The pound traded at $1.3213 on Thursday afternoon, up from $1.3167 on Wednesday. Against the euro, sterling firmed to €1.1604 from €1.1591. The euro traded higher against the dollar at $1.1387, up from $1.1358. Against the yen, the dollar was at ¥161.63, down from ¥161.76.
Figures from the Commerce Department showed the US Federal Reserve's preferred inflation measure, the personal consumption expenditures price index, hit a fresh three-year high in May, rising 4.1% from a year ago, up from 3.8% in April. The department also revised first-quarter GDP growth up by 0.6 percentage points to 2.1%, primarily due to a downward revision to imports. The US 10-year Treasury yield traded at 4.39%, narrowed from 4.41%, while the 30-year yield traded at 4.85%, trimmed from 4.86%.
London market movers
In London, 3i Group soared 11% after encouraging sales figures from its key investment, Action. Chief executive Simon Borrows said like-for-like sales growth so far in 2026 has been 3.3% at the Dutch discount store chain, which represents 75% of its net asset value. Analysts at Citigroup noted that 3i had previously reported LFL growth of 2.4% year-to-date in the first 19 weeks, implying on-year sales growth of 6% in the last six weeks. "Investors were sceptical when 3i Group cited poor weather at its last update, but it seems likely that recent warm weather has led to a strong recovery in seasonal sales," the broker said.
Barratt Redrow climbed 4.6% after major shareholder Phoenix Asset Management Partners called for a material increase in share buybacks to create value for long-term shareholders. Phoenix, which first invested in 1998, presented analysis at the London Value Investor Conference demonstrating the undervaluation of the housebuilder.
On the FTSE 250, easyJet rose 6.6% after saying it would allow potential suitor Castlelake access to limited commercial information to produce a better proposal. The airline rejected a fourth bid plan from Castlelake on Tuesday worth 650 pence per share, valuing the company at £4.93 billion. AJ Bell investment director Dan Coatsworth said: "EasyJet has changed its tune regarding a takeover."
Moonpig rose 2.5% after delivering better-than-expected results, hiking its dividend, and announcing a new share buyback. Berenberg called it an "impressive" year, while Wayne Brown of Panmure Liberum hailed a "cracking" set of results. ITV shares rose 3.1% after Reuters reported that Comcast-owned Sky has agreed to buy ITV's broadcast and streaming unit, with ITV acquiring Love Productions as part of the deal.
Gold traded at $4,025.66 an ounce, up from $4,014.40.
FTSE 100 risers and fallers
The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were 3i, up 261p at 2,534p; Barratt Redrow, up 13p at 294p; Antofagasta, up 143p at 3,793p; Aberdeen Group, up 8.4p at 240.4p; and Persimmon, up 36p at 1,128.5p. The biggest fallers were London Stock Exchange Group, down 252p at 8,028p; ICG, down 41p at 1,670p; Lion Finance, down 240p at 11,000p; BT Group, down 4.2p at 191.85p; and United Utilities, down 26p at 1,299p.
Friday's global economic calendar includes the Michigan consumer sentiment index and US wholesale inventories. The local corporate calendar has full-year results from Solid State.
