Talks to create the world’s largest mining company have fallen apart after Rio Tinto and Glencore couldn’t reach an agreement on valuation.

Glencore wrote in a statement yesterday: “We concluded that the proposed acquisition on these terms is not in the best interests of Glencore shareholders.

“It does not reflect our view on long term, through the cycle relative value, including not adequately valuing our copper business, and its leading growth pipeline, and apportioning material synergy value potential.”

Glencore added that: “Glencore’s standalone investment case is strong.”

Glencore and Rio Tinto have been here before, and it’s likely this won’t be the last we hear of merger plans. The mining sector is going through a wave of M&A activity, and the temptation of creating a mining powerhouse rivalled by no other may be too much for executives to ignore once the dust settles.

“Rio Tinto’s courtship of Glencore is over after Rio declined to request an extension or make a formal play for some or all of Glencore’s assets in the time allotted by the UK takeover code,” said Derren Nathan, head of equity research, Hargreaves Lansdown.

“A diverse set of mining properties and significant synergies made for an attractive combination on paper, but as with all relationships, there’s no set formula for chemistry, and the gaps between the two parties have been too big to reconcile.

“Just how Glencore’s coal and trading arms fit in with Rio’s business model, and push for improved sustainability credentials, were amongst the issues to address, but the more fundamental questions of valuation and who holds the remote control have been the main points of disagreement.”

News that talks ended broke yesterday, sending Glencore shares sharply lower just before the close. Glencore shares were lower again on Friday.

The FTSE 100 recovered losses on Thursday as the Bank of England kept rates on hold but signalled the next interest rate cut could be just around the corner.

London’s leading index was trading at 10,395, down 6 points, shortly after the Bank of England rate decision was released.

The Bank of England was widely expected to hold rates at 3.75% and wait for a clearer picture of inflation before moving to cut rates again. What wasn’t expected was the tight 5-4 split in favour of holding rates, which suggests the bank could cut interest rates at its next meeting.

Interestingly, Governor Bailey voted for a hold, and he could be the one who makes the difference next time around.

“So Governor Bailey is set to remain the swing vote in determining the path of policy,” said Luke Bartholomew, Deputy Chief Economist, at Abderdeen.

“As long as inflation moderates further over coming months, we continue to expect he will swing behind further cuts in the not too distant future. A cut at the next Bank meeting in March is most certainly on the table. And even if it takes a bit longer for the next cut to come through, we still think there is a strong case for rates to eventually fall to 3% later this year.”

In an immediate reaction, the FTSE 100 surged around 35 points, and GBP/USD lost 50 pips in seconds.

AI adopters rally

After several shockingly bad sessions from AI adopters Experian, RELX, and the London Stock Exchange Group, bargain hunters began to step in and pick up shares of the companies that were highly regarded by investors not that long ago. 

The London Stock Exchange Group was the FTSE 100’s top riser, adding 7% while RELX rose 3.3%.

Vodafone was the FTSE 100’s top faller after the telecoms group released a mixed trading update. Shares were down 7% at the time of writing.

“Recent news had given investors hope the problems in Vodafone’s largest market – Germany – were behind it. However, its third-quarter update offered a serving of schadenfreude for its detractors as German growth slipped to a trickle,” said Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell.

“This overshadowed a more robust performance elsewhere and raised questions about whether the regulatory-driven issues in the German market were truly behind the company. If November’s first dividend hike in seven years gave a signal that Vodafone’s recovery, following years of stagnation, was finally in motion that signal feels patchier today.

“Vodafone may still be on track to deliver full-year profit and cash at the upper end of guidance, and the integration of Three UK may be progressing as planned but after an extended period of regular disappointments, shareholders can be forgiven for being cynical.”

Housebuilders had been notably weaker going into the rates decision, but receiveda minor reprieve from the tight interest rate decision. Persimmon was down 2.7% and Barratts lost 3%.

Today feels like the first time in a couple of weeks preciosu metals weren’t dominating headlines and miner Fresnillo shares eased 2% lower.

Late yesterday, recruitment software provider Dillistone Group (LON: DSG) announced a £1.5m fundraising at 10p/share. Management believes that the company has to become larger to take advantage of the AIM quotation. P&R Investment Management has taken a strategic stake of 26.8% via its fund. They are appointing Matthias Riechert and Aakash Vanchi Nath to represent them on the board. The share price rebounded 35.3% to 11.5p.

Automotive interior components supplier CT Automotive (LON: CTA) expects to report adjusted pre-tax profit of at least $10m for 2025. This was after product launch-related costs of $400,000. Net debt was $7.7m at the end of 2025. Contracts have been won that will build revenues over the next few years. This year’s revenues will not get much of that benefit until later in the year and modest growth is expected. The share price gained 21.7% to 28p.

Video games developer tinyBuild (LON: TBLD) beat expectations for revenues profit and cash in 2025. Revenues of $32.5m are expected, while the loss should be cut from $20.9m to $1.1m. The loss should fall further this year. The share price rose 10% to 8.25p.

Cornish Metals (LON: TIN) has received a non-binding Letter of Interest from the Export-Import Bank of the United States for the financing of the development of the South Crofty tin mine in Cornwall. SP Angel has published research on Cornish Metals that value the company at 306p/share. The share price improved 6.2% to 137p.

FALLERS

Tungsten West (LON: TUN) has taken advantage of positive news about the Hemerdon tungsten and tin mine earlier this week to raise up to £43m at 18p/share, including a retail offer of up to £3m. The cash will finance the feasibility study and pay back the bridge facility. It will help to accelerate the move towards production in the third quarter. The NPV7.5% for Hemerdon has increased from $190m to $1.7bn. Debt financing discussions are continuing with multiple lenders. The share price declined 9.7% to 27p.

MediaZest (LON: MDZ) has raised £215,000 at 0.06p/share and this will help to finance working capital to finance new client wins. Dr Graham Cooley has taken a 8.11% stake via the placing. The share price slipped 8.57% to 0.08p.

Financial market data software provider Arcontech (LON: ARC) reported a 5% dip in revenues to £1.4m because of a loss of a contract and a decline in operating profit from £400,000 to £300,000. Reduced working capital helped net cash increase to £7.8m. Cavendish expects revenues to fall 13% and pre-tax profit to decline 30% to £700,000. The share price fell 8.86% to 27.25p.

Vianet (LON: VNET) has won a new contract from a US restaurant chain, but this was overshadowed by tough trading in the second half. Cavendish forecasts a flat full year pre-tax profit of £1.3m. The new contract is a multi-year one for the Beverage Metrics inventory platform and it will be rolled out by June. The share price dipped 9.03% to 65.5p.

Ex-dividends

Victorian Plumbing Group (LON: VIC) is paying a final dividend of 1.45p/share and the share price edged down 0.2p to 83p.

The latest breakdown of the most popular stocks on Robinhood UK reveals an interesting shift towards robotics and automation, with a drone and wireless technology group taking the top spot, while familiar names Tesla and Nvidia remain in the top ten.

10 most popular stocks in January 2026 on Robinhood UK

1. Ondas (ONDS)
2. Plug Power (PLUG)
3. MARA (MARA)
4. NVIDIA (NVDA)
5. Tesla (TSLA)
6. IREN (IREN)
7. Applied Digital (APLD)
8. Red Cat (RCAT)
9. Robinhood (HOOD)
10. Strategy (MSTR)

“Drone stocks leapt onto the list of the most popular buys on Robinhood UK in January, as the AI infrastructure theme broadened out and interest in hydrogen fuel systems jumped too,” said Dan Lane, Investment Content Lead at Robinhood UK.

“Move over MARA. The crypto miner turned AI infrastructure firm was leapfrogged on the list of the most popular buys on Robinhood UK in January by two newcomers, Ondas and Plug Power. Ondas is one of two drone manufacturers to rise up the ranks after the US announced its plans to ban the sale of drones made outside the country. The other maker to appear on January’s list, Red Cat, produces drones for the US military – despite the attention, though, both manufacturers are yet to turn a profit.

“A mixed month for hydrogen power specialist, Plug Power, included a share price pop on the back of an announcement that Walmart would cancel some of its existing warrants (which would have diluted PLUG shares). The flipside came later in the month, as the company announced its own proposal to double its share count – effectively putting dilution back on the table.”

Vodafone shares were down on Thursday after reporting Q3 results, but investors shouldn’t be too disappointed. Growth was respectable, and the share price decline is likely a consequence of the strong run going into results and slight disappointment around the UK and Germany.

The company recorded adjusted EBITDAaL growth of 2.3% on an organic basis to €2.8 billion. Total revenue surged 6.5% to €10.5 billion, propelled by continued expansion in Africa and the consolidation of Three UK and Telekom Romania assets.

Africa was again a bright spot with organic service revenue growth of 13.5%, matching the previous quarter’s impressive momentum. Turkey also contributed significantly, with service revenue increasing 3.7% in euro terms.

UK service revenue declined by 0.5%, while Germany grew by 0.7%. As the group’s two largest geographies by revenue, this will be a concern that balances out encouraging numbers elsewhere.

Vodafone has completed €3.5 billion in share buybacks since May 2024. A further €500 million tranche begins today, underscoring management’s confidence in the business’s trajectory and its commitment to returning capital to shareholders.

Vodafone shares were down 7% on Thursday but are still up 65% over the past year.

“Investors shouldn’t read too much into the fall for Vodafone this morning, given the strong run from the shares in recent months,” said Chris Beauchamp, Chief Market Analyst UK at IG.

“All the signs point to continued strong performance in coming months, and even the competitive pricing pressures in Europe appear not to be having too much of an impact. Some retrenchment would be welcome, allowing a measured view to develop on what is one of the FTSE’s more impressive turnaround stories.”

Shell shares were lower on Thursday after the oil major revealed profits fell in the fourth quarter of 2025.

Adjusted earnings were down 40% to $3.3bn, largely due to the timing of a tax charge. Apart from that, everything at Shell looks just fine. 

Look past the impact of taxes, and each unit is ticking along nicely, with Shell successfully navigating the lower-fossil-fuel-price environment.

There will be concerns about lower refinig margins, but this won’t be a surprise to investors who are well aware of oil prices.

Importantly, underlying cash generation is strong, and continued share buybacks will be welcomed by investors.

“Shell’s latest quarter wasn’t spotless, with profits down 11%, but the miss says more about tax timing than underlying performance,” said Mark Crouch, market analyst at eToro.

“Strip that out and the oil giant remains firmly on the front foot. Management’s decision to press ahead with a $3.5 billion share buyback speaks louder than the profit dip and highlights the strength of underlying cash flows.”

“With Energy emerging as the best-performing sector of 2026, capital continues to rotate into the space even as oil and gas prices remain historically on the low side.

“Shell’s shares are trading close to all-time highs regardless, reflecting balance sheet strength, reliable cash generation and renewed upside potential in the share price. Progress on major projects in Australia and Brazil adds further visibility to medium-term growth.”

London’s AI adopter software stocks cratered this week after news broke that Anthropic was developing an AI-powered legal tool that could extinguish their aspirations for AI-driven growth.

RELX shares were down 16% on Tuesday as the London Stock Exchange Group and Experian lost around 10%. Over the pond, the losses have been just as severe.

US software stocks have been selling off for months as investors rotated away from names that had long been the darlings of tech investors, fearing AI-related obsolescence.

The table below illustrates the extent of the losses.

In many cases, software companies have been slow to provide AI tools, and many offer tools inferior to those developed by AI-native startups or directly by OpenAI, Google, or Anthropic. They can also be costly.

Unfortunately for software stocks, it’s not just the world’s leading AI startups that are threatening their business models.

Those companies with the right know-how and the power of AI can build a CRM like HubSpot, or a Work Operating System like Monday.com, or even an app to teach you another language like Duolingo does, at very little cost, and at great speed. 

AI is empowering businesses to build their own solutions, making incumbents look very expensive. 

Are the declines warranted? 

HubSpot is down 70% over the past year, but you may argue this is at odds with recent results. Customer numbers are still rising, Q3 revenue was up 21%, and operating profits increased 29%.

This, however, was from a low base, and the threat of replacement by those with only a slight understanding of AI has proved too much for the market. 

CRM competitor Salesforce is down 42% despite its AI offering’s ARR surging 114% over the past year. Investors just aren’t buying.

Duolingo is an obvious casualty. When chatbots can produce course curricula for almost any language on earth in seconds, why will people pay £10 a month?

Adobe shares have lost 36.5%. ChatGPT can create a suite of product images in minutes. And there are many better alternatives to ChatGPT for image creation. Adobe subscriptions aren’t the must-have they once were.

Gartner, a provider of insights and guidance to the C-Suite, has tumbled 70% as firms realise that the information available through AI isn’t much different from professional insight that costs tens of thousands of dollars.

It’s not all bad news. When looking at the software sector, remember that not all software stocks are created equal. The stocks most at risk are those providing tools. Tools can be replaced easily by AI.

Gaming companies have performed well, presumably because their software has a more creative element. Take-Two, the owner of the Grand Theft Auto series, saw its shares hit this week but are still 10% higher over the past year.

SaaS investors should rightly be worried by recent developments for the reasons explained above. On the other hand, the names with defensible data moats, particularly UK names Experian and RELX, look hard done by. 

Once the dust settles, there will be buying opportunities in the sector.