Long-suffering BT shareholders faced yet another blow on Thursday after the telecoms group said they now saw lower revenue for the full year.

BT shares were down 3% at the time of writing despite the company affirming EBITDA outlook for the period.

“BT shareholders enjoying a near 50% recovery in the share price this year from its lows may have had the wind taken out of their sails this morning reading this update. The company has warned that revenue will be lower than previously indicated partly due to tough market conditions,” said Adam Vettese, market analyst at investment platform eToro.

“The broadband market is extremely competitive and saturated with choice for consumers and BT has lost out as a result.”

Higher competition was a central component in lower revenues over the most recent half-year period that ultimately cut profit before tax by 10% to £1bn.

The rollout of fibre continues apace but investors will be frustrated the huge number of people now using the service isn’t translting into improved financial performance for BT.

“Openreach is BT’s key asset, and as the fibre rollout gathers pace, it’s benefitting from higher prices and a more favourable mix of fibre vs. older technology,” said Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown.

“But new entrants are pricing aggressively, and there’s a weaker overall market for broadband and new homes, leading to 377,000 line losses over the first half. While the fibre build continues, BT’s most pressing challenge at Openreach is limiting these line losses.

“BT finds itself in a period where investors can see an end to the massive investment in fibre buildout, which should bring a material improvement in areas like cash flow, but the current market remains a challenge.”

Sainsbury’s shares eased off slightly on Thursday even though the supermarket giant announced rising operating profits amid strong grocery volumes in their half-year period.

Sainsbury’s has reported strong grocery performance with sales growth of 5.0% in its latest results, driving overall sales excluding fuel up by 4.6%. The retail giant saw like-for-like sales increase by 3.4%, with momentum building from 2.7% in Q1 to 4.2% in Q2.

The company’s core Sainsbury’s business showed robust growth, with its operating profits contribution rising by 8.7%, supported by strong grocery volume growth and an operating margin improvement of 20 basis points year on year.

However, this positive performance was partially offset by challenges in other segments, with General Merchandise and Clothing sales declining by 1.5% and Argos experiencing a 5.0% drop in sales. Argos is starting to be a drag on the group’s performance after several soft periods.

Overall, the retailer’s underlying operating profit rose to £503 million, representing a 3.7% increase.

“Sainsbury’s delivered a sweet set of first-half results, and investors will be relieved to see a volume-driven uplift in the Grocery business. But consumers haven’t been as hungry for General Merchandise & Clothing, which posted a decline in the period. That’s not been helped by its ownership of Argos, which gives it extra exposure on the general merchandise front and has weighed on overall performance a touch,” said Aarin Chiekrie, equity analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown.

“But with that slip-up aside, Sainsbury’s continues to gain market share, and at a faster pace than competitors according to industry data. That’s been helped by its huge push to improve its service, products and value perception, which is helping to sway more customers to do their big food shop at Sainsbury’s, driving strong basket size growth.”

The FTSE 100 soared on Wednesday as Trump won the US election to earn his second term as President of the world’s largest economy.

However, the FTSE 100’s gains evaporated in choppy trade as the US session got underway as investors assessed the implications of Donald Trump in White House once more.

Hopes of an easier regulatory regime and tax cust helped propel equities higher, but concerns about inflation also sparked a wave of buying in the dollar and sent treasury yields higher.

“US and European markets raced ahead on projections for Donald Trump to win the US Presidential election,” said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.

However, Mould went on to explain that the initial reaction was not typical of the economic realities of Trump’s policies and cautioned risk remains on the horizon.

“The dollar strengthened and 10-year Treasury yields jumped to 4.406% on the assumption that Trump’s policies will stoke inflation and require interest rates to stay higher for longer. That sustained the rally in US Treasuries which has been in motion since mid-September when they traded at 3.623%.

“Trump’s desire to cut taxes and make things easier for businesses to operate should in theory give a near-term tailwind to US shares, with futures prices implying a strong opening to Wall Street later. The S&P 500 is indicated to open 2% ahead and the Nasdaq up 1.7%.

“The impact of higher inflation on corporate profit margins, and how interest rates might not come down as fast as previously expected, are real risks for investors to consider once the dust settles.”

Despite the abundant risks to the equity universe, most FTSE 100 shares were higher at the time of writing.

BAE Systems and Rolls Royce were over 3% higher on hopes of continued robust US defence spending. Ashtead was among the top risers, with investors eyeing a ramp-up in construction and infrastructure spending by Donald Trump.

The Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust enjoyed renewed optimism around tech shares with a 2.3% gain.

The stronger dollar weighed on gold prices, accelerating the unwinding of the safe-haven trade bult up before the election. This did gold miner Endeavour Mining no favours, sending shares down by 3%.

“Gold is retreating significantly today, falling below $2,700 per ounce in spot trading at the peak of the declines, erasing November’s gains,” said Samer Hasn, Senior Market Analyst at XS.com.

Persimmon was the FTSE 100 top faller, although the losses were nothing to do with the election. The housebuilder noted reasonable sales in early Autumn but warned of rising costs and the budget curtailing demand through higher National Insurance taxes.

“The housebuilding sector was supposed to be in a happier place as interest rates started to come down and the property market took a turn for the better. However, the latest update from Persimmon suggests the recovery might not be as straightforward as had been imagined,” Russ Mould explained.

“Costs are back on the rise and the company is warning of a potential impact from the Budget on this front too. The changes to stamp duty are broadly unhelpful to the business. If property prices soften then the company and housebuilding industry are back to facing the unhelpful cocktail which saw their shares come under significant pressure in recent years. Persimmon’s margins are already below long-term averages as it is.”

Marks and Spencer has reported strong half-year results, with profit before tax and adjusting items rising 17.2% to £407.8m for the 26 weeks ended September 28, 2024. The retail giant saw significant growth in its food division, where sales increased by 8.1%, while Clothing & Home sales grew by 4.7%.

Marks & Spencer shares were over 4% higher at the time of writing.

The company’s statutory profit before tax reached £391.9m, up from £325.6m in the previous year. Food operations proved particularly successful, with adjusted operating profit climbing to £213.1m from £158.4m, achieving a margin of 5.1%.

Despite ongoing cost inflation running ahead of price increases and an uncertain consumer environment, M&S has maintained market share growth in both food and clothing sectors. The retailer’s food division has now recorded four consecutive years of volume and value share growth, while its clothing segment has achieved monthly market share growth over the same period.

Looking ahead, M&S executives were clearly conscious of risks to business from economic uncertainty but were fairly upbeat, noting that trading in the first five weeks of the second half remains on track.

There were some softness, the international division faced headwinds, with constant currency sales declining by 10.3% and adjusted operating profit falling to £15.2m from £32.4m in the previous year. The company has initiated an international reset under new leadership to address these challenges.

Tekcapital’s Innovative Eyewear has announced its Lucyd smart eyewear will now be sold at Tekcapital’s Innovative Eyewear secures partnership with Berkshire Hathaway’s Nebraska Furniture Mart (NFM), with products available in stores across the mid-west from Black Friday.

The placement is the latest in a series of partnerships revealed by Innovative Eyewear that cement an extensive distribution network spanning multiple online retailers and brick-and-mortar stores.

NFM operates big-box stores in Omaha, Nebraska, Des Moines, Iowa, Kansas City, Kansas, and Texas. Several of these stores will soon offer Lucyd eyewear, which Lucyd digital display boards will promote.

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway has a majority stake in Nebraska Furniture Mart (NFM), one of the US’s most prominent consumer goods stores. In 1983, Buffett famously bought the stake in the company based solely on his experience of the store, foregoing the extensive due diligence usually associated with such deals.

Berkshire Hathaway shareholders are offered discounts at NFM stores during specific periods of the year.

In recent years, NFM has diversified into a range of consumer goods, including children’s toys and personal care products. Lucyd’s placement will fall under the personal care and wellness lines NFM is actively expanding.

This partnership will provide another vital distribution channel for Lucyd’s existing designs, including the recently launched smart safety eyewear, and the Reebok-licensed smart eyewear, due to be launched in the coming months.

“NFM is a highly regarded and well-established retailer, and we are thrilled to work with an esteemed Berkshire Hathaway company,” said Harrison Gross, CEO of Innovative Eyewear.

“NFM has provided a destination shopping experience for nearly a century, and I believe their passion for groundbreaking retail experiences is an excellent match for our unique designer smart eyewear. We believe this new category represents an important step forward in eyewear, providing safer, open-ear audio for active lifestyles, and wearable utility that makes information and communications more accessible. This holiday season, go to NFM Optical to Upgrade Your Eyewear^®.”

The partnership comes as NFM ramps up its efforts to grow its wellness business and increase its online presence.

“With the recent expansion into the Wellness sector with NFM Optical, we are able to provide cutting edge technology and new and innovative optical solutions to our customers,” said Rob Roggeveen, Senior Optical Buyer at NFM.

“Lucyd’s selection of smart eyewear offers another level of service that we can offer our prescription and non-prescription Optical customers. This is something special that opens up a whole new world for eyeglass wearers.”

The FTSE 100 gave up gains on Tuesday as investors braced for the US election and potential volatility that could ensue as results come tomorrow.

The race has been too tight to call, with polls split and a deeply polarising election campaign showing little sign of a clear favourite. As a result, investors have been reluctant to make big bets, opting to reduce exposure to equities and await the results—whenever they may be.

The FTSE 100 was trading down 0.1% as the dollar weakened against the pound and gold found support.

‘Trump trades’, including long bitcoin and gold, faced pressure yesterday after an election poll from Iowa suggested Harris was the favourite in the historical Trump stronghold. These trades are slightly recovering today.

“Gold prices remained stable as investors were cautious ahead of the US presidential election,” said Ruben Ferreira – Head of Portuguese Operations at FlowCommunity.

“The possibility of delayed election results could introduce additional market uncertainty in the coming days and could fuel some volatility in gold prices.”

The FTSE 100 took a clear risk-off tone on Tuesday, with defensive shares, including BT Group, Severn Trent, and United Utilities, outperforming. Declines in some overseas earners reflected uncertainty about what the dollar could do after the election.

“The fact both defensive sectors including utilities and tobacco and cyclical sectors such as miners were in demand would suggest that investors might be hedging their bets ahead of the US election result. A series of broker upgrades for the UK utilities sector also helped,” said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.

“A contested election result could cause volatility on the markets which theoretically would see defensive stocks provide some portfolio ballast. Equally, a clear winner quickly after voting ends could provide some relief to investors and keep markets trucking along.

“Whether that remains the case a few days later is uncertain as investors haven’t priced in a particular win yet, and there will be good and bad points to digest for markets if either Donald Trump or Kamala Harris wins. Once investors have had time to consider the new lay of the land, there will almost certainly be shifts in investment portfolios.”

AB Foods was the top riser in early trade on Tuesday as investors digested a 32% jump in profits and further growth for Primark. Unfortunately, the strong gains of the morning session didn’t last, and ABF shares were just 0.9% higher at the time of writing.

“Associated British Foods is a company that really knows what it is doing. It understands its audience – particularly for its Primark chain – and it makes sensible long-term decisions to help drive long-term growth,” Russ Mould said.

“What is notable is the company achieved a strong set of results despite Primark in the UK being affected by a wet summer which, for a business reliant on footfall, was less than ideal. This was made up for by strong progress in overseas markets, lending credence to the idea the Primark offering can be a success outside of its domestic market.