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Late market roundup: Stocks end mixed ahead of UK and US rate calls
The FTSE 100 ended lower on Wednesday, ahead of interest rate decisions from the US Federal Reserve and the UK’s Bank of England.
The FTSE 100 index ended down 38.09 points, 0.4%, at 8,559.33, ending a 16-day winning streak. The FTSE 250 fell 15.49 points, 0.1%, at 20,337.00, while the AIM All-Share rose 2.92 points, 0.4%, at 713.26.
The Cboe UK 100 ended down 0.6% at 852.05 on Wednesday, the Cboe UK 250 was flat at 17,844.25, and the Cboe Small Companies advanced 0.5% at 15,671.22.
In European equities on Wednesday, the CAC 40 in Paris closed down 0.9% and the DAX 40 in Frankfurt ended 0.6% lower.
In New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.5%, the S&P 500 rose 0.1%, and the Nasdaq Composite was 0.4% lower.
Disney soared 10% as it announced plans for a new theme park in the United Arab Emirates, alongside strong second-quarter results.
The waterfront resort will be located on Abu Dhabi’s Yas Island and developed in partnership with local firm Miral.
Disney stated that it aims to attract tourists from ‘the Middle East and Africa, India, Asia, Europe, and beyond.’
The announcement comes ahead of US President Donald Trump’s upcoming visit to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates next week.
‘Disneyland Abu Dhabi will be authentically Disney and distinctly Emirati,’ said Disney Chief Executive Robert Iger, promising ‘an oasis of extraordinary Disney entertainment at this crossroads of the world.’
Disneyland Abu Dhabi will be the seventh Disney resort since the original Disneyland opened in Anaheim, California in 1955.
After the London close, the US Federal Reserve announces its interest rate decision at 1900 BST, with a press conference with Chair Jerome Powell following at 1930 BST.
Analysts at Citi said: ‘We expect a neutral FOMC meeting where the committee will leave policy rates on hold. Chair Powell will reiterate that in light of policy and economic uncertainty the committee should take a ’wait and see’ approach and be in ’no hurry’ to lower policy rates.’
Amidst heightened uncertainty, Citi expects Powell to leave ‘all options on the table, neither ruling-in nor ruling-out a potential rate cut in June’.
On Thursday, it is the Bank of England’s turn, although here a different outcome is likely.
The BoE’s interest rate decision will be announced at 1202 BST, two minutes later than normal, due to a two-minute silence at midday to commemorate the 80th anniversary of VE Day.
Kallum Pickering at Peel Hunt said BoE policymakers look likely to cut rate bank rate this week by 25 basis points to 4.25% against a highly uncertain economic backdrop.
‘Although UK economic momentum has picked up appreciably since last December, and has surprised to the upside relative to depressed BoE expectations, rising global growth worries linked to the US‘s erratic and risky tariff policies pose fresh risks,’ he said.
Pickering expects all nine members of the BoE’s Monetary Policy Committee to vote for a rate cut, with a majority backing a 25bp cut and, possibly, one or two members backing a 50bp cut.
The pound was quoted lower at $1.3342 late on Wednesday afternoon in London, compared to $1.3368 at the equities close on Tuesday. The euro stood slightly lower at $1.1344, against $1.1348. Against the yen, the dollar was trading higher at JP¥143.39 compared to JP¥142.86.
On the FTSE 100, drug stocks and index heavyweights GSK and AstraZeneca fell 5.2% and 2.2% respectively.
‘Suggestions the US could be set to impose tariffs on pharmaceuticals in the next fortnight, the appointment of vaccine sceptic Vinay Prasad to a key role at the FDA, and a warning from leading player in the sector Novo Nordisk heaped pressure on UK-listed pharma names GSK and AstraZeneca,’ AJ Bell’s Russ Mould noted.
Prasad, a haematologist, oncologist and critic of the Covid-19 vaccine for children, has been named as the next director of the Center for Biologics & Research.
Also in the red, telecoms firm BT, down 1.7%, while peer Vodafone declined 2.1%.
Deutsche Bank Research downgraded BT to ’sell’ from ’hold’.
Analyst Robert Grindle said: ‘BT has more than kept up with its better-placed European peers and is now more vulnerable to a deterioration in prospects.
‘We believe that this could come by a combination of increased fixed infrastructure competition triggering increased retail competition and an increase in [mobile virtual network operator] competition catalysed by the imminent merger between Vodafone and Three UK.’
On the FTSE 250, JD Wetherspoon cheered investors as it said it expects a ‘reasonable outcome for the financial year,’ as it said sales were boosted by sunny weather.
Shares in the pub operator rose 5.3% as it reported like-for-like sales increased by 5.6% in the 13 weeks to April 27 compared to the same period last year.
But Trainline fell 5.8% after guidance fell short of expectations.
The London-based rail ticketing platform said it it sees ‘significant long term growth opportunities’, but expects some headwinds in the current financial year.
These include Transport for London’s phased expansion of their contactless travel zone, the ongoing impact from Google’s changes to its search engine results page while recent global macroeconomic uncertainty may impact foreign travel.
As a result, Trainline expects net ticket sales growth in the range of 6% to 9% for financial 2026, with revenue growth slower than net ticket sales, in the range of 0% to 3%.
UBS pointed out guidance for revenue growth was below the 3.4% consensus, with forecast net ticket sales below the consensus of 8.5% at the mid-point.
Brent oil was quoted lower at $61.45 a barrel late in London on Wednesday, from $62.58 late Tuesday. Gold was lower at $3,386.18 an ounce against $3,396.32.
Thursday’s economic calendar has the UK interest rate decision, German industrial production figures and US weekly jobless claims.
Thursday’s local corporate calendar has full-year results from Airtel Africa and a trading statement from Dowlais.
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