Weekly review
By Josh White
Date: Friday 10 Apr 2026
(Sharecast News) - The FTSE 100 ended the Easter Monday-shortened week up 234.19 points, or 2.26%, closing at 10,600.53 on Friday.
Equity view
AO World confirmed on Friday it remained on track to meet full-year guidance despite "material" cost headwinds. Updating on year-end trading, the white goods retailer said total group revenue growth was expected to be around 11% in the 12 months to 31 March, with adjusted pre-tax profits slated to come in at the top end of its £45m to £50m range.
Student accommodation provider Unite Group held annual guidance and said 74% of beds for the new academic year had been reserved as it also looked to speed up asset sales. The company on Friday said it still expected occupancy and rental growth at lower end of 93-96% and 2-3% ranges for 2026/27 and was on track to deliver guidance for £300-400m of asset disposals in 2026 as it focused on a pivot to what it called "the strongest universities".
Mercantile Investment Trust reported a positive set of annual results on Thursday, saying performance remained solid despite lagging its benchmark over the period. Mercantile delivered a net asset value total return of 12.3% for the year to 31 January, compared with a 15.8% gain for its benchmark. Share price total returns for the period were 12.5%.
Impax Asset Management reported an 8.0% decline in assets under management over the second quarter of its financial year on Friday, as continued net outflows outweighed modest positive market performance. The AIM-traded sustainable investment specialist said total AuM stood at £22.3bn as at 31 March, down from £24.2bn at the end of December.
Quantum Blockchain Technologies said in an update on Friday that enforcement proceedings linked to its €6m-plus damages award in the Sipiem litigation had been temporarily halted, while the group expected a final payment from the Mediapolis insolvency process by the end of June. The AIM-traded company said that, following a 10 June 2024 judgment by the Venice Court of Appeal awarding it damages in excess of €6m plus interest and inflation adjustments via its subsidiary Clear Leisure 2017, it had been pursuing enforcement action in Italy against a former Sipiem director.
British American Tobacco said on Thursday that it has appointed Dragos Constantinescu as chief financial officer with effect from 1 September. He is currently serving as chief executive of Asahi Europe & International, having been with Asahi Breweries since 2019. During his time at Asahi Breweries, Constantinescu has also held a number of other senior leadership roles across Europe including managing director, Czech, Slovakia, Germany & Austria and managing director, Romania & Hungary.
Metlen Energy and Metals on Thursday posted better-than-expected annual earnings despite project cost overruns and delays. Core earnings for the year to December came in at €753m, down 30%, but better than the revised €750m forecast in February when the company had to slash estimates, citing unexpected cost overruns and the delayed closing of certain transactions.
Investment manager Foresight Group said on Thursday that both assets and funds under management had increased in the year ended 31 March amid "another period of profitable and resilient growth". Foresight said assets under management had risen 6% to £14bn and funds under management grew 4% to £10.0bn. On a divisional AUM basis, real assets were up 8% at £11.1bn and private equity was 11% higher at £2bn, while FCM dropped 21% to £900m.
Property developer Great Portland Estates said on Thursday that it has leased the final remaining office space at SIX St Andrew Street, EC4, completing leasing at the fully managed development. Great Portland said the third and fourth floors of the building, totalling 11,680 square feet, have been let to an AI company and, as a result, the building has now been fully occupied - generating £8.8m of annual rent at an average of £200 per square foot, 6.2% ahead of enterprise rental value, delivering a 6.2% yield on cost.
Shares in ITM Power surged on Thursday, after the hydrogen specialist landed funding worth more than £86m from the UK government. Great British Energy Group (GBE) will invest £40m through a non-pre-emptive subscription, giving it a 10% stake in the AIM-listed firm, while the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero confirmed plans to award ITM a £46.5m grant. Set up last year, GBE is a publicly-owned investment fund focused on green energy.
Renishaw has appointed the former finance lead of Dyson and Smiths Group as its new chief financial officer, ending a search to replace its long-running CFO that began eight months ago. The company, which produces manufacturing technologies, analytical instruments and medical devices, has been looking for a successor for group finance director Allen Robert, who announced his retirement in August after having been in the position since 1980.
Iconic British bootmaker Dr Martens has appointed general managers across all of its major markets as part of a move to simplify its operating model and support its new consumer‑first strategy. Dr Martens said on Wednesday that it has shifted to a market‑level structure to bring teams closer to customers, alongside strengthening its global brand, technology and support functions.
Motorpoint Group said on Wednesday that it expects a sharp increase in annual profit after delivering record sales volumes, supported by improved margins and growing use of data and artificial intelligence. In a trading update for the year ended 31 March, the London-listed vehicle retailer said profit before tax was expected to be around £7.5m, up 83% from £4.1m a year earlier.
Aptitude Software reported a resilient performance for 2025 on Wednesday, maintaining profitability and cash generation despite weaker revenue and softer recurring income, while launching a strategic review that could lead to a sale of the business. The London-listed finance software provider said annual recurring revenue as at 31 December edged down 1% to £49.8m, as growth in its AI Autonomous Finance segment, up 7% to £17.9m, was offset by expected declines in legacy products.
Young's said on Wednesday that it has agreed to buy Cubitt House London Pubs. The deal comprises a collection of eight leasehold pubs and pubs with bedrooms in West London. These include The Barley Mow (Mayfair), The Builders Arms (Chelsea), The Coach Makers Arms (Marylebone), The Grazing Goat (Marylebone), The Orange (Belgravia), The Princess Royal (Notting Hill), The Thomas Cubitt (Belgravia) and The Alfred Tennyson (Belgravia).
Precision engineering group Hunting said it had won $63.5m in orders to deliver its titanium stress joint (TSJ) products for a new offshore oil development in Guyana. The contract will be completed by the group's subsea spring business unit and will be delivered through to May 2028, with revenue being recognised from the second half of fiscal 2026, Hunting said on Tuesday. No customer details were provided.
Fund administration services firm JTC posted what it called a "good performance with resilient organic and inorganic growth" on Tuesday, delivering further organic and inorganic growth in FY25 but cutting its shareholder payout sharply as it continued to expand its global footprint. JTC said revenues rose 25.1% to £381.9m in FY25, while underlying earnings increased 22.4% to £124.5m. Net organic growth came to 8.5% year-on-year and new business wins were up 21.8% at a record £43.5m.
Advanced materials and clean-technology firm Haydale Graphene said on Tuesday that it has further expanded its SaveMoneyCutCarbon platform through a multi-year framework agreement and exclusivity arrangement with Wave Utilities. Through the new agreement, Haydale said SMCC and Wave had now agreed to expand their existing partnership, with SMCC set to deliver water efficiency programmes across Wave's commercial and public sector customer base.
Volex launched a £40m share buyback programme and confirmed plans to transfer its listing from AIM to the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange on Tuesday, as the group stepped up capital returns and targeted broader investor participation. The company said the on-market buyback would purchase ordinary shares up to a total value of £40m, with all repurchased shares to be cancelled, reducing share capital and returning surplus funds to investors.
Caledonia Mining Corporation reported encouraging results from its deep level drilling programme at Blanket Mine on Tuesday, with findings indicating continuity of key orebodies at depth and supporting increased confidence in its mineral resource base. The AIM-traded company said 10,311.9 metres of deep drilling were completed between March and December, targeting the Blanket, Eroica and Lima orebodies below the current 34 level, or 1,110 metres beneath surface.
Economic news
Retail footfall ticked higher in March, industry data showed on Friday, boosted by the early timing of Easter. According to the latest BRC-Sensormatic footfall monitor, total UK footfall rose by 2.4% in the five weeks from 1 March to 4 April. Easter Sunday fell on 5 April this year, whereas 2025's later timing meant the long weekend was included in BRC-Sensormatic's April reporting period.
The UK housing market faltered in March, industry research showed on Thursday, as the Iran war weighed heavily on sentiment. According to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors' latest residential market survey, both buyer enquiries and agreed sales fell sharply last month, while house prices tracked lower.
Heightened geopolitical tensions and concerns about overvaluations in the tech sector constrained activity among companies preparing to list on the stock market in the first quarter, according to the latest analysis by EY-Parthenon on Thursday. Muted appetite for listing saw just two initial public offerings in London over the first three months of 2026 - one raising £8.8m on the main market and the other raising £4m on AIM - following a strong end to 2025.
The government said on Wednesday that businessman Ian Cheshire is its preferred candidate to be appointed chair of Ofcom, the independent regulator for communications. It said Cheshire brings extensive experience of senior leadership across the private and public sectors, with a strong track record in governance, consumer facing regulation and organisational change.
The downturn in the UK construction sector continued in March amid a surge in input cost inflation as the war in the Middle East pushed up fuel, transportation and raw material prices, according to a survey released on Wednesday. The S&P Global construction purchasing managers' index ticked up to 45.6 from 44.5 in February but remained below the 50.0 mark that separates contraction from expansion for the fifteenth month in a row.
UK house prices unexpectedly fell in March amid rising mortgage rates and uncertainty about the war in the Middle East, according to data released on Wednesday by mortgage lender Halifax. House prices fell 0.5% on the month following a 0.3% increase in February, and versus expectations for a 0.1% rise. On the year, house prices rose 0.8% in March, down from 1.2% the month before.
UK new car sales rose 6.6% year on year in March, with a surge in electric vehicle sales to their best month on record, according to industry data published on Tuesday. Latest figures revealed 380,627 new vehicles were registered in March, which is typically the busiest month of the year due to licence plate changes, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said, making it the best month overall since 2019.
Activity in the UK services sector hit its lowest level in March in 11 months, while costs surged amid the war in the Middle East. The S&P Global services PMI business activity index fell to 50.5 from 53.9 in February, hitting the lowest level since April 2025. It was below the flash reading of 51.2 but above the 50.0 mark that separates contraction from expansion.
International events
Inflation in China edged higher in March, official data showed on Friday, although the pace of growth slowed. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the consumer price index rose by 1% year-on-year, down on the 1.3% rise seen in January and below forecasts for a 1.2% increase.
German inflation was confirmed as the highest in more than two years on Friday, following a sharp increase in energy prices. According to Destatis, the Federal Statistics Office, the consumer price index in March was up 2.7% year-on-year, in line with both expectations and earlier estimates. It is the highest level since January 2024.
Benjamin Netanyahu told his cabinet on Thursday to start direct talks with Lebanon "as soon as possible". The Israeli prime minister said in a statement that the talks "will focus on disarming Hezbollah and establishing peaceful relations between Israel and Lebanon".
US inflation rose in line with expectations in February, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, likely stopping the Federal Reserve from making any interest rate cuts in the near term. The personal consumption expenditures price index increased 0.4% month-on-month in February after a 0.3% gain in January, in line with expectations, while annual PCE growth held steady at 2.8%.
German production unexpectedly fell in February, official data showed on Thursday, as Europe's biggest economy came under pressure even before the outbreak of war in the Middle East. According to Detatis, the Federal Statistics Office, production in industry fell 0.3% month-on-month, compared to 0.0% in January. Economists had expected to see a 0.9% rise.
Iran threatened on Wednesday to withdraw from the two-week ceasefire it has only just agreed with the US, if Israel continues its attacks on Lebanon. According to reports, Iran has stopped oil tankers passing through the vital Strait of Hormuz, breaching the terms of the ceasefire.
Trump threatened on Wednesday to impose 50% tariffs on any country supplying weapons to Iran. In a post on Truth Social, the US president said: "A Country supplying Military Weapons to Iran will be immediately tariffed, on any and all goods sold to the United States of America, 50%, effective immediately."
US mortgage applications slipped 0.8% in the week ended 3 April, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association, extending the 28.5% cumulative decline seen over the previous three weeks. Last week's pullback came even as benchmark mortgage rates retreated from last prior week's seven‑month high, as longer‑dated Treasury yields eased on reduced expectations of further Federal Reserve tightening.
Retail sales across the eurozone fell back as expected in February, with weakness in the region's two largest economies providing a drag, according to figures from Eurostat on Wednesday. The seasonally adjusted volume of retail trade decreased by 0.2% over the month of February, in line with market forecasts following no change in January.
Talks between the US and Iran will kick off in Islamabad on Friday after Donald Trump said the US had received a 10-point plan from Tehran for ending the war that is "a workable basis on which to negotiate". The list of 10 points, published by Iranian state media, includes the lifting of all primary and secondary sanctions on Iran; continued Iranian control over the strait of Hormuz; and recognition of Iran's right to enrich uranium.
New orders across Germany's manufacturing sector rebounded less than expected in February, following the steepest drop in more than two years in January, with a sharp drop in orders of transport equipment limiting growth. Price-adjusted factory orders improved by just 0.9% over the month, following an 11.1% plunge in January, according to the federal statistical agency, Destatis.
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand unanimously voted to keep interest rates unchanged on Wednesday, but said it remains "ready to act" if the fallout from conflict in the Middle East continues to ramp up inflationary pressures. As expected by economists, the RBNZ's official cash rate was left at 2.25%, with all six Monetary Policy Committee members voting to hold.
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