Weekly review
By Michele Maatouk
Date: Friday 28 Aug 2026
(Sharecast News) - The FTSE 100 closed up 0.3% at 10,824.26 on Friday.
Equity view
Goodwin announced that talks regarding the sale of its Mechanical Engineering division are "progressing well", and there have been discussions with a "number of potentially interested parties", as it reported a doubling of operating profits for the financial year to 30 April. After announcing a strategic review of the business unit three weeks ago, the board said it wants to complete a disposal within the next 12 months, and expects to return a "substantial part" of any cash proceeds to shareholders.
Halfords shares surged on Thursday after the motoring and cycling products retailer lifted its profit outlook for the year, having been boosted in part by unusually warm weather. Based on a "strong" performance in the year to date, the company now expects FY27 underlying pre-tax profit of between £55m and £65m, ahead of current consensus of £52.6m and a range of range of £48.9m to £55.1m.
Prudential raised its share buyback programme and hiked its dividend on Thursday after reporting strong first-half results, which showed adjusted profits rising by a tenth. Adjusted operating pre-tax profit at the insurance and asset management company were up 10% at $1.52bn over the first six months of 2026, with new business profit growing 8% and margins expanding 2 percentage points to 40%.
Sports nutrition and wellness brand Applied Nutrition lifted its outlook for FY27 on Wednesday as it said revenue and profit for the year to the end of July 2026 had surpassed expectations. The company said that since its update at the start of June, trading had remained strong, with sustained demand across markets and channels. FY26 adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation are expected to have risen 40% year-on-year to around £43.3m, while revenue is up 50% to £160m. This is ahead of market expectations for adjusted EBITDA of £42m and revenue of £148.4m.
Precious metals miner Hochschild Mining posted a sharp jump in first‑half revenue and profits on Wednesday, though it also flagged a notable rise in attributable all‑in sustaining costs. Hochschild said revenues surged 62% year‑on‑year to $844.4m, with adjusted underlying earnings up 119% at $491.5m and pre-tax profits climbing from $109.3m to $365.8m. Basic earnings per share rose to $0.37, while Hochschild's balance sheet swung to $51.1m of net cash from $20m of net debt at year‑end.
NatWest is reportedly boosting its presence in the US more than a decade after the financial crisis forced it into retreat. According to Bloomberg, which cited a person familiar with the matter, the US Federal Reserve granted the lender's ring-fenced bank approval last week to set up a representative office in Connecticut. That will see it employ a small number of relationship and credit colleagues in the US.
Housebuilder Vistry surged on Tuesday after securing initial funding of £350m as part of the government's £39bn Social and Affordable Homes Programme (SAHP). Vistry said it was the largest award possible in this phase and significantly in excess of the first award received under the previous programme. It will enable the company to deliver more than 3,000 affordable homes, well ahead of what was possible under the first phase of the last programme.
Baillie Gifford US Growth Trust urged its shareholders to take no action on Monday after activist investor Saba Capital issued a requisition notice to have three directors of its choosing appointed at the upcoming annual general meeting. New York-based Saba, which is run by Boaz Weinstein and has a 29% stake in the trust, has requested that it appoint Jason Chen, Thomas H. McGlade and James Waterlow as directors of the company.
Shell has reportedly drawn interest from potential bidders including ExxonMobil and LyondellBasell for its US chemicals assets. According to the Financial Times, Shell's US chemicals plants - which are located across four sites in Louisiana, Texas and Pennsylvania and produce a wide range of chemicals for use in plastics, detergents and pharmaceuticals - could fetch as much as $8bn.
Drugmaker GSK notched two major regulatory milestones on Monday, with Japan granting the first global approval for its hepatitis B therapy Hibsago and US regulators accepting a priority review for Jemperli in previously untreated locally advanced rectal cancer. GSK said Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare had cleared Hibsago (bepirovirsen) as the world's first functional‑cure treatment for chronic hepatitis B in adults who have received at least six months of nucleos(t)ide analogue therapy and meet specific viral criteria.
Economic news
UK business confidence rose to its highest level since March in August, driven by stronger customer demand and improving economic optimism, according to the latest Lloyds Business Barometer. Overall confidence increased four points to 53%, marking a second consecutive monthly rise and standing above the 12-month average of 47%. Economic optimism jumped seven points to 49%, while firms' own trading outlook improved two points to a three-month high of 58%.
UK retail sales fell sharply in August as the hot weather extended a "prolonged period of weak demand", according to the Confederation of British Industry's latest Distributive Trades Survey. Retail sales volumes fell at a weighted balance of -48% in the year to August, compared with -26% in July. However, retailers expect the decline to ease in September, to -22%. Sales were also judged to be poor for the time of year, while sentiment among retailers deteriorated to -29% from -15% in May.
Ofgem announced on Wednesday that the energy price cap will rise by 4% from October, meaning the average household on default tariffs will have to pay an additional £60 a year. The price cap, which is designed to protect around 22m households on default tariffs by limiting the maximum rates and standing charges that energy suppliers can charge, has now been set at a three-year high of £1,723 for the period from 1 October to 31 December.
International events
Economic sentiment in the eurozone improved in August, according to figures released on Friday by the European Commission. The EC's economic sentiment indicator rose to 98.4 from 97.1 in July, beating consensus expectations for a reading of 97.5. Meanwhile, the economic sentiment indicator for the EU ticked up one point to 98.2 this month.
Americans lined up for unemployment benefits at a decelerated pace in the week ended 22 August, according to the Labor Department, with initial jobless claims dropping by 4,000 to 203,000. Last week's reading was below market expectations of rise to 208,000, holding the trend of low claim counts since dropping to an almost 60-year low of 189,000 in mid-July.
Spirits giant Pernod Ricard reported a drop in full‑year sales and profits on Thursday as weakness in the US and China, currency headwinds and a softer pricing environment weighed on results. Pernod Ricard posted a 3.9% organic decline in FY26 net sales to €9.4bn, with the Americas down 10% and China sliding 19% amid weak consumer sentiment and regulatory pressures. Europe fell 3%, while Asia-Rest of World was broadly flat. Reported sales were down 14.2%, hit by adverse FX and brand disposals.
German consumer sentiment improved noticeably in August as income expectations recovered and households became slightly less inclined to save, according to the latest survey from the Nuremberg Institute for Market Decisions. The NIM Consumer Climate indicator, powered by GfK, rose 2.8 points to a six-month high of -26.6 for September, from a revised -29.4 previously.
Shares in Nvidia were set to jump on Thursday after the chip designer and computing infrastructure giant reported a doubling of revenues in the second quarter and delivered sales guidance well ahead of market forecasts. Amid increasing market concerns about a slowdown in the AI boom, chief executive and founder Jensen Huang said demand was still picking up and the AI infrastructure buildout was at "full steam".
Social media firm Meta said on Wednesday that it has agreed to pay a maximum of $18bn to settle a court case related to child safety on Facebook and Instagram. The company said in a statement that it will pay the sum to dozens of US states in annual instalments over a 10-year period. The money will be used to fund youth online safety initiatives, among other state priorities, it said.
US inflation ticked slightly higher in July, according to the Federal Reserve's preferred gauge, with both headline and core readings showing modest monthly increases. The Bureau of Economic Analysis' personal consumption expenditures price index rose 0.2% on the month and 3.7% year‑on‑year in July, both a touch above consensus, while core PCE, which strips out volatile food and energy costs, also increased 0.2% on the month and 3.3% annually, matching forecasts.
Canada has announced retaliatory tariffs on C$28bn ($20bn) of American-made exports, hitting back at the 50% levies imposed by the Trump administration after trade talks between the neighbouring nations fell apart last week. The Canadian government said the counter-tariffs, focused on sectors such as steel, dairy, appliances, agricultural equipment, pulp and paper, and electronics, were designed to protect domestic businesses that will be impacted by the US levies.
German business sentiment improved more than expected in August, according to a survey released on Tuesday by the Ifo Institute. The business climate index rose to 88.8 from 86.7 in July, coming in above expectations for a reading of 87.2. This marked the fourth consecutive monthly increase and took the index to a one-year-high.
First-half sales at Lego jumped by more than a fifth to a record high, helped by new product releases and partnerships with franchises including the World Cup and KPop Demon Hunters. The Danish toy giant reported revenues of DKK41.9bn ($6.5bn) over the first six months of 2026, with "strong momentum" noted across most major regions.
German economic growth slowed less than expected in the second quarter of 2026, according to revised estimates from the country's federal statistical office on Tuesday. Gross domestic product rose at a 0.3% clip on a price, seasonally and calendar-adjusted basis in the April-June period, Destatis reported, down from 0.4% growth in the first quarter but the third straight quarterly expansion.
Alibaba shares tumbled more than 8% in Hong Kong on Monday after the Chinese tech company raised HK$80bn ($10.2bn) in an equity placement to extend its "global AI leadership". The company said in a statement that it will place 710m new ordinary shares to investors outside of the US at HK$112.70 each - an 8% discount to Friday's closing share price. The placing is expected to close on Wednesday.
The Chicago Federal Reserve's national activity index pointed to a further cooling in US economic growth in July, with the headline index slipping to -0.08 from +0.06 in June as most underlying indicators weakened. Three of the four broad categories deteriorated on the month, and two posted negative contributions, while the three‑month moving average eased to -0.04 from +0.01, signalling activity running modestly below trend.
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