FTSE 100 today: latest UK stock market news

Compare and contrast the fortunes of two of London’s leading listed engineering companies. TI Fluid Systems, the car parts manufacturer, was the second-biggest riser in the FTSE 250 on the back of a takeover bid. TT Electronics, whose products are used in sectors from healthcare to aerospace, lost almost a third of its value after a profit warning.
News that TI Fluid Systems had rejected a second takeover bid from ABC Technologies, a Canadian car parts supplier, sent the shares up 20½p, or 14.1 per cent, to close at 166½p.
The ABC Technologies bid valued the company at 176p per share, an improvement on its previous offer of 165p per share and a premium of 20.7 per cent to TI Fluid Systems’ closing share price on Friday of 145¾p.
However, the board of TI Fluid Systems, which makes fluid-carrying systems and fuel tanks for cars and lorries, rejected the offer, saying that it “unanimously concluded that it significantly undervalued” the business.
Then there’s TT Electronics. Its stock fell by 44¾p, or 31.6 per cent, to 97¼p after it warned that sales in the second half of the year would be around £15 million to £20 million lower than previously anticipated thanks to problems in its North America business.
The company said it had suffered “operation efficiency issues” at two of its North American sites and that orders in its higher-margin components business had been “materially” weaker than expected.
As a result, the company said it expected its adjusted operating profit for the full year to be between £37 million and £42 million, well below the figure of £55.4 million that analysts had expected.
On the FTSE 250, shares in JTC rose by 42p, or 3.9 per cent, to £11.34 after it announced the acquisition of Citigroup’s trust administration services business, with JTC’s interim results due to be published on Tuesday.
The Jersey-based fund manager said it is paying $80 million for Citi Trust, which has relationships with over 2,000 ultra-high net worth clients and assets under administration in excess of $70 billion.
JTC said that the acquisition would make the US its largest jurisdiction by revenue. It had acquired several similar businesses in the US as part of its stated goal of increasing its market share of the wider US private client services market.
Playtech, the gambling software group, rose to the top of the FTSE 250 after it said that it expected adjusted earnings to come in slightly ahead of current consensus expectations.
It also announced an end to its long-running dispute with the Mexico-facing operator Caliente over their Caliplay joint venture. Playtech shares were up by 99p, or 15.1 per cent, to 753p.
Overall, the FTSE 250 ended up marginally by 34.22 points, or 0.16 per cent, to 20,929.59 while the FTSE 100 eked out a small gain of 5.35 points, or 0.06 per cent, to 8,278.44.
Near the top of the FTSE 100, Marks and Spencer rose by 10¼p, or 2.9 per cent, to 361½p after two brokers raised their price target for the retailer to 400p. Barclays, which increased its price target from 360p, cited the food division’s strong growth in market share.
RBC Capital, which raised its target from 350p, said that many of the company’s competitors in the food business had focused on customer loyalty and value for money during the cost of living crisis, giving Marks and Spencer free rein in the premium segment in which it specialises.
At the other end of the index, Phoenix Group fell by 30½p, or 5.3 per cent, to 546p after the consolidator of closed life assurance funds said in its interim results that it was halting the sale of its SunLife business because of uncertainty in the market.
Synectics, the surveillance and security business, rose by 32p, or 15.8 per cent, to 235p after it said in a trading update that it expects underlying profit before tax for the full year to be “materially” ahead of market expectations of £3.5 million.
It attributed the improved outlook to several big contract wins, including a $1.2 million contract for the installation of a new security and surveillance system at a casino resort in the Philippines.
Indices were mixed, with techology stocks leading the fallers ahead of Wednesday’s rate decision. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 228.30 points, or 0.6 per cent, to 41,622.08, a new record. The Nasdaq fell 91.85 points, or 0.5 per cent, to 17,592.13.
Investors in Apple took fright after some analysts said early data suggested weaker than expected demand for the new iPhone 16 Pro models.
Last week the company unveiled its iPhone 16 devices, which Tim Cook, the Apple chief executive, described as the “first iPhones designed from the ground up for AI”.
But early data from Bank of America Global Research revealed shorter global shipping times for the iPhone 16 Pro models compared with last year’s 15 Pro models, as of Monday, three days after Apple started taking pre-orders.
Shipping time for the iPhone 16 Pro stood at 14 days, lower than the 24 days for the iPhone 15 Pro last year, the data showed. Meanwhile, the 19-day shipping time for the iPhone 16 Pro Max compares with 32 days last year.
“The key factor is the lower than expected demand for the iPhone 16 Pro series … The major selling point, Apple Intelligence, is not available at launch,” Ming-Chi Kuo, a Taiwan-based analyst at TF International Securities, said.
Apple’s AI software is not set to arrive in the US version of the English language in beta until next month, and for other versions as late as next year.
Apple shares closed down $6.18, or 2.8 per cent, at $216.32 in New York on Monday.