FTSE 100 today: latest UK stock market news

The founder of Jet2 has trimmed his stake in the package holidays operator, selling five million shares worth about £70 million.
Philip Meeson, 76, who built the Leeds-based Jet2 into a significant player in the low-cost air travel market, stepped down as its chairman last year. Now he has cashed in a 2.3 per cent stake through a share placing run by Jefferies.
Based on Tuesday’s closing price, the stake was worth about £73.5 million. The value of Jet2’s shares has increased by more than a quarter since this time in 2023, with record passenger numbers pushing last year’s pre-tax profits up 43 per cent to £529.5 million.
A stock exchange filing said that Meeson’s “rationale for the transaction has been driven by personal financial considerations alone” and that he expected “to continue as a very substantial shareholder” in the business. According to company filings, he will remain a holder of about 15 per cent of the Aim-listed company, which has a market value of £3 billion or so. Despite those efforts to reassure investors, though, Jet2’s shares fell by 72p, or 4.9 per cent, to £13.97.
Meeson was not the only one locking in profits. ASGC Construction, a Dubai-based contractor and the biggest shareholder in Costain, sold its entire stake in the London-listed infrastructure business. A stock market filing showed ASGC had sold almost 41.7 million shares, or just under 15 per cent of the company, for £37.9 million to institutional investors. Costain’s shares, which have been at highs not achieved since March 2020, fell 9p, or 8.6 per cent, to 96p.
There were other notable moves in the market, but none as bad as Rentokil Initial, the pest control group, which tumbled 95½p, or 20.1 per cent, to 380¼p, its cheapest share price in more than four years, after a profit warning. Rentokil was the biggest faller in the FTSE 100, which dipped 12.04 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 8,193.94. The more UK-focused FTSE 250 retreated 118.89 points, or 0.6 per cent, to 20,537.25.
GSK’s shares were bruised, falling 16½p, or 1 per cent, to £16.54½, after the drugs maker admitted that an experimental vaccine for herpes had failed to meet the main goal of a mid-stage trial and would not be taken forward.
Intermediate Capital Group, the alternative asset manager, rose by 48p, or 2.3 per cent, to £21.52 after it said it had raised $17 billion for its European direct-lending fund, significantly higher than an initial target of between $11 billion and $12 billion.
Entain built on gains from Monday’s surprisingly positive trading update and picked up another 27½p, or 4.1 per cent, to reach a three-month high of 706½p.
There were advances, too, for Antofagasta and Rio Tinto. The miners rose by 22½p, or 1.4 per cent, to £16.86 and by 69½p, or 1.5 per cent, to £46.30½, respectively, as copper prices were supported by optimism around future interest rate cuts.
A tier below, Energean flowed 17½p, or 2 per cent, higher to 903p after the gas producer reported higher profits for the first half thanks to a rise in production driven by strong summer demand in Israel, which accounts for more than 70 per cent of its total output.
The Gym Group flexed its muscles as rising memberships and price rises helped to push the company back into the black, with a pre-tax profit of £200,000 for the first half. Because of this strong half-year performance and healthy trading over the summer, it expects to deliver results at the top end of market expectations. Its shares, which have risen by about 50 per cent since the start of the year, strengthened by a further 12½p, or 8.6 per cent, to close at a two-year high of 156¼p.
Away from the main market, Greatland Gold fell sharply by 1¾p, or 26.6 per cent, to 5p after the miner said it had raised $325 million to fund the acquisition of stakes in two gold and copper mines in Australia from Newmont Corporation. Shares in Brickability slid 2p, or 2.9 per cent, to 63½p after the building products distributor said that market conditions “remain challenging”, with demand for both British and imported bricks down year-on-year owing to fewer houses being built.
Indices reversed losses after the inflation report as technology stocks again led a rebound. The Nasdaq rose 369.65 points, or 2.2 per cent, to 17,395.53 and the Dow Jones indutrial average closed up 124.75 points, or 0.3 per cent, at 40,861.71.