Source: Sharecast
Stocks to watch
Lloyds Bank increased its bad debt provision in the first quarter citing downside risks from the impact of US tariffs. The UK lender lifted its impairment charge to £309m from £57m a year earlier. Net income rose 4% to £4.4bn while pre-tax profit fell 7% to £1.5bn as the bank reaffirmed full-year guidance.
London Stock Exchange Group reported an 8.7% rise in total income for the first quarter on Thursday, with 7.8% organic growth driven by strong performances across all divisions. The FTSE 100 exchange operator said its data and analytics operation showed accelerating momentum, while the markets division delivered double-digit growth in FX, Tradeweb, and OTC Derivatives. It reaffirmed its full-year guidance, and said it had completed nearly half of its £500m share buyback by the end of April.
Newspaper round-up
Ukraine and the US have announced they have reached a vital minerals deal following months of sometimes fraught negotiations. In Washington on Wednesday, the two countries said they signed an agreement on a joint fund to invest in Ukraine's reconstruction, with a draft saying Washington would get preferential access to new Ukrainian natural resources deals. – The Independent
Microsoft Corporation beat Wall Street’s quarterly sales and profit expectations as customer demand for its cloud computing services remained strong. Overall revenue rose 13 per cent year-on-year to $70.1 billion, ahead of analyst estimates of $68.4 billion. Net income was up 18 per cent to $25.8 billion, surpassing consensus expectations of $24.1 billion. – The Times
Tesla chair Robyn Denholm denied a report that the board was seeking to replace its chief executive Elon Musk in response to plunging sales and a widespread backlash against his alliance with President Donald Trump. “Earlier today, there was a media report erroneously claiming that the Tesla Board had contacted recruitment firms to initiate a CEO search at the company,” Denholm said in a post on the electric vehicle maker’s account on social media platform X early on Thursday morning. “This is absolutely false . . . The CEO of Tesla is Elon Musk and the Board is highly confident in his ability to continue executing on the exciting growth plan ahead.” – Financial Times
Meta reported earnings on Wednesday, beating Wall Street’s expectations for yet another quarter even as it lavishes billions on artificial intelligence. Meta posted $42.32bn in revenue in the first quarter of 2025, beating both its own quarterly revenue goals of $41.8bn at the higher end and Wall Street expectations of $41.38bn. The company also reported $6.43 in earnings per share, beating Wall Street projections of $5.27. Shares jumped in after-hours trading. – The Guardian
A Microsoft data centre is at the heart of an alleged £3m bribery plot involving two British construction companies. The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) on Monday raided five properties across London, Kent, Surrey and Somerset and made three arrests, as it launched an international investigation into suspected corruption over construction of the site. Officials have accused individuals at Kent-based construction firm Blu-3 of paying more than £3m in bribes to former associates of larger rival Mace Group in relation to the construction of a Microsoft data centre in the Netherlands. – The Telegraph
US close
US stock markets finished mixed on Wednesday, with the Dow and S&P 500 extending their recent rally into the seventh day and the Nasdaq finishing lower, as investors digested gloomy data and a long list of corporate earnings.
Making headlines was the news that the American economy unexpectedly contracted in the first quarter. And with the impact of tariffs likely to be felt from April onwards, odds of a US recession have risen.
US GDP fell at an annualised rate of 0.3% in the first quarter, according to preliminary estimates from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. This was the first year-on-year decline since the start of 2022 and a sharp reversal from the 2.4% growth seen in the fourth quarter. Economists had expected GDP to grow by 0.3%.
While trading in the red for most of the session, a late rally pushed the S&P 500 up 0.2% to 5,569.06. After an 8% gain over the past seven trading days, the index is now within a whisker of its pre-Liberation Day levels.
The Dow, meanwhile, rose 0.4% to 40,669.36, while the Nasdaq slipped 0.1% to 17,446.34. The subdued performance could also have been linked to cautiousness ahead of a flurry of Big Tech earnings, kicking off with Meta Platforms and Microsoft, due to report after the closing bell.