Wall Street muted and FTSE jumps as traders await Tesla earnings and digest UK inflation data

Weakening demand for beer and tougher global economic conditions have hit sales for Heineken over recent months, the brewing giant said.

UK consumers nonetheless shrugged off a wider downturn with Cruzcampo sales soaring and people turning to Irish stout brand Murphy’s.

The company, which also makes Birra Moretti and Amstel, revealed that its revenues totalled €8.7bn (£7.6bn) in the third quarter, 4% lower than the same period a year ago.

This was driven largely by a drop in the volume of beer sales in North and South America and Europe.

It came as average prices rose over the period to mitigate inflationary pressures, and due to it selling a greater proportion of premium products.

The business cautioned that it was likely to sell less beer over 2025 due to weaker consumer demand.

Profit growth for the year is set to be “towards the lower end” of its 4% to 8% forecast range as a result.

Heineken, which is one of the world’s largest brewers, reported a “tough beer market” particularly in the US, where consumer sentiment was weaker and the economic environment had been affected by fears of a trade war.

Meta is cutting roughly 600 role from its Superintelligence Labs artificial intelligence unit, Axios reported on Wednesday.

According to an internal memo, the cuts will affect the company’s Facebook Artificial Intelligence Research (FAIR) unit, product-related AI and AI infrastructure units, while sparing the newly formed TBD Lab.

Meta did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. Reuters could not independently verify the report.

The company began investing in AI in 2013, with the launch of FAIR and recruiting Yann LeCun, its chief AI scientist, to lead the effort and building a global research network focused on deep learning.

Gold prices were back in the red on Wednesday down 1.2% and giving up gains from earlier in the session, after a dramatic 5% plunge in the previous session.

Gold futures dropped 0.5% to $4,087.70 per ounce, while spot gold retreated 4% to $4,088.45 an ounce, at the time of writing.

The sharp selloff in the previous session was largely attributed to easing tensions between the US and China, but traders remain on edge ahead of delayed US inflation data and upcoming trade talks involving the US, China, and India.

Russell Shor, senior market analyst at Tradu.com, said:

Despite the dip, gold is still up 56% year-to-date, having reached a record high of $4,381 just days ago. The rally has been fuelled by strong central bank buying, geopolitical tensions, and growing expectations that the Federal Reserve may soon cut interest rates.

Shares in Beyond Meat (BYND) surged more than 80% in pre-market trading on Wednesday, after soaring 146% in the previous session.

The jump in shares came after Beyond Meat announced plans to increase the availability of its products at over 2,000 Walmart (WMT) stores.

The plant-based meat maker said that Walmart would be among the first national retailers in the US to sell its new Beyond Burger 6-Pack. Ethan Brown, founder and CEO of Beyond Meat, said that the company was introducing the new value pack “at a time when many households are navigating rising food prices”.

Beyond Meat shares rallied on Monday after Roundhill Investments, an investment adviser focused on exchange traded-funds (ETF), added the stock as a holding to its Meme Stock ETF. Beyond Meat was one of the new names to become part of latest cohort of meme stocks this year, with the craze seeing a resurgence in July.

From tax pressures to backlash against overtourism and rising house prices, it’s become increasingly hard to be a digital nomad and successfully manage finances.

But there are ways to do it, from navigating tax residencies to wading through changing digital nomad visa requirements and spotting opportunities to reduce the cost of living.

World travellers and employment experts shared their advice on how to handle personal finances in this changing landscape.

Read the full article here

Alongside cooling house prices, rental inflation across the UK also showed signs of easing. Average private rents rose 5.5% in the 12 months to September to £1,354 per month, a slowdown from the 5.7% increase seen in August, and the ninth consecutive month of easing growth.

England mirrored the UK-wide trend, with rents up 5.5% year-on-year to £1,410, down from a 5.8% rise in August. Rents in Wales climbed 7.1% to £815, while Scotland saw a more modest 3.4% increase to £1,004. Northern Ireland recorded a 7.1% rise to £865, based on data for the 12 months to July.

Despite the overall slowdown, regional disparities in rent inflation persist. The North East of England posted the highest annual increase at 9.1%, while Yorkshire and The Humber recorded the lowest at 3.8%.

London, with average rents of £2,260, saw inflation ease to 5.3% in the year to September, marking the tenth consecutive month of slowing growth. Since peaking at 11.5% in November 2024, the capital’s rental inflation has dropped by 6.2 percentage points.

The highest local average rent was recorded in Kensington and Chelsea at £3,629, while Dumfries and Galloway in Scotland posted the lowest at £527. Outside of London, Oxford had the highest average rent, at £1,911.

London has emerged as the only English region to see a year‑on‑year decline in property values as average UK house prices continue to climb. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), nationwide prices rose by 3% in the 12 months to August, whereas in the capital the cost of a house fell by 0.3%.

The average UK home was valued at £273,000 in August. Regionally, prices climbed to £296,000 in England (up 2.9%), £211,000 in Wales (2%), and £194,000 in Scotland (4%). Northern Ireland, measured on a quarterly basis, posted the strongest growth, with average house prices rising by 5.5% to £185,000 in the second quarter of 2025.

The North East recorded the highest regional house price inflation in England, with a 6.6% annual rise to August, though this was down from 6.9% in July. At the other end of the spectrum, London saw prices decline 0.3% year-on-year, reversing a 1.3% increase in July.

“The North East once again showed the highest annual increase and London is the only English region showing an annual fall,” said Aimee North, head of housing market indices at the ONS.

Responding to the figures, Propertymark CEO Nathan Emerson mentioned the challenges facing homeowners and buyers.

Read more here

Almost half a million workers are set to receive a pay rise as the real living wage, paid voluntarily by 16,000 UK companies, will increase to £13.45 an hour in April.

The real living wage is calculated each year based on the cost of essentials, and is paid by more than half of the companies in the FTSE 100. This is different to the national living wage, which is a statutory minimum.

The real living wage will rise to £13.45 an hour nationwide from April – an increase of 85p an hour, or 6.7%. In London, it will go up 95p, or 6.9%, to £14.80 an hour.

Barclays (BARC.L) has increased the amount it is setting aside to cover costs relating to the car finance scandal to £325m but also announced a £500m share buyback and raised its guidance for the year.

The bank and its subsidiary Clydesdale Financial Services, trading as Barclays Partner Finance, said on Wednesday that it had increased its provision from £90m to £325m, following the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) consultation paper on a proposed motor finance redress scheme.

The financial regulator announced earlier in October that people who were victims of car finance mis-selling could receive payouts averaging £700.

Barclays’ announcement came alongside its third quarter results on Wednesday, in which the bank unveiled a share repurchasing worth £500m and said it planned to move to quarterly buyback announcements.

It comes after Barclays delivered a return on tangible equity (RoTE) of 10.6% in the third quarter and 12.3% year-to-date.

As a result, Barclays CEO CS Venkatakrishnan, known as Venkat, said that the bank was upgrading its RoTE guidance for the year to greater than 11%.

“This is driven by a stronger outlook for stable income and an earlier than planned delivery of efficiency savings,” said Venkat. “Moreover, it comes despite an additional charge for motor finance redress.”

Barclays also upped its guidance for group net interest income – the gap between what the bank pays out to savers and receives from borrowers in interest – to greater than £12.6bn from greater than £12.5bn.

Read more here

The cyber attack on Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) will cost an estimated £1.9bn — the most economically damaging cyber event in UK history, according to experts at the Cyber Monitoring Centre (CMC).

Some 5,000 businesses have been affected in total and a full recovery will not be reached until January 2026, the CMC said.

The CMC is an independent, non-profit organisation that analyses and categorises cyber events, which impact the UK financially.

JLR declined to comment on the research but said it is bringing portions of manufacturing back online in a phased approach.

It comes as a cyber attack halted the car giant’s production on 1 September for five weeks and caused widespread delays across JLR’s supply chain.

The incident has been classified as a Category 3 event, which is significant. Category 5 is the most severe.

Ciaran Martin, chair of the CMC’s technical committee said:

German discounter Lidl issued its full-year accounts on Wednesday, gaining “record momentum” in the UK over the past year as its low prices attracted more customers to its stores.

During the period, 38 million more customer visits were made than in the year prior, it said.

The growth in visits, and its recent strategic investments, contributed to 7.9% growth in revenue to £11.7bn and £156.8m profit before tax. Operating profit also increased to £314.1m (2024: £220.8m).

Lidl maintained its position as the fastest-growing bricks-and-mortar grocer – a title it has now held for more than two years.

It comes as Lidl is preparing to open its 1,000th British store next month and is continuing its expansion plans, with 13 new locations expected to open before Christmas. Its new store openings saw it hire 3,000 new staff in the year to the end of February.

Ryan McDonnell, Lidl GB chief executive, said:

The retailer added that it had experienced over £400m in direct switching from its rivals, citing Worldpanel figures from February, combined with almost £500m in growth from customer loyalty, which led to an almost £900m increase in turnover.

Financial markets are now betting that the next interest rate cut will come sooner than previously thought. Another reduction is now fully priced in by February, compared with March before the inflation figures were published, according to interest rate futures.

Markets also expect more easing next year than they had previously, pricing in 64 basis points of rate cuts versus 57 bps before the inflation data was released.

Paul Dales, chief UK economist at Capital Economics, said:

Here are the top risers on the FTSE 100 this morning:

Eurostar has announced plans to run double-decker trains through the Channel Tunnel for the first time, as well as investing heavily in a London depot.

The cross-Channel rail operator will order up to 50 trains from manufacturer Alstom, eventually increasing the size of its fleet by nearly a third.

In the €2bn (£1.74bn) deal confirmed on Wednesday, Eurostar has ordered 30 “Celestia” trains, with the option for 20 more, it said.

Eurostar, which announced an expansion plan in June that includes new routes from London to Geneva and Frankfurt, expects to start using the first six trains in 2031.

Each train would be 200m long. If two were run together, as happens currently, the resulting 400m service would have about 1,080 seats.

The only other double-decker to ever appear on Britain’s railways was an experiment that began in 1949.

Eurostar’s chief executive Gwendoline Cazenave said she was “particularly proud to bring double-decker trains to the UK for the very first time”, adding they would bring “exceptional comfort”.

It comes as Eurostar carried 19.5 million passengers last year, with the company’s aim to now grow this to 30 million.

On the back of today’s inflation data, chancellor Rachel Reeves said:

She told the Financial Times that she was determined to get a grip on borrowing and would take steps in her budget to cut household bills, creating space for further BoE rate cuts in the coming months.

The chancellor is widely expected to temporarily remove VAT on domestic energy bills in a move that would save the average household £86 per year.

According to the ONS data, the annual inflation rate for food and non-alcoholic drinks dropped to 4.5% in September, down from 5.1% in August. This marks the first slowdown in food price inflation since March.

However, transport costs rose by 3.8% in the year to September, up from 2.4% in August. This increase was largely due to higher airfares, while diesel prices remained relatively stable.

The average price of petrol fell by 0.2p between August and September to an average of 134p a litre in September, but last year prices fell by 5.5p a litre. Diesel prices were down by 0.4p a litre to 141.8p.

Air fares fell by 28.8% between August and September, the third-largest September drop since the collection of airfares data changed from quarterly to monthly in 2001. However, the price of flights fell by 34.8% a year earlier, which was the largest September drop since 2001.

ONS chief economist Grant Fitzner said:

UK inflation remained unchanged at a lower-than-expected 3.8% in September, providing a slight reprieve for the Bank of England (BoE) as it faces tough decisions over when to reduce interest rates again.

The figure from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) was below the 4% forecast by both the BoE and economists polled by Reuters. It marked no change from the 3.8% readings in August and July.

The core rate of inflation, which strips out volatile food and energy costs, dipped to 3.5% from 3.6% in August.

The data is crucial for the BoE’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC), which has been striving to bring inflation closer to its 2% target without derailing economic growth. However, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently warned the BoE against lowering rates prematurely, stressing the need to control inflation before easing monetary policy further.

Economists had largely expected the inflation rate to rise to 4%, after holding steady at 3.8% for both August and July. The BoE’s forecast for September had been in line with this expectation, with inflation anticipated to remain at 4% before gradually easing over the next few years.

Read more here

Stocks in Asia were mixed overnight, with the Nikkei (^N225) flat on the day in Japan as Sanae Takaichi became the new prime minister yesterday after winning a parliamentary vote.

On monetary policy, she said: “I believe the BOJ should retain discretion over the tools of monetary policy”, and that she did not see a need to review the 2013 accord between the Bank of Japan and the government.

Against that backdrop, the yen weakened 0.78% against the US dollar, making it the weakest-performing G10 currency, although has stabilised again this morning.

Meanwhile, the Hang Seng (^HSI) fell 0.9% in Hong Kong and the Shanghai Composite (000001.SS) was 0.1% down by the end of the session.

In South Korea, the Kospi (^KS11) added 1.6% on the day.

Across the pond on Wall Street, the S&P 500 (^GSPC) ended flat, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq (^IXIC) was 0.2% higher. The Dow Jones (^DJI) also gained 0.5%.

It comes as the US government shutdown is entering day 22, which now makes it the second-longest shutdown, behind the 2018-19 shutdown that lasted for 35 days.

Republican Senate Majority Leader John Thune said on Tuesday that Republican lawmakers were “hopeful that this will be the week we break out of this”, but there’s still no obvious sign of a compromise emerging between Republicans and Democrats.

The Polymarket odds for the end of the shutdown continued to drift into the distance, with the chances of the shutdown lasting beyond 16 November up from 29% this time yesterday to 40% now.

Good morning, and welcome back to our markets live blog. As usual we will be taking a deep dive into what’s moving markets and happening across the global economy.

To the day ahead we have data releases including the UK CPI print for September, whilst central bank speakers include ECB President Lagarde and Vice President de Guindos. Otherwise, earnings releases include Tesla and IBM.

Here’s a snapshot of what’s on the agenda:

• 7am: UK trading updates: Barclays, Fresnillo, Heathrow, Reckitt Benckiser, Softcat

• 9.30am: UK house prices

• 12pm: US MBA Mortgage applications

• 1.25pm: ECB president Christine Lagarde speech

• 3.30pm: US EIA Crude oil stocks change

• 7pm: Annual City banquet at Mansion House and speeches