The FTSE 100 falls despite a Nvidia boost lifting technology-exposed stocks on Thursday, with the index closing down 85.58 points, or 0.8%, at 10,792.54, as investors held back ahead of Fed chair Kevin Warsh’s address at the Jackson Hole symposium.
Nvidia is the US chipmaker whose results move markets globally. When it reports better-than-expected earnings, the ripple reaches London, but on this occasion the wider FTSE 100 did not follow the tech rally.
Nvidia lifts Wall Street while the FTSE 100 falls short
In New York, Nvidia climbed 7.5% after delivering better-than-forecast guidance alongside bumper second quarter earnings. Chief financial officer Colette Kress said the company expects revenue to grow by 70% in financial 2028, which runs to January of that year, describing it as a ‘supply constrained outlook’. Analysts had pencilled in 45% growth. Chief executive Jensen Huang told the earnings call that ‘we’ve got a huge year coming up next year and it’s going to be pretty extraordinary’.
The broader Wall Street mood was positive. At the time of the London close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.5%, the S&P 500 was 0.7% higher and the Nasdaq Composite had climbed 1.3%.
Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, said: ‘With revenues this big, and demand for its products getting bigger every month, it will be a brave trader who will bet against Nvidia.’
In London, technology-exposed stocks did benefit. Computacenter rose 7.3%, Polar Capital Technology Trust gained 1.5% and Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust added 0.8%. But as Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell, noted, the euphoria over Nvidia’s results ‘failed to spread across the rest of the market’.
Inflation fears and the Jackson Hole test for Warsh
The drag on London came largely from inflation concerns. Wednesday’s US inflation figures were seen as keeping pressure on the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates further. Cleveland Federal Reserve president Beth Hammack repeated her call for higher rates, saying recent data show the central bank is still too far from its goal. ‘I don’t want to prejudge anything. But I believe now is the time to act,’ she said in an interview from Jackson Hole.
Susannah Streeter, chief investment strategist at Wealth Club, said sentiment ‘looks set to become more cautious as investors refocus on worries about inflation proving sticky, huge government debt piles and the prospect of interest rates lingering at elevated levels’.
All eyes were on Friday’s keynote from Warsh. According to Reuters, the address on 28 August 2026 was emerging as an important test just three months into his tenure as Fed chief. Warsh has expressed a reluctance to give forward-looking guidance, which left markets guessing about the direction of US monetary policy.
The FTSE 250 ended slightly higher at 24,898.86. The AIM All-Share closed down 1.79 points, 0.2%, at 813.11.
In European markets, the Cac 40 in Paris closed down 1.7% while the Dax 40 in Frankfurt rose 0.3%. Minutes of the European Central Bank’s July meeting, according to ING Global head of macro Carsten Brzeski, ‘suggest that the ECB is still struggling with how to react to a textbook supply-side shock’. Brzeski noted that at the July meeting, ECB president Christine Lagarde revealed that some members had argued for a rate hike, even though the bank ultimately held, calling it ‘an important signal that the ECB was edging closer to further tightening’. Brzeski believes ‘the stage looks increasingly set for another rate hike’ when the bank next meets.
The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was unchanged at 4.66%, while the 30-year Treasury yield held flat at 5.18%. Sterling traded at 1.3588 dollars on Thursday afternoon, little changed from 1.3590 at Wednesday’s close. Against the euro, the pound was also flat at 1.1663.
Movers on the London markets
On the FTSE 100, Prudential fell 2.5% after reporting a slowdown in new business profit growth. The insurer said new business profit rose 9.8% to $1.38 billion in the six months to 30 June, up from $1.26 billion a year earlier, in line with company-compiled consensus. At constant currency, growth was 8%. Citigroup analyst Michelle Ma said the half-year figures implied second quarter new business profit growth slowed to 7% from 13% in the first three months of 2026.
Stocks going ex-dividend also weighed on the index: Games Workshop fell 2.6%, Croda International dropped 1.6% and LondonMetric Property lost 2.7%.
On the FTSE 250, Halfords stormed 11% higher after raising full-year profit guidance. The motoring and cycling products retailer now expects between £55 million and £65 million in underlying pretax profit for financial 2027, which it says is ahead of current market consensus of £52.6 million.
On AIM, Thruvision surged 31%. The walk-through security technology provider received an order from its first Canadian government customer, with its 8108 WalkTHRU solution set to be deployed at a municipal building.
Gold traded at $4,597.90 an ounce on Thursday, up slightly from $4,596.56 on Wednesday. Brent crude for October delivery stood at $88.67 a barrel, up from $88.09 late Wednesday. Friday’s global economic calendar includes growth figures from Canada, a eurozone consumer confidence reading, French CPI data and the Chicago PMI in the US.
