07:31 — Pagegroup, Grafton, Concurrent lead fresh wave of H1 trading updates
An early look at the London's company news sees Pagegroup posting resilient second-quarter performance despite a "high degree of uncertainty" across its markets, with group gross profit of £197.6m down just 0.2% against Q2 2025, an improvement on the first quarter's 4.9% decline.
The recruiter says close to half its markets are now showing signs of normalisation, with the Americas and Asia Pacific delivering continued growth and Page Executive up 15%, while France, Northern Europe and the UK remain "challenging but stable". Fee earner headcount fell 80 to 4,914 in the quarter, and full-year expectations have been maintained.
Grafton Group reports modest growth in average daily like-for-like sales in the first half, with gains in Iberia, the Island of Ireland and Northern Europe offsetting weak trading in Great Britain.
The distributor's recently acquired Mercaluz and Cygnum businesses are trading in line with expectations, and half-year results are due 3 September.
Concurrent Technologies has flagged a record first-half performance with strong order momentum, in an announcement classified as inside information under UK market abuse rules.
Plus500's reported a record H1, with customer income up 24% to $460.8m and revenue up 12% to $462.9m, guidance reaffirmed after multiple upgrades to market expectations this year.
GSK has reported that its Jemperli drug hit its primary goal in a trial for dMMR/MSI-H rectal cancer.
Avation marked its twentieth anniversary, having signed 92 aircraft leases with 38 airlines across 28 countries since 2006.
06:01 — FTSE 100 seen lower ahead of Monday's open, Iran tension reflares crude rally
The FTSE 100 is seen lower ahead of Monday's open, with the early quote from spreadbetting and trading platform IG Markets marking the index down 0.3% at 10,465.
Oil prices jumped on renewed Middle East tensions, and drone attacks, with fears of a Strait of Hormuz closure driving the rally. Brent crude was up 4.3% to $79.24, whilst the WTI contract was similarly up 4.4% to $74.55.
At the same time, US inflation is more centrally in focus, with new data due. Capital.com's Kyle Rodda is expecting updated US inflation figures will test expectations around Federal Reserve rate policy, given traders are currently pricing an 85% chance of a rate cut by year-end.
Gold slid more than 1% as the crude surge triggered a broader risk-off move across markets, to around $4060 an ounce.
It comes as the dollar index has eased slightly to 101.096, up just 0.14%
