FTSE 100 round-up: 3i Group and tech stocks rally
Private equity group 3i allayed fears about its landmark investment, while wider market sentiment got a boost thanks to overnight results. Graeme Evans reports.
25th June 2026 13:18
by Graeme Evans from interactive investor
The logo of 3i Group. Photo: Timon Schneider/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images.
A relief rally by heavily discounted 3i Group Ord (LSE:III) today led the FTSE 100 risers board during a session shaped by inflation optimism and renewed support for US tech valuations.
The FTSE 100 index reached midday 34.11 points higher at 10,495.74, despite the selling of BAE Systems (LSE:BA.) and fresh falls for BP (LSE:BP.) and Shell (LSE:SHEL) after Brent crude oil returned to pre-Iran war prices.
The decline to this morning’s $72.78 a barrel should ease pressure on central banks for an extended interest-rate hiking cycle, although these hopes have so far failed to benefit gold.
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The non-yielding asset today stayed below the $4,000 threshold at an eight-month low, having fallen by about 25% from January’s record levels.
Global market sentiment picked up thanks to last night’s record and forecast-beating results by Micron Technology Inc (NASDAQ:MU), whose shares are set to jump 16% at today’s US opening bell.
The Idaho-based company, which is one of just three global suppliers of high-bandwidth memory used in AI accelerators, highlighted an “even stronger outlook” for the current quarter.
The shares of NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA), which is one of Micron’s biggest customers, are poised to return above the $200 mark in a session when the Nasdaq Composite is seen opening about 2% higher. ARM Holdings ADR (NASDAQ:ARM) is set to rally 5%, having lost 18% of its value in the past week.
Polar Capital Technology Ord (LSE:PCT), which includes Micron, Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NASDAQ:AMD) among its top 10 holdings, rose 16.5p for a 55% year-to-date rise at 719p.
FTSE 100 newcomer Computacenter (LSE:CCC) also added 78p to 4,326p after analysts at Jefferies lifted their price target on the IT services firm to 5,000p.
The move follows recent first-quarter results, which included upgraded guidance due to demand from hyperscale customers in North America and the UK.
The session was also another record breaking one for the £7.2 billion-valued Games Workshop Group (LSE:GAW), with shares at another all-time high of 22,260p.
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The surge in demand, which has helped shares jump 19% in a fortnight, follows this month’s launch of the latest edition of Warhammer 40,000: Armageddon.
The private equity firm 3i Group topped the FTSE 100 index after it reported improved trading by European discount chain Action, which accounts for 75% of the entire portfolio.
A brief update ahead of the company’s AGM showed like-for-like sales growth of 3.3% in the year to date. This compared with the rate of 2.4% reported in May, when the reaction to 3i annual results caused shares to slump to a three-year low below 2,000p.
They today rose 223p to 2,496p, narrowing the discount versus the year-end disclosure of net asset value of 3,030p a share to 18%.
Today’s statement contained no details on Action trading conditions after 3i previously highlighted consumer caution in France and underperformance of seasonal categories.
A more detailed review of Action’s performance is due with 3i’s first-quarter results on 23 July, although UBS warned recently that a clear picture may not be available until the autumn.
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The strong contribution of Action since 3i’s first investment in 2011 has driven total shareholder returns of approximately 2,132% between May 2012 and March 2026.
The aggregate cost of the investments in Action amounts to £4.44 billion, or 14.7% of the total portfolio value at the end of 2025.
This has left very limited available headroom for the company to make further investment in Action, given that 3i’s existing investment policy restricts exposure to no more than 15%.
A resolution at today’s AGM sought the approval of shareholders to double the policy’s maximum permitted exposure to 30%.
Chair David Hutchison pointed out that non-Action investments were valued at over £8 billion, which would represent one of the three largest portfolios among UK listed investment trusts.
He added: “The company’s portfolio therefore continues to offer significant diversification across geographies, vintages, sectors and asset classes, and this diversified approach would remain unchanged following adoption of the proposed amended investment policy.”
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