FTSE 100 round-up: BP, Tesco and Marks & Spencer
Despite another bout of Wall Street selling, it’s been a robust session for some of the established names of the FTSE 100 index.
18th August 2026 15:22
by Graeme Evans from interactive investor
The buying of BT Group (LSE:BT.A), 3i Group Ord (LSE:III) and BP (LSE:BP.) shares today provided FTSE 100 index support after leading US benchmarks including the Nasdaq Composite spent another session in the red.
This week’s Wall Street retreat has followed a further rise in long-term borrowing costs as investors have demanded greater compensation to finance the growing US deficit.
The benchmark 30-year US bond yield last night closed at a post-2007 high of 5.31%, while the 10-year is near to a 19-month high of 4.75% as ongoing inflationary pressures continue to fuel expectations of tighter Federal Reserve monetary policy.
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NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA) and Meta Platforms Inc Class A (NASDAQ:META) were among those sharply lower at today’s opening bell, while lenders Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) and Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C) also drifted. The S&P 500 index, which yesterday registered its biggest number of daily decliners since early July, opened today’s session down by 0.5%, while the Nasdaq fell by more than 1%.
The fact that the FTSE 100 rose 52.28 points to 10,772.58 partly reflected the impact of gains by BP and Shell (LSE:SHEL) after the price of Brent crude stayed above $90 a barrel. Fears of prolonged Middle East disruption also left the 12-month contract at a two-month high above $78 a barrel.
The elevated price and an ongoing programme of divestments continue to aid the balance-sheet strengthening of BP, which recently announced an 11% drop in second-quarter net debt.
Berenberg expects a further sharp drop in the second half as the City firm today nudged up its price target to 605p, which compares with this afternoon’s level of 532.4p after a rise of 12.8p.
The bank said: “The stock will likely remain sensitive to commodity price movements, but should emerge as a leaner and more focused company.
“With a more solid balance sheet, the focus could switch to high-margin growth projects in the portfolio, while more consistent delivery could be rewarded with a higher multiple.”
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Other risers in the FTSE 100 included BT Group, which returned above the 200p threshold having fallen from 239.5p prior to May’s annual results to as low as 187p in mid-July.
Private equity group 3i Group rose 71p to 2,859p, meaning the shares have lifted 12% since last month’s reporting of improved sales figures by European discount chain Action.
The stock had been as low as 2,000p after May’s annual results, when consumer caution in France and Germany and underperformance of seasonal categories fuelled City worries about an investment that accounts for some 75% of the 3i portfolio.
The shares of Marks & Spencer Group (LSE:MKS) rose 5.9p to 387.5p after the latest Worldpanel by Numerator till-roll figures highlighted another strong performance by its Ocado joint venture.
Ocado Retail sales rose 13.1% over the 12 weeks to 9 August compared with the same period a year ago, lifting its market share by another 0.2 percentage points to 2.1%.
Despite their robust market positions, the shares of Tesco (LSE:TSCO) and Sainsbury (J) (LSE:SBRY)’s followed yesterday’s 3% declines by losing another 6.6p to 441.2p and 2.2p to 330.4p respectively.
Tesco sales rose 1.8% year-on-year, but its market share now stands at 27.8% after registering a third successive decline in the industry research.
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Shore Capital said: “August trade for the UK grocers was sound, not leading us to adjust our expectations for the earnings of the listed players one way or another.”
It added that Sainsbury and Tesco have been deservedly re-rated as cash compounding firms with strong asset backing and solvency ratios, while the bank also continues to believe that M&S is a stock with rating expansion potential.
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