Must read: FTSE 100, Vodafone surges, Nvidia, UK jobs
ii’s head of investment rounds up the morning’s big news.
11th November 2025 08:56
by Victoria Scholar from interactive investor
GLOBAL MARKETS
After hitting a record closing high on Monday, fuelled by mining stocks, the FTSE 100 continues to push higher, gaining another 1% outperforming mainland Europe. Vodafone Group (LSE:VOD) is leading the charge, up over 6% after raising its dividend and annual profit forecast.
Housebuilders are also trading higher after the latest UK unemployment data fuels hopes of a December rate cut from the Bank of England. Fresnillo (LSE:FRES) is in the green thanks to higher precious metals prices with gold continuing its ascent, rallying close to three-week highs amid growing expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates next month.
- Our Services: SIPP Account | Stocks & Shares ISA | See all Investment Accounts
S&P and Nasdaq futures are pointing lower after a comeback for Wall Street’s major averages yesterday, with the S&P 500 closing up 1.5% and the Nasdaq up 2.2%. Tech stocks led the charge with NVIDIA Corp (NASDAQ:NVDA) and Alphabet Inc Class A (NASDAQ:GOOGL) rallying 5.8% and 4% respectively. The US Senate has finally passed a funding bill to end the longest government shutdown in history.
Softbank Group has announced that it sold its entire stake in Nvidia for $5.83 billion. And Paramount Skydance shares jumped 5% after-hours thanks to its plans to invested $1.5 billion in programming over the next year and reported 17% growth in streaming revenue year-on-year.
UK UNEMPLOYMENT
In the three months to September, UK wage growth slowed to 4.6% excluding bonuses, down from 4.7% in the previous period. Meanwhile, the UK unemployment rate rose to 5% from 4.8%, hitting the highest level since 2021. However, the number of vacancies for August to October were broadly unchanged at 723,000.
With the unemployment rate rising both on the quarter and the year, and a slowdown in wage growth, there are notable signs of slack in the UK labour market. Slowing pay growth is likely to translate into less inflationary pressure which increase the chances that the Bank of England can cut interest rates in December after the Chancellor has laid out her tax and spending plans in the Autumn Budget this month.
In light of today’s data, the pound is down by about 0.4% against the US dollar this morning, amid the growing likelihood of a Bank of England rate cut next month. Housebuilder stocks are rallying though, with Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (LSE:BKG), Barratt Redrow (LSE:BTRW) and Persimmon (LSE:PSN) trading up by around 2% each, reflecting the potential for lower mortgage rates that could help stimulate activity in the housing market.
These articles are provided for information purposes only. Occasionally, an opinion about whether to buy or sell a specific investment may be provided by third parties. The content is not intended to be a personal recommendation to buy or sell any financial instrument or product, or to adopt any investment strategy as it is not provided based on an assessment of your investing knowledge and experience, your financial situation or your investment objectives. The value of your investments, and the income derived from them, may go down as well as up. You may not get back all the money that you invest. The investments referred to in this article may not be suitable for all investors, and if in doubt, an investor should seek advice from a qualified investment adviser.
Full performance can be found on the company or index summary page on the interactive investor website. Simply click on the company's or index name highlighted in the article.