Shares round-up: the UK stocks making a poor start to September
Traders returning to their desks after the summer holidays are clearly in selling mood. Graeme Evans looks at some of the big name stocks in the red.
2nd September 2025 15:27
by Graeme Evans from interactive investor
Heavy selling of Marks & Spencer Group (LSE:MKS), Taylor Wimpey (LSE:TW.) and a range of other assets with UK exposure today fuelled fears that September will be another tough one for investors.
The level of anxiety over the UK public finances was highlighted by the loss of 400 points from the FTSE 250 index, leaving the domestic-focused benchmark where it was in mid-June.
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Big mid-cap fallers included Dunelm Group (LSE:DNLM), B&M European Value Retail SA (LSE:BME) and Raspberry Pi Holdings (LSE:RPI).
The selling followed a 27-year high for the 30-year gilt yield as confidence that the Treasury will stick to its borrowing rules was knocked by Keir Starmer’s reshuffle of No 10 operations.
The pound also fell 1% in what looks set to be the currency’s worst day since April.
The pressure on UK stocks was compounded by weakness globally as leading Wall Street benchmarks resumed trading after the Labor Day holiday with declines of more than 1%.
The S&P 500 index set a series of records during August, fuelled by bets that the Federal Reserve will lower interest rates in September before further moves later in the winter.
Today’s US selling was driven by jitters ahead of Friday’s US non-farm payrolls report, as well as ongoing uncertainty over the legality of President Trump’s tariffs.
The poor start to the month will add to fears that this September plays to the form book as the worst month of the year in terms of stock market performance.
It was three Septembers ago that the FTSE 100’s 5.4% decline was considered one of the best globally, with the S&P 500 down over 9% and the Nasdaq Composite 10.5% lower.
A resumption in trading volumes and volatility following the summer lull and the year-end for US mutual funds are among the factors driving the poor monthly performance.
By the time of Wall Street’s opening, the internationally-focused FTSE 100 index had weakened 77.60 points to a three-week low of 9,118.74.
Big fallers included the Ladbrokes owner Entain (LSE:ENT), which continued to be impacted by fears that Chancellor Rachel Reeves will target the gambling sector in this autumn’s Budget.
The upward pressure on government bond yields dealt another blow to rate-sensitive stocks including Land Securities and the housebuilders Barratt Redrow (LSE:BTRW) and Persimmon (LSE:PSN).
Taylor Wimpey fell 3.3p to 92.7p, moving the shares closer to the low point seen in the mini-Budget sell-off in 2022. The stock is down more than 20% this year, fuelled by uncertainty ahead of an update on its capital allocation priorities on 1 October.
The shares were still the top pick for interactive investor customers on our platform in morning dealings, with Legal & General Group (LSE:LGEN) and Rolls-Royce Holdings (LSE:RR.) also in demand.
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Plenty of investors also took up the opportunity to stock up on Marks & Spencer shares after the retail bellwether was caught in today’s UK sell-off and a City firm warned that April’s cyber attack could mean a statutory loss in half-year results on 5 November.
The updated forecasts of house broker Shore Capital’s also pointed to a big drop in adjusted profit to £76 million from £408 million the year before.
Despite the financial hit, Shore said it was more interested in the fact that M&S appears to be operating on the front foot heading into the peak trading season.
The broker’s earnings forecasts for the 2027 financial year and beyond are unchanged, which “leads us to believe that in absolute and relative terms, the shares offer particularly good value”.
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