Weekly Market Overview: FTSE 250 Record Highs, US Equities Rally, and Global Macro Shifts
In London this week, the FTSE 100 was little changed, finding resistance after reaching near 11,000 last week, although global commodities also seem unable to make up their mind.
The FTSE 250, a true reflection of the UK economy, showed record highs. The mid-cap index outperformed the broader market this week, breaking record highs to close around 24,855 on Friday. Earnings & M&A Drivers
Outperformance was fueled by massive single-stock moves:
WPP surged ~29% following Q2 revenue improvements and reaffirmed full-year guidance.
easyJet saw gains as Apollo’s takeover offer neared the finish line after rival suitor Castlelake withdrew.
Homebuilders (e.g., Persimmon) added support after reporting completion numbers at the top end of guidance.
UK Politics
Polling Shift: Latest YouGov tracker data released this week shows Labour’s net favourability rising to -25 (its highest level since late 2024), while Reform UK and the Greens dropped to their lowest ratings to date. Conservative favourability edged up to 30%.
Party Realignment: Continued pressure and defections toward Reform UK remain a central narrative following recent high-profile shifts (including Robert Jenrick and former local Labour mayors joining Reform).
It will be interesting to know how Andy Burnham's new Manchester Ancoats office is getting on—sorry, New Islington. The Bank of England (BoE)
Rate Hold at 3.75%: The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) opted to hold the base interest rate at 3.75% in its most recent policy decision.
Outlook: With UK inflation sitting around 2.6% and construction/services showing gradual stabilization, markets are weighing whether softer labor and growth metrics will pave the way for a rate cut at the next review on September 17, 2026.
We will see how global inflation affects the UK data yet. Commodities
Oil: Down this week on hopes of shipping route agreements between Iran and its Arab neighbors.
Gold: Up and looking like it found support at $4,000 an oz with a clear breakout on the chart, looking like lots of buy orders filled at the round number , looking like a story off technical analysis .
Silver: Followed with gains.
Equities
US Equities: A great week for US equities, particularly the S&P 500, as the micro, macro, and geopolitical factors all aligned for it to make new all-time highs. On the micro side, recent strong earnings for the US stock market provided support; on the macro side, a softer labor market signaled lower inflation on upcoming prints; and on the geopolitical front, there was optimism surrounding relations between Iran and Arab nations.
Nasdaq: Had a good week, nearly back to its previous high.
Eurozone: France's CAC 40 (Cotation Assistée en Continu) and the German DAX saw great gains and all-time highs.
Asia: South Korea's KOSPI, their benchmark stock index, saw pressure on the downside, yet Japan's Nikkei 225 clawed back some gains.
Forex
EUR/USD: Saw modest buys, with the same selling reflected on the DXY dollar index.
USD/JPY: The Japanese yen saw some buying back of the currency after a big sell-off last week.
Crypto
Bitcoin: Still hovering around the $64,000 mark with little change and little volume. The question is: is that healthy or unhealthy for the cryptocurrency market?
Ripple (XRP): Seeing some selling pressure, and it is a long way down from here to what looks like its next support level at $0.50.
Ethereum: Holding up sideways in some sort of correlation with BTC, the grandfather of crypto coins.