London midday: FTSE gains as lenders boosted by Supreme Court ruling
By Michele Maatouk
Date: Monday 04 Aug 2025
(Sharecast News) - London stocks had extended gains by midday on Monday, with lenders leading the charge after the Supreme Court ruled in their favour in the car finance case.
The FTSE 100 was 0.3% firmer at 9,096.56.
Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: "The FTSE 100 managed a cautious recovery on Monday morning after the tariff-related sell-off at the end of last week
"Concern about the ongoing ructions in global trade was compounded by the Trump administration's decision to fire the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics off the back of weak jobs numbers - raising questions about the reliability of US economic data and about a potential slowdown in the world's largest economy.
"Despite this, US futures were pointing to gains when Wall Street resumes trading later. Whether this holds will depend on the latest news from the Trump administration, the latest developments in the economy, with ISM Services PMI data on Tuesday due to give a signal here, and corporate earnings."
On home shores, the focus was firmly on lenders after the Supreme Court announced on Friday in its long-awaited ruling on car finance that hidden commissions from lenders to dealers on car loans were not unlawful. The ruling means that millions of motorists will not be able to claim compensation.
Following the ruling, the Financial Conduct Authority said it will consult on running a compensation scheme.
In a statement on Sunday, the FCA estimated that most individuals would probably receive less than £950 in compensation.
Danni Hewson, head of financial analysis at AJ Bell, said: "Lenders will be relieved that they've avoided having to potentially pay out millions of pounds in compensation to motorists who hadn't been fully informed about the levels of commission being paid to their dealers.
"Most people buying a car in the UK take out finance and most won't have scrutinised the small print before pocketing the keys and driving off the forecourt and it was this lack of transparency which formed the basis for the original court case.
"But the Supreme Court was clear that an earlier ruling in favour of motorists was wrong, that the commission paid to dealers was neither a bribe nor could anyone have expected a dealer not to have a commercial interest in selling cars."
Lloyds jumped to the top of the FTSE 100 on the back of the ruling. The bank said it will keep its £1.2bn provision under review but that there was unlikely to be any material changes.
Barclays - which had set aside £90m to cover any potential motor finance payouts - also gained.
Meanwhile, Close Brothers, which had set aside £165m, rocketed to the top of the FTSE 250 after the ruling.
Elsewhere, BP gushed higher as it announced its tenth oil and gas discovery of the year after drilling at the Bumerangue prospect in the deepwater offshore Brazil.
Shipping broker Clarkson shot up despite reporting weaker interim earnings as US tariffs and an uncertain economic environment continued to hit freight rates.
Russ Mould said: "Clarkson is right at the sharp end of the tariff turmoil given the shipping broker's reliance on global trade so investors will be relieved by its resilient first-half numbers and unchanged full-year guidance.
"Having issued a major profit warning in May after warning about growing risks alongside its full-year results in March, the market is clearly pleased that the outlook has not got worse than it already was.
"Although, a hint of further turbulence is provided by the suggestion results will be weighted towards the second half."
On the downside, medical products firm Convatec slumped after saying that chief executive Karim Bitar would be taking a medical leave of absence.
Auction Technology tumbled as the online marketplace operator said it had bought Chairish, a US-based marketplace for vintage furniture and art, for $85m.
Senior also lost ground after its first-half revenues missed estimates.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 9,096.56 0.31%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 21,785.73 0.40%
techMARK (TASX) 5,236.60 -0.18%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 81.50p 7.60%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 1,091.50p 2.49%
NATWEST GROUP (NWG) 523.20p 2.27%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 1,017.00p 1.95%
Barclays (BARC) 363.55p 1.93%
Legal & General Group (LGEN) 258.50p 1.77%
CRH (CDI) (CRH) 7,258.00p 1.77%
BAE Systems (BA.) 1,845.50p 1.60%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,919.00p 1.53%
Aviva (AV.) 643.60p 1.45%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Convatec Group (CTEC) 226.80p -1.82%
Next (NXT) 12,130.00p -1.62%
Haleon (HLN) 360.10p -1.45%
Croda International (CRDA) 2,589.00p -1.45%
Diageo (DGE) 1,798.00p -1.32%
IMI (IMI) 2,150.00p -1.19%
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 357.40p -1.16%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 10,976.00p -1.15%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,144.00p -1.08%
Pearson (PSON) 1,125.50p -1.05%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Close Brothers Group (CBG) 483.40p 21.52%
Clarkson (CKN) 3,665.00p 7.32%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 342.90p 3.69%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 300.80p 3.58%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 69.45p 3.58%
Paragon Banking Group (PAG) 915.00p 2.81%
Carnival (CCL) 2,048.00p 2.68%
Watches of Switzerland Group (WOSG) 335.20p 2.57%
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 1,285.00p 2.55%
Patria Private Equity Trust (PPET) 537.00p 2.48%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Auction Technology Group (ATG) 379.00p -21.04%
Senior (SNR) 184.80p -4.74%
Frasers Group (FRAS) 664.00p -2.06%
Ithaca Energy (ITH) 166.00p -1.89%
ITV (ITV) 80.25p -1.83%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,260.50p -1.83%
Discoverie Group (DSCV) 662.00p -1.78%
Morgan Advanced Materials (MGAM) 221.00p -1.34%
Quilter (QLT) 163.90p -1.27%
Renishaw (RSW) 2,870.00p -1.20%
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