FTSE 100 steady after US inflation reading prompts selling, Microsoft takeover of Activision cleared by CMA and FDA tells British American Tobacco to stop selling vaping products

“The FTSE 100 was steady on Friday morning having lost a little of its recent momentum on Thursday afternoon thanks to a mixed US inflation reading,” says AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould.

“Both the month-on-month and year-on-year numbers coming in a touch ahead of expectations was the cue for another surge in bond yields and helped prompt a modest but still material sell-off on Wall Street.

“With gas prices rising and oil starting to bubble higher again in the wake of the war in Gaza, there is the potential for further inflationary pressure to complicate the decision making of central banks yet again.

“Casual dining brand Loungers seems to be in buoyant mood, with the confidence to push ahead with a pipeline of further openings as like-for-like sales enjoy strong growth.

“Loungers’ model of offering mid-market prices and opening up in different guises as cafés, restaurants and bars throughout the day is a successful one, with the company able to squeeze the most out of all of its sites. The company is also notably getting some relief from inflationary pressures.”

Microsoft / Activision

“Just how real Microsoft’s gratitude is to the UK’s competition authorities for their ‘thorough review’ of their takeover of Activision is questionable given the time and concessions it has required to get the US tech giant’s acquisition over the line.

“Having to sell Activision’s cloud streaming rights to Ubisoft appears to have been a price Microsoft is prepared to stomach – even if it means they won’t be able to make blockbuster franchises Call of Duty and World of Warcraft exclusives on its Xbox Cloud Gaming service.

“If this genuinely protects consumers then the CMA deserves some credit for holding the line under considerable pressure from a multi-trillion-dollar business.”

British American Tobacco

“News the US Food & Drug Administration has told British American Tobacco to stop selling six products sold under its top Vuse Alto brand is putting a little pressure on its share price today.

“Vaping and e-cigarettes – so-called ‘next-generation products’ – were the industry and British American Tobacco’s answer to increasingly tight restrictions on the sale of cigarettes.

“If regulators start clamping down hard in these new areas too it will raise questions about the sustainability of the business in the decades to come.”

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