MARKET REPORT: JD shakes in its shoes as Nike update takes a toll
Shares in High Street retailer JD Sports suffered some nasty scuff marks after a disappointing trading update from US footwear giant Nike.
The self-styled King of Trainers took a kicking, losing 5.4 per cent, or 6.85p, to 119.5p, as Nike warned that its 2025 revenues would be lower than expected.
In an update late on Thursday Nike said that demand for its sports shoes was weakening in international markets, noting that consumers were being tempted by newer brands. Nike shares fell nearly 20 per cent in New York.
In its full-year results at the end of May, FTSE 100-listed JD Sports stressed its markets were both volatile and challenging as it reported a drop in profits.
The sports fashion firm issued a shock profit warning at the start of the year which in one day chopped over 20 per cent from its market value. JD Sports' performance has stabilised since then – until the latest drop – but overall the stock still featured as the third biggest blue-chip faller in the first half of this year, down 27 per cent.
Scuff marks: The self-styled King of Trainers took a kicking, losing 5.4 per cent, or 6.85p, to 119.5p
Luxury goods group Burberry was the worst performing stock in the period, down almost 37 per cent after a drop of 2.4 per cent, or 22p, to 877.8p yesterday, closely followed by betting firm Entain, off 36 per cent this year despite inching up 0.7 per cent, or 4.4p, to 630p yesterday.
On the upside, takeover moves provided the two biggest FTSE 100 gainers in the first half, with Darktrace jumping 58pc and Hargreaves Lansdown adding 55 per cent. Darktrace lost 0.4 per cent, or 2p, to 576.6p and Hargreaves Lansdown fell 0.3 per cent, or 3.5p, to 1132p in the latest session.
Rolls-Royce (up 0.5 per cent, or 2.1p, to 456.8p yesterday) continued its sparkling recovery, up 54 per cent over the first six months of the year, and banking giants NatWest (down 0.5 per cent, or 1.5p, to 311.8p) and Barclays (off 0.4 per cent, or 0.85p, to 208.9p) also featured strongly.
The final trading session of the first half saw the FTSE 100 index slide 0.2 per cent, or 15.56 points, to 8164.12, not enough of a fall to stop it notching up a fourth consecutive quarter of gains.
For the second quarter of the year – which saw it hit record highs – the blue-chip index added 3.5 per cent, while in the first six months of 2024 it gained over 6.2 per cent. Similarly, the FTSE 250 index saw a strong quarterly gain of 2.5 per cent, giving it a first half rise of 3.1 per cent. But on the day the mid cap index lost 0.2 per cent, or 45.77 points, to 20286.03.
The largest FTSE 250 faller was Auction Technology, which shed 9.9 per cent, or 55p, to 501p, after private equity firm TA Associates offloaded a 5 per cent shareholding in the marketplace tech firm through a share placing with institutional investors.
On AIM, CD and tech recycler MusicMagpie dropped 13.8 per cent, or 1p, to 6.25p, hitting a record low after it posted lower interim revenues and warned business generally was tough.
But mining explorer Altona Rare Earths rose 33.3 per cent, or 0.35p, to 1.4p as it conditionally raised £390,000 through a subscription of new shares, with net proceeds to be used at its Monte Muambe rare earth project in Mozambique.