London Stocks Tumble Amid Inflation Concerns and Geopolitical Anxieties

London stocks closed lower on Thursday as concerns about sticky US inflation overshadowed strong quarterly earnings from Nvidia, which saw revenues double in the second quarter and delivered sales guidance well ahead of market forecasts.

The FTSE 100 index fell 0.8% to close at 10,792.54, while Brent crude oil prices rose 1.1% to $88.80 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate climbed 0.6% to $82.69.

Nvidia's earnings report was one of the most significant releases in recent days, but investors were cautious, with Patrick Munnelly at Tickmill Group noting that market sentiment remained 'decidedly cautious' due to lingering geopolitical anxieties and uncertainty surrounding Federal Reserve interest rate policy ahead of the Jackson Hole summit.

PPHE Hotel Group's share price slumped despite reporting a rise in first-half profit and revenue, while Prudential fell despite raising its share buyback programme after strong first-half results. On the other hand, Computacenter shot to the top of the FTSE 100 as Peel Hunt upgraded the shares to 'buy' from 'add' and hiked the price target to 6,000p from 4,400p.

Halfords surged as the motoring and cycling products retailer lifted its profit outlook for the year, citing a strong performance in the year-to-date period. The company now expects FY27 underlying pre-tax profit of between £55m and £65m, ahead of current consensus of £52.6m and a range of £48.9m to £55.1m.