Published: 11 November 2025
FTSE 100 sets fresh records as labour market cools
London stocks pushed to new highs on Tuesday, extending Monday’s record close, as investors priced in a higher chance of a December interest‑rate cut after a softer UK jobs report. The unemployment rate rose to 5.0%, its highest since early 2021, while regular pay growth slowed to 4.6% in the three months to September—data that knocked sterling and lifted rate‑sensitive shares. The FTSE 100 notched another intraday record in early trade after Monday’s all‑time closing high of 9,787, underlining the “bad news is good news” dynamic for risk assets. 1
Vodafone raises its dividend for the first time since 2018—and tightens its outlook
Vodafone delivered a market‑moving update, increasing its dividend for the first time in seven years and adopting a progressive dividend policy. Management said it now expects to deliver at the upper end of full‑year guidance, as operational momentum improves in core markets—most notably Germany, where service revenue trends have turned a corner. Shares jumped on the news, helping to propel the wider index. Key first‑half highlights included mid‑single‑digit organic service‑revenue growth and higher adjusted EBITDAaL, offset by a decline in reported operating profit due to higher depreciation and amortisation following the consolidation of Three UK. 2
SoftBank cashes out of Nvidia to reload for AI
In global tech news with clear read‑across for UK investors, SoftBank Group confirmed it sold its entire Nvidia stake for about $5.8bn in October, even as it posted a surge in interim profits. The sale bolsters founder Masayoshi Son’s war chest for AI bets, including initiatives tied to OpenAI and infrastructure build‑outs. Nvidia shares dipped in pre‑market trading on the disclosure, while SoftBank reiterated that AI remains its strategic focus. 3
‘Little‑known’ UK tech champion: RELX singled out as a top‑10 FTSE 100 heavyweight
An investment column garnering attention this week highlighted RELX (LSE: REL) as a “little‑known UK technology stock” now among the FTSE 100’s ten largest companies by market capitalisation—remarkable for a business many investors still file under “publishing.” RELX’s data‑and‑analytics platforms across science, legal, and risk markets increasingly put it in the information‑technology camp, helping to explain its multi‑year outperformance. (Index compilers differ on sector labels, but the thesis is the same: RELX is now a scale data software player in the UK large‑cap universe.) 4
Also on the UK corporate radar
- AstraZeneca shares hit fresh records on Tuesday, reinforcing its status as the UK’s largest listed company by market value and providing an additional tailwind to the blue‑chip index. 5
- Informa reiterated full‑year guidance in a trading update, pointing to >6% underlying revenue growth and ≥10% adjusted EPS expansion for 2025. 6
- Lloyds Banking Group faced scrutiny after reports it used anonymised, aggregated data from more than 30,000 staff bank accounts to inform pay talks—raising fresh questions about the limits of workplace data analytics even when personal identifiers are removed. 7
- Ineos stepped up its trade‑defence push, filing multiple EU anti‑dumping cases targeting low‑priced chemical imports amid mounting pressure on Europe’s chemical sector. 8
Why it matters
- Rates and equities: Softer labour data heightens the odds of a Bank of England cut next month, supporting rate‑sensitive UK shares and helping the FTSE 100 extend its run of record prints. 1
- Income revival: Vodafone’s dividend reset adds a new—if modest—pillar to the UK market’s already strong income profile, with management now signalling annual growth rather than stasis. 2
- AI capital flows: SoftBank’s Nvidia exit underscores ongoing portfolio rotation within the AI trade, with capital being redeployed into model developers and infrastructure—shifts that can ripple through London‑listed suppliers and enablers. 3
- UK’s quiet tech scale: The spotlight on RELX is a reminder that the UK’s “tech” isn’t only about semiconductors or social platforms—data, workflow software and analytics are where much of the value now sits in the FTSE elite. 4
The bottom line
Tuesday, 11 November 2025 delivered a potent cocktail for UK investors: a softer jobs print that buoyed rate‑cut hopes, a dividend‑raising Vodafone that helped lead the FTSE higher, a SoftBank reshuffle that keeps AI at centre stage, and an under‑appreciated tech heavyweight in RELX reminding markets that London still harbours global‑scale innovators. With index records piling up and policy turning more supportive, the final weeks of 2025 are setting up to be eventful across income, growth and AI‑adjacent themes. 1
Reporting based on live market coverage and corporate disclosures on 11 Nov 2025.
