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Source: Sharecast STOCKS TO WATCH Sports Direct owner Frasers reported annual adjusted pre-tax profits of £538m Thursday, down 4% on the previous year, despite retail trading profits surging 22% to £912.5m.

Source: Sharecast The FTSE 100 was called to open down around 28 points. Figures from the Office for National Statistics showed the UK economy grew by 0.1% in May, in line with expectations. The dominant services sector drove the growth, led by computer programming and advertising. Over the three months to May, GDP widened by 0.7%, although the pace of growth slowed slightly compared to the revised 0.8% growth recorded in the previous quarter.

Source: Sharecast SpaceX shares dropped below their initial public offering price for the first time on Wednesday, just over a ⁠month after the rockets-to-AI firm completed ⁠the biggest IPO ever and ​made Elon Musk the world’s first trillionaire.

Source: Sharecast The FTSE 100 closed down 0.1% at 10,515.92, while Brent crude and West Texas Intermediate were flat at $84.73 a barrel and $79.45, respectively. In an interview with Fox News on Tuesday, Trump threatened to expand military strikes and continue to hit Iran "very hard" until it returns to the negotiating table. "We're going to hit them very hard tonight," he said in an interview with Fox News chief foreign correspondent Trey Yingst. "We're going to hit them hard tomorrow night.

Source: Sharecast In the US, quarterly numbers are due from United Airlines, UnitedHealth and streaming giant Netflix. As far as Netflix is concerned, AJ Bell analysts Dan Coatsworth and Danni Hewson said investors shouldn’t expect a blowout quarter. "The three-month period had a few hits including I Will Find You, but no major ‘water cooler’ moment that got everyone talking about specific shows or films," they said.

Source: Sharecast At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.29% at 52,658.64, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.38% to 7,572.40, and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.62% firmer at 26,269.23. The Dow closed 150.37 points higher on Wednesday, building on modest gains recorded in the previous session as traders balanced rising US-Iran tensions against June inflation data and a fresh batch of bank earnings.

Source: Sharecast The pan-European Stoxx 600 edged up 0.12% to 642.84. Germany’s DAX fell 0.51% to 25,018.81, France’s CAC 40 rose 0.19% to 8,382.43, and London’s FTSE 100 slipped 0.13% to 10,515.92. Brent crude futures were last down 0.9% on ICE at $83.97 per barrel, while the NYMEX quote for West Texas Intermediate declined 0.83% to $78.68.

Source: Sharecast At 0825 BST, the FTSE 100 was down 0.5% at 10,478.56, while Brent crude was up 1.3% at $85.80 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate was 1.1% higher at $80.24. In an interview with Fox News on Tuesday, Trump threatened to expand military strikes and continue to hit Iran "very hard" until it returns to the negotiating table. "We're going to hit them very hard tonight," he said in an interview with Fox News chief foreign correspondent Trey Yingst.

Source: Sharecast The pan-regional Stoxx 600 index was down 0.17% to 641 at 0823 BST with all major bourses in the red. Sentiment was also hit by an unexpected fall in Chinese second quarter GDP to its weakest level in more than three years, according to official data released on Wednesday.

China’s economy unexpectedly slowed to its weakest level in more than three years, according to official data released on Wednesday. Source: Sharecast Gross domestic product for the second quarter came in at 4.3% down from the 5% recorded in the previous three months as weak domestic demand and the impact of the Iran war on oil supplies outweighed stronger production and exports. For the first half of the year GDP expanded by 4.7%, within Beijing’s 4.5–5% annual target range.