Proactive Investors -
- FTSE 100 63 points higher
- Retail sales beat expectations
- Blue chips at 12 month high
Issa Brothers turn off hundreds of Asda EV charging points
The Issa brothers have turned off over one hundred EV charging points at Asda stores highlighting that more cracks in their debt-laden empire are beginning to show.
RAC research found the number of electric vehicle charging points at Asda slipped by over two-thirds from 165 at the start of 2023 to just 46.
Mohsin and Zuber Issa, who also own the petrol forecourt company EG Group, began reducing the number of points after it exited a partnership with BP (LON:BP) Pulse, and EV charging firm.
With only 22 Asda stores offering working charging points, the supermarket is the only major competitor to have reduced its numbers, with Tesco (LON:TSCO) and Morrisons both investing heavily in growing its network.
FTSE 100 sets sights on all-time high
The FTSE 100 is smashing all of its recent peaks to find itself at a 13-month high as it nears all-time highs of more than 8,000 - the last time being in February 2023.
Up 75 points, the blue-chip index is hovering around 7,958, and barring any sharp declines today, it could be on track to reach all-time highs next week.
Russ Mould at AJ Bell said: "“After a stunning session on Thursday, the FTSE 100 continued its ascent at the end of the trading week. Little by little it is edging back towards the 8,000 mark.
"Risk appetite is increasing; corporates are slowly becoming more upbeat and people are making money. That environment is favourable for equity markets and it certainly helps that AI darling Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) continues to enjoy a rising share price – its investor-favourite status implies that if its shares are moving higher, sentiment will stay positive."
JD Sports tumbles after Nike (NYSE:NKE) dishes out pessimistic guidance
JD Sports is leading the FTSE 100 fallers on Friday after it shares tumbled 3.5% as it suffered negative read across from a poor Nike update on Thursday night.
Shares in the US sportswear maker sunk 7% after its management provided downbeat guidance on both near-term and longer-term trading trends.
Nike projects slight revenue growth in the near term and has not specified the expected growth rate for fiscal 2025, against analysts' predictions of a 5.6% increase.
Next week JD Sports will issue a full-year trading update where investors will be keen to see if trading has picked up after it issued one of the poorer festive trading updates in the sector.
Back in January, the group issued a profit warning, driven by poor weather that had hindered fleece sales, consumer pushback to higher prices and margin pressure in the US.