Market Live Email
JD Sports launches £200m share buyback, Mony Group reiterates guidance
By Iain Gilbert
Date: Monday 23 Feb 2026
(Sharecast News) - LONDON PRE-OPEN
The FTSE 100 was expected to open 12.6 points lower ahead of the bell on Monday, after wrapping up the previous session 0.56% higher at 10,686.89.
STOCKS TO WATCH
JD Sports Fashion said on Monday that it was returning £200m to shareholders through share buybacks in its 2026/27 financial year. JD said the programme will start immediately with an initial £100m purchase expected to complete no later than the close of its first half on 31 July 31.
MoneySuperMarket owner Mony Group reiterated guidance on Monday, despite "significant" headwinds in car insurance weighing on annual earnings. Revenues for the year to 31 December rose 2% to £446.3m, while adjusted pre-tax earnings were up 2% at £145.1m, with Mony also seeing solid growth in money and home services, with revenues up 8% at £105.7m and 33% at £48.2m respectively. However, that was partially offset by a 1% dip in revenues in insurance, its largest division, to £232.5m, with particularly challenging conditions in car and home.
Herald Investment Trust said on Monday that it had delivered a strong performance over the year ended 31 December, reporting further growth in assets and continued outperformance against its benchmark, despite ongoing governance challenges linked to a major shareholder. Herald Investment said net asset value per ordinary share had risen to 2,700.50p as of 31 December, an increase of 8.5% from 2,488.20p a year earlier, outperforming the Russell 2000 Technology Index, which fell 0.3%.
NEWSPAPER ROUND-UP
The US will not back out of tariff deals it has already sealed with countries around the world, including the UK, the EU, Japan, Switzerland and others, Donald Trump's trade representative Jamieson Greer said on Sunday. The US supreme court ruled on Friday that many of the tariffs imposed by the US president were illegal, leading Trump to announce a new 15% global tariff on all imports the next day. - Guardian
The number of job vacancies in the UK has tumbled to the lowest level in five years, research suggests, falling to levels not seen since the pandemic. The number of jobs being advertised slid by 3% in January to 695,000, according to the job search site Adzuna, marking the first time advertised vacancies have dropped below 700,000 since January 2021. Graduate jobs fell below 10,000 for the first time since Adzuna began tracking this in 2016. - Guardian
Half of parents would ignore a ban on social media for under-16-year-olds and allow their children on to services such as Instagram or Snapchat, the Government has been warned. A survey from Public First, shared with ministers, reported that 50% of parents would still allow their children to access social apps even if they were nominally barred from them. - Telegraph
Wild swings in the valuations of companies caught up in the "AI scare" have created the most exciting investment opportunities since the pandemic, according to one of London's top fund managers. Alex Wright, who manages almost £6bn of investors' money for Fidelity International, revealed he was buying up some UK stocks caught up in the sell-off triggered by fears about the disruptive effect of artificial intelligence. - The Times
A new Middle Eastern fund that plans to invest more than £1bn in two luxury hotels in London's Mayfair has appointed Nadhim Zahawi, a former chancellor, as a director. Evolution Investment Fund has acquired a leasehold interest in both London Marriott Hotel Grosvenor Square and a development site with full consent near New Bond Street. It has made a total capital commitment of approximately £1.1bn including development costs. - The Times
US CLOSE
Major indices closed higher on Friday as market participants digested key inflation data, disappointing fourth quarter GDP figures and a Supreme Court decision on Donald Trunp's sweeping tariff regime.
At the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.47% at 49,625.97, while the S&P 500 advanced 0.69% to 6,909.51 and the Nasdaq Composite saw out the session 0.90% firmer at 22,886.07.
Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com
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