News & Insight • Weekly Newsletters

28 November 2025 | William Buckhurst

That Was The Week That Was

MACRO NEWS

Although mistakenly released early by the OBR, the overall UK market reaction was muted to the formal release of the Budget by Chancellor Rachel Reeves. The Chancellor said that the fiscal headroom would be £22bn, higher than the £15bn expected. Some called it a classic ‘tax and spend’ Budget with welfare spending increasing by £16bn with £26bn of tax increases. OBR documents indicated that the tax burden in the UK would rise to 38% of GDP, the highest since just after WWII. Markets are certain of a rate cut by the Bank of England next month.

The biggest winners and losers were in the gambling sector as  Remote (online) Gaming Duty will increase from 21% to 40% although Remote UK horse-racing bets will not be subject to the new rate and will remain taxed at 15%. There was a cheer in the hall as Bingo Duty will be abolished from April 2026.

There has been some progress in Ukraine as it was reported that US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff held a phone call with a senior Kremlin official last month suggesting that they work together on a similar peace plan to that achieved in Gaza.

Japan’s CPI inflation report came in at 2.8%, slightly higher than expected, and industrial output unexpectedly rose, keeping the Bank of Japan on track to consider an interest rate hike in December or January.

President Donald Trump and Premier Xi Jinping held their first talks since agreeing to a tariff truce last month even though both skipped last weekend’s G-20 summit.

COMPANY NEWS

Novo Nordisk shares were volatile this week. After falling as much as 12% on released data from its EVOKE trial that stated that Ozempic failed to slow the progression of Alzheimer’s, the shares rallied 4.5% after another set of trial data for its diabetes shot, called Amycretin, which lowered patients’ blood sugar and helped them lose as much as 14.5% of their body weight over 36 weeks when given as a weekly injection, with a once daily oral shot seeing up to 10.1% weight loss.

Rosebank Industries had its first trading update since owning ECI, with management “highly confident” in meeting full year guidance. Margins increased to 15.7% and net debt is also better than expected. Management are active in finding bolt-on opportunities for ECI, and the move to the main market is on track for Q2 2026.

Bayer shares rose 10.91% after announcing positive phase three trial results for its anti-stroke drug. 

Remy Cointreau confirmed the company's full year guidance, leading to some relief in the alcohol shares as performance led by both Cognac and Liqueurs & Spirits.

Whitbread shares fell 11.3% due to the reaction to hotel rates in the budget and weak German retail numbers.

Cranswick announced revenue growth of 7.9%, benefiting from consumers switching out of higher-priced proteins and into pork and poultry

Compass Group, the catering experts reported in line full year results, but guidance of 7% growth (including 2% bolt on boosts) failed to lift the shares.

We are post peak pets (lock down) but Pets at Home rose 4.8% after reporting that The Vet Group was trading in line while the retail business was improving.

Shares in Deere (tractors) fell 5.67% as sales came in above forecast but crucially margins across all divisions were below expectations. Management commented that tariffs and challenges in the sector remained.

Alibaba shares have performed very well but fell slightly on results which missed profit targets as a result of continued aggressive investment in AI and the continued price war in its Quick Shopping business. 

EUROPEAN M&A DEALS

A number of deals were announced as we approach the end of the year, but sadly Anglo American will not be one of them as BHP announced it had considered but decided not to move forward with an offer for the company. 

Puma, the sportswear company, leapt 18.9% higher on rumours of a bid for Chinese sportswear company Anta, which owns brands such as Fila, Jack Wolfskin and Descente. Reports indicated it may also team up with a private equity firm if it decided to move forward with an offer. Other potential bidders could include rival Chinese firm Li Nang.

There was also speculation that Deutsche Borse was in talks to buy the fund distribution firm, Allfunds Group for around €8.80 per share (€5.3bn). Shares rose over 22% to €8.11. 

TECH NEWS

The ‘per seat’ revenue model is not working for some companies. Workday fell 7.85% after reporting good results with earnings and revenue in line with consensus estimates. Subscription revenue growth was 15%, in line with expectations but guidance was underwhelming.

On the other hand, networking experts Dell rose 5.83% as revenue climbed 11% to $27.01bn, slightly below consensus estimates. However, guidance of $31.5bn was a lot better than the $27.64bn expected while management commented that AI momentum was accelerating. HP Inc. has decided to lay off 6,000 employees, even with in line results. Printing revenue declined 4.2% to $4.27bn. The company commented that they were taking actions to mitigate cost headwinds and were investing in AI enabled initiatives to accelerate product innovation.

THE WEEK AHEAD

• On Wednesday, we see the US ADP private-sector payrolls report. While the Bureau of Economic Analysis releases the Fed's primary inflation rate, the core PCE price index, on Friday.
• Earnings releases include Kroger, Macy’s, CrowdStrike, Marvell Technologies and Snowflake. In Europe, Zara-owner, Inditex, Associated British Foods and Frasers Group also report.

THE WEEK IN HISTORY

1963: the US stock market’s reaction to JFK’s assassination was an immediate drop of about 3% followed by a surprisingly rapid recovery. After a brief closure for national mourning, the market reopened and experienced a massive rebound, due to the swift and stable transfer of power to Lyndon B. Johnson.

2014: OPEC refused to cut production, triggering a collapse in oil prices. Brent fell 10% in a single day, and energy stocks sold off sharply. This marked the start of the oil bear market, with crude eventually falling below $30 in 2016.