News & Insight • Weekly Newsletters

19 December 2025 | William Buckhurst

That Was The Week That Was

MACRO NEWS

Bank of England rate decision was an easy one following the employment data as they cut rates by 0.25% to 3.75% but the committee was only in favour by five votes to four. The October rolling three-month unemployment rate rose to 5.1%, in line with expectations. October average weekly earnings increased 4.7% vs 4.4% expected. Data also showed that youth unemployment had increased to the highest level in a decade with the jobless rate for 16–24-year-olds rising to 16%.

The ECB announced that it was leaving interest rates unchanged at 2%. It is determined to ensure that inflation stabilises at its 2% target in the medium term and noted that economic growth was expected to be stronger compared to September, with growth especially driven by domestic demand.

The Bank of Japan continue to do things differently as it raised rates by 0.25% to 0.75%, sending bank shares higher. Official figures showed Japanese inflation excluding food and fuel rose by 3% in November well above the target rate of 2%.

Talks in Berlin aimed at ending the war between the Ukraine and Russia continue to progress, focusing on territorial issues.

Main Fed dissenter, Stephen Miran again commented that the Fed’s policy stance was restrictive on the economy, calling out his benign outlook for inflation and warning signs in the labour market, but he acknowledged that goods inflation was sticky. New York Fed CEO, John Williams, stated that monetary policy was well positioned for next year and that economic growth should accelerate thanks to fiscal policy and AI investments.

The EU confirmed reports that it was pulling back its effective ban on internal combustion engines.

COMPANY NEWS

The turnaround is taking longer than the market wants at Nike and consequently the shares fell 10.76% after reporting results that beat expectations but sales in China fell 17% and the company described tariffs as a considerable margin headwind.

Accenture reported results above consensus estimates but the shares fell slightly. Bookings in the quarter increased 12% and the company guided to revenue growth of 1-5%, largely in line with consensus.

FactSet, the financial data provider, was one of the worst performing large cap stocks last quarter, and results did not do much to lift the gloom as it fell 5%.

Carnival floated higher as said it expects adjusted net profit to rise comfortably in 2026 as it announced the reinstatement of quarterly dividends and higher revenue. The cruise operator said pretax profit jumped 45% to a "record" $2.77bn with passenger ticket revenue growing 5.8% to $17.42bn.

One of the poster children of AI, Oracle, fell 5.4% following a FT report that Blue Owl Capital would not back a $10bn deal for Oracle’s next data centre.

With share valuations looking slightly stretched, one does not want to upset the apple cart. Unfortunately, ServiceNow fell 11.6% following reports that it was in advanced talks to acquire cybersecurity firm Armis for as much as $7bn, wiping $18bn off its market value.

Pfizer finished 3.4% lower yesterday after updating full year guidance that was below expectations as it now expected to deliver the majority of its targeted $7.2bn in cost savings by 2026 and the expectation for COVID products being $1.5bn lower than expected in 2025.

BP announced that it had appointed Meg O’Neill as CEO, replacing Murray Auchincloss after two years in the role.

Juventus, the listed Italian football club nicknamed The Old Lady, closed up 18.5% after it was reported that Tether Holdings had made a €1.1bn takeover bid to acquire the club which was quickly rejected by Exor.

The best performing mid-cap UK stock this year is Goodwin which is up 150%. The company doubled its pretax profit from last year and noted its strong orders.

Diageo was unchanged after selling its stake in East African Breweries to Asahi Group for $2.3bn.

AGE OF THE AUTONOMOUS

iRobot the maker of the Roomba vacuum cleaner, filed for bankruptcy, saying that it would go private after being bought by China’s Picea Robotics, its primary manufacturer.

iRobot generated about $682m in total revenue in 2024, but its profits have been eroded by competition from Chinese rivals like Ecovacs Robotics. iRobot remains dominant in key markets like the US and Japan, but competition forced it to lower its prices and make substantial investments in technological upgrades. While new US tariffs have also harmed the company, especially a 46% levy on imports from Vietnam. The tariffs raised the company’s costs by $23m in 2025, while making it more difficult to plan for the future, according to iRobot's court filings. The company was the target of a thwarted $1.4bn buyout from Amazon in 2023.

ONE HOUR’S SLEEP

Nasdaq, one of the world's largest exchanges that is home to tech companies Nvidia, Apple and Amazon, is planning to submit paperwork with the US Securities and Exchange Commission to roll out 23-hour trading of stocks, as it looks to capitalize on a global demand for U.S. equities.

Investor demand for nonstop trading in US stocks has surged in recent years, prompting regulators to introduce new rules and green-light proposals from major exchanges to enable trading beyond normal market hours. The US stock market represents almost two-thirds of the market value of listed companies globally, while total foreign holdings of US equities reached $17trn last year, according to data compiled by Nasdaq.

THE WEEK AHEAD

No company news expected but you might still have some businesses that sneak out an announcement.

Macro wise, we get UK GDP on Monday with some American figures on Tuesday such as GDP and consumer confidence.

Otherwise, a very quiet week as we head into holiday season. May we take this opportunity, from all of us at Vermeer Partners, to wish our clients, friends and readers a very Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year.

We will be back on the 12^th of January.

THE WEEK IN HISTORY

1927: Australian cricketing prodigy Don Bradman scores 118 in his 1st-class debut for NSW against South Australia at the Adelaide Oval (where it isn’t going so well for England)

1932: British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) begins overseas transmissions.