FTSE 100 Live: Twitter jumps on report Jack Dorsey to step down, stocks and oil higher after omicron sell-off

Santander has appointed Mike Regnier to lead the Spanish banking group’s UK business, subject to regulatory approval.

Regnier will join from Yorkshire Building Society, which he has led since 2017. He has more than 25 years’ financial services and retail experience, including at Lloyds Banking Group, Halifax and Asda. He started his career as a management consultant.

Regnier succeeds long-standing UK boss Nathan Bostock who takes on a wider group role, head of investment platforms at Banco Santander.

Shares in Twitter have leapt higher after CNBC reported that founder Jack Dorsey is to step down.

The US financial news channel said Dorsey, who also runs payment company Square, was expected to announce he was stepping back from executive duties shortly. Activist investor Elliott Management pushed for this change last year.

Shares in Twitter opened over 10% higher in New York.

Elsewhere, Wall Street has joined the global bounce back from Friday’s omicron sell-off. The S&P 500 has opened 1.1% higher, the Dow is up 0.8% and the Nasdaq is 1.3% higher.

The markets have changed their thinking on Bank of England rate hikes after the emergency of the new Omicron strain on Covid-19.

Markets are now pricing in a two in three chance UK base rate will remain on hold in December, according to AJ Bell. 80% expect a February rate rise instead.

Laith Khalaf, head of investment analysis at AJ Bell, says: “The Omicron variant has punctured expectations of a Christmas rate hike, with February now emerging as the frontrunner to stage the much anticipated tightening of UK monetary policy.

“Markets had really got ahead of themselves in so confidently predicting a 2021 rate rise, no doubt egged on by some hawkish rhetoric from the Governor of the Bank of England. But it was always going to be risky for the Bank to raise rates this year, with the heightened chance of a resurgence in the pandemic over the winter months, and employment data beyond the furlough scheme only just becoming available.”

The owner of WeBuyAnyCar.com and Cinch, advertised by TV’s Rylan Clark-Neal, left, today made a £323 million swoop for dealership Marshall Motors. Digital used-car marketplace Constellation Automotive Group will add 164 franchises covering 27 brands if its move for AIM-listed Marshall Motor Holdings is successful.

The 400p-a-share offer already has the backing of Cambridge-based Marshall Group, which owns 64% of the dealership business alongside its operations in aerospace and defence.

Marshall Motor’s shares jumped 43%, or 118p, to 392p.

The stock had been trading below 150p a year ago, but has soared on the back of a series of profit upgrades triggered by soaring used-car values.

The deal fuelled consolidation hopes across the sector. Shares in Pendragon, Lookers and Vertu Motors all rose by about 4% today.

Sub-prime lender Amigo saw its stock crash further today after the company warned investors face being heavily diluted by last ditch rescue plans.

Amigo said it was working on new compensation plans for customers who were missold its guarantor loans. Previous plan were rejected by both the regulator and the High Court on the grounds that payouts were too low.

The new redress scheme will still only offer partial payment but will be more generous. Amigo will ask investors for more cash to fund the new plan and warned that this could lead to “material dilution” for shareholders, leaving them “owning a much smaller proportion of the group if they do not take up their rights.”

Shares in the already embattled lender crashed 3p, or 28%, to 7.6p. The stock was trading as high as 297p in December 2018.

Businesses caught up in Friday’s slump are rebounding too. British Airways owner IAG is up 3.3%. Shell and BP are both up around 3.9%, boosted by rallying oil prices.

Growth in staycations has helped Travelodge achieve record third-quarter sales, the budget hotel chain has said.

The company, behind 593 hotels, said sales in the three months to September 30 reached £229.5 million, compared to £88.2 million a year earlier when travel restrictions severely hurt the leisure sector. The performance was better than the pre-Covid performance of £208.8 million.

Revenue per room stood at £53.54, an improvement on the two prior years.

India’s Reliance Industries has denied a report in The Economic Times claiming it was mulling a bid for the business.

Reliance said: “We categorically deny any intent to bid for the UK telecoms group, BT, formerly British Telecom, as reported in the article titled “Reliance Mulling Bid for UK’s Telco BT Group” published in The Economic Times dated November 29, 2021. The article is completely speculative and baseless. We expect greater diligence and verification of facts before publishing such articles.”

Shares in BT are still higher, though not as high as they were earlier in the session. The telecoms company is up 8.9p, or 5.8%, at 162.8p.

JD Wetherspoon has signed a new 20-year supply deal with AB InBev's Budweiser, marking the end of a four decade-long arrangement between the pubco and brewing giant Heineken.

The deal will see Budweiser become the Wetherspoons' largest supplier from December 15. Heineken will stop supplying Wetherspoons with draught beers, but is in discussions over supplying bottled beers.

Shares in Wetherspoons rose 2.2%, or 20p, to 911.8p this morning.

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Irn Bru maker A.G. Barr today raised profits expectations on the back of stronger-than-expected sales in both hospitality and "on the go" retail as Britons headed out this autumn.

The listed company, which also owns juice brand Rubicon and pre-made drinks and mixer offering Funkin Cocktails, said it now anticipates full-year revenues of £264 million and pre-tax profits of £41 million for the year to January 22 2022 - exceeding current market expectations of around £255 million and £38 million respectively.

The firm said its supply chain and production have remained "resilient" in the face of well-documented disruption and price hikes, and bosses expect the sales momentum to continue into next year.

A.G. Barr had seen pre-tax profits dip by 12% to £32.8 million last year as the pandemic hit trade. Around 10-14% of its pre-Covid sales came from hospitality.

Shares surged as much as 4.7%, or 22p, to 490p, on the update.