Space Stocks Take off on News of SpaceX IPO

Space stocks led markets on Wednesday, with Destiny Tech100 jumping on talk that SpaceX could file its IPO prospectus this week, while Rocket Lab and Intuitive Machines also rallied strongly. The dollar held onto its recent gains early on Thursday, with sterling steady near $1.337 and the euro around $1.156. Brent climbed back above $100 a barrel and spot gold fell under $4,450. The FTSE 100 closed strongly higher on Wednesday, while Arm surged after unveiling a new AI data-centre chip.

Equities

The FTSE 100 closed 1.4% higher on Wednesday, while the FTSE 250 added 1.6%. London equities moved higher as investors weighed signs that Iran had not rejected a US proposal to end the war, while also taking in fresh UK inflation data.

ASOS delivered one of the strongest moves in the UK market, closing 13% higher on Wednesday. The online fashion retailer reported a 50% jump in first-half profit, helped by cost cuts, improvements to its app and what it described as a sharper fashion offering.

Shell closed 0.8% lower on Wednesday as the energy sector finished flat. That came as oil prices fell on hopes of a ceasefire, limiting support for the heavyweight oil major despite the broader rise in the FTSE 100.

EnQuest fell 4.7% on Wednesday after the North Sea-focused producer kept its 2026 production outlook unchanged. The company said it was relying on investments in Britain and Southeast Asia after Britain’s windfall levies hit last year’s post-tax profit.

In the US, Wall Street also finished higher on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.66%, the S&P 500 gained 0.54% and the Nasdaq Composite closed 0.77% higher.

Arm surged 16.4% by the close on Wednesday after unveiling a new artificial intelligence data centre chip that it expects to generate billions of dollars in revenue. The move helped lift the broader semiconductor space, with AMD and Intel both rising more than 7%, while Nvidia added 2%. Robinhood Markets rose 5% on Wednesday after announcing a new $1.5 billion share buyback programme.

Space-related shares also posted strong gains. Destiny Tech100 jumped 15% after a report said SpaceX could file its IPO prospectus as soon as this week, while Rocket Lab rose 10.3%, Intuitive Machines gained 14.7% and EchoStar added 7.4%.

Forex & Commodities

UK consumer price inflation held at 3.0% in February, unchanged from January. Bank of England policymaker Megan Greene also said she had not been close to voting for a rate rise at last week’s meeting, even as markets continued to price in further tightening this year.

Sterling was steady early on Thursday at $1.337, after trying to avoid a third straight daily decline. The euro also stabilised, holding at $1.156 after falling over the previous two sessions.

The US dollar held onto its recent gains early on Thursday. In Asian trading, the dollar was flat against the yen at ¥159.4, while the dollar index stood at 99.64 after a strong move higher on Wednesday.

Markets now see almost no chance of a Federal Reserve rate cut this year, a sharp change from expectations before the conflict began.

Fed funds futures now imply a 70.6% chance that the US central bank will still be on hold by its December meeting. At the same time, comments from European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde on Wednesday helped the euro stabilise after she left open the possibility of higher euro zone interest rates if the war pushes inflation up for long enough.

The latest move in the currency market followed fresh comments on the Iran conflict. Iran said on Wednesday that it was reviewing a US proposal but had no intention of holding talks to end the war, while Donald Trump said Tehran was desperate to make a deal.

Gold fell early on Thursday after rising over the previous two sessions. Spot gold traded at $4,477 per ounce, as investors waited for clearer signs on whether there would be progress towards de-escalation in the Middle East.

The metal had come under pressure even as oil stayed elevated. Brent crude climbed back above $100 and was trading at $104.3 a barrel early on Thursday, while US crude rose to $92.25 after both contracts had fallen more than 2% on Wednesday.