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August 15, 2025

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In Stocks

Europe markets open: FTSE 100 hits new record, up 0.4%, despite London’s job crisis

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European markets pushed higher again on Friday, with London’s FTSE 100 smashing another record high at the open, yet the celebratory mood on the trading floor masks a deeply troubling economic reality unfolding on the city’s streets.

While stocks climb, a severe contraction in the capital’s job market is flashing red, creating a stark and unsettling tale of two Londons.

The benchmark FTSE 100 index jumped around 0.4% at the start of trading, with the pound firming 0.2% against the dollar to trade above $1.35.

The optimism is widespread, with futures tied to the pan-European Stoxx 50, Germany’s DAX, and France’s CAC 40 all pointing to gains of around 0.6%, as investors await the outcome of a highly anticipated meeting between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, hoping for a resolution to the war in Ukraine.

A city of contrasts: record stocks, collapsing jobs

But beneath the headline stock market gains, a chilling economic story is emerging. According to new data from the jobs website Indeed, advertisements for retail and hospitality positions in the capital have plunged by nearly 40% since October.

This is a far steeper decline than the national averages of 26% and 9% respectively, signaling a crisis disproportionately affecting London.

Tax data reinforces this alarming trend, showing that a staggering one in four of all UK job losses since October has occurred in the capital.

This economic pain is being attributed to a toxic cocktail of factors: the government’s recent increase in payroll tax and the minimum wage, the capital’s already high salary base, and the creeping advance of AI, which is beginning to replace roles in finance, marketing, and management consulting.

Corporate headwinds and the China problem

The underlying economic fragility is not just a London phenomenon; it’s being reflected in the earnings reports of major European brands with global exposure.

Danish jewelry giant Pandora on Friday posted a slightly weaker-than-expected rise in second-quarter sales, shining a spotlight on the continued weakness in the crucial Chinese market.

Revenues rose 8% on an organic basis to 7.08 billion Danish kroner ($1.10 billion), just missing the 7.12 billion kroner forecast by LSEG analysts.

The report revealed a sharp geographical divide: while the US market accelerated with 12% growth, sales in China recorded the largest decline, plummeting by 15%.

Pandora said its performance in China “continues to be challenged” and announced it would double its anticipated store closures in the country to 100 this year.

In a show of resilience, the company maintained its full-year outlook, but the report serves as a potent reminder that even as stock indices hit new highs, real-world economic and geopolitical challenges are casting a long shadow.

The post Europe markets open: FTSE 100 hits new record, up 0.4%, despite London’s job crisis appeared first on Invezz

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In Business

Ulta and Target will end deal for in-store beauty shops next year

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Ulta Beauty and Target said Thursday that they have decided to end a deal that opened makeup and beauty shops in hundreds of Target’s stores.

Shares of Target fell about 2% in early trading, while Ulta’s stock slid about 1%.

In a news release, the companies said the partnership — which also added some of Ulta’s merchandise to Target’s website — will end in August 2026. Target had added more than 600 Ulta Beauty shops to its stores since 2021, according to a company spokesperson. That’s nearly a third of Target’s 1,981 U.S. stores.

Ulta Beauty at Target shops carried a smaller and rotating assortment of the merchandise at the beauty retailer’s own stores. They were staffed by Target’s employees.

The loss of the popular beauty retailer’s products could be another blow to Target as it tries to woo back both shoppers and investors. Target’s annual sales have been roughly flat for four years and it expects sales to decline this fiscal year. Shares of the company are worth less than half of what the were back in 2021, when they hit an all-time closing high of $266.39. It also has faced backlash over both its Pride collection and its rollback of key diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

Store traffic for Target has declined year over year nearly every week from the week of Jan. 27, days after the company’s DEI announcement, through the week of Aug. 4, according to Placer.ai, an analytics firm that uses anonymized data from mobile devices to estimate overall visits to locations. Target traffic had been up weekly year over year in the four weeks before Jan. 27.

The only exceptions to that trend were the two weeks on either side of Easter, when traffic rose less than 1% year over year, the firm’s data showed.

On earnings calls and in investor presentations, leaders of the Minneapolis-based company had touted Ulta’s shops and its trendy beauty brands as a way to drive store traffic.

At a investor presentation in New York City in March, CEO Brian Cornell highlighted beauty as a growth category for Target and cited it as reason for confidence in Target’s long-term business. He said the company had gained market share in beauty and its sales in the category rose by nearly 7% in the fiscal year that ended in early February.

Target’s CEO Brian Cornell, 66, is expected to depart the company soon. The longtime Target leader renewed his contract for approximately three years in September 2022 after the board scrapped its retirement age of 65.

David Bellinger, an analyst for Mizuho Securities who covers retailers, said in an equity research note on Thursday that Target’s “messy in-store operations” as well as issues with retail theft and insufficient staffing at stores likely contributed to the companies ending their partnership.

“Overall, we see losing the Ulta shop-in-shop relationship as a negative development and something else Target’s next CEO will have to grapple with,” he wrote.

In a statement on Thursday, Target Chief Commercial Officer Rick Gomez said the discounter is “proud of our shared success with Ulta Beauty and the experience we’ve delivered together.”

“We look forward to what’s ahead and remain committed to offering the beauty experience consumers have come to expect from Target — one centered on an exciting mix of beauty brands with continuous newness, all at an unbeatable value,” he said.

In a statement, Ulta’s Chief Retail Officer Amiee Bayer-Thomas described the Target deal as “one of many unique ways we have brought the power of beauty to guests nationwide.”

“As we continue to execute our Ulta Beauty Unleashed plans, we’re confident our wide-ranging assortment, expert services and inspiring in-store experiences will reinforce our leadership in beauty and define the next chapter of our brand,” she said.

This post appeared first on NBC NEWS

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In Politics

Armenia and Azerbaijan leaders seek to ease Russian and Iranian concerns after US-brokered peace deal

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The leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan brushed off any threat of backlash from neighboring powers Iran and Russia following a U.S.-brokered peace accord – an agreement hailed as the start of a new era, ending more than three decades of war and hostility in the South Caucasus.

In exclusive Fox News Digital interviews, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev both praised President Donald Trump and his envoy for their role in brokering the framework agreement. They emphasized that the deal, which promised increased regional economic integration and political cooperation, is not directed at any third party – and may actually provide strategic advantages to Moscow and Tehran.

‘This is not a zero-sum game,’ Pashinyan said. The agreement ‘contains quite tangible benefits for Iran and for Russia as well.’

‘Iran would have access through railway from the Persian Gulf to the Black Sea and Russia and Iran will have opportunity to have a railway connection between the two countries.’

Russia – a long-standing ally of Armenia and a presence in the region through its border guards – welcomed peace but sent a warning about U.S. involvement. Its foreign ministry described the accord as ‘positive,’ expressing hope for stability in the Caucasus, but warned that foreign involvement should complement, not complicate, the peace process. 

The ministry emphasized that regional solutions should include neighbors like Russia, Iran and Turkey, and cautioned against repeating the pitfalls of Western-led interventions in the Middle East.

Aliyev echoed Pashinyan’s remarks and declined to see U.S. diplomatic involvement as a provocation toward Moscow. 

‘It will be very difficult for any country – whether far away or in our region – to say something bad about today’s agreement,’ he told Fox News Digital.’We’ve taken the final step toward peace.’ 

He added: ‘It’s not against anyone. It’s a connectivity project which will be one of the most important parts of international transportation.’

At the heart of the pact is the planned Trump Route for International Peace and Prosperity (TRIPP) – a roughly 27-mile transit route linking mainland Azerbaijan with its Nakhchivan exclave, passing through Armenian territory. Armenia has granted the U.S. exclusive development rights via a 99‑year lease, allowing for infrastructure projects such as roads, rail lines, pipelines, fiber optics and possibly power transmission, aimed at opening new trade and transit paths in the region.

This bold move shifts regional dynamics, offering Washington a powerful strategic foothold while bypassing traditional Russian and Iranian routes.

Iran, in contrast, has responded with hostility. 

Ali Akbar Velayati, a key advisor to Iran’s supreme leader, warned of serious consequences if the ‘Zangezur Corridor’ – as Iran calls the route – is enacted, asserting that it ‘will not become a passage owned by Trump, but rather a graveyard for Trump’s mercenaries,’ according to the semi-official news agency Tasnim.

Iran has even signaled readiness to use military means to block the route. 

Domestically, Pashinyan faces opposition. Armenian nationalists, already fierce critics of any deal with Azerbaijan, view the agreement as a betrayal. The Republican Party of Armenia has declared that Pashinyan lacks the mandate to sign such a treaty, demanding full transparency and an end to concessions made under external pressure.

Pashinyan, however, is undeterred. He said the accord could transform Armenia’s investment climate and attract foreign capital. 

‘We expect to have some criticism, and that’s part of democracy,’ he told Fox News Digital. ‘But we are confident we made the right decision.’ 

Once the dominant power in the South Caucasus, Russia is losing its grip. The war in Ukraine, mounting sanctions and resource strains have depleted its regional influence, enabling the U.S., Turkey and the European Union to expand their diplomatic reach.

Relations with Azerbaijan particularly soured following the December 2024 downing of Azerbaijan Airlines Flight 8243. Aliyev accused Moscow of accidentally shooting the passenger jet with Russian air defenses during operations against Ukrainian drones, killing 38 people. 

Aliyev told Fox News Digital he didn’t believe the incident was an intentional attack by Russian leadership, but demanded a formal admission of guilt, punishment for those responsible and full compensation – moves Russia has resisted, apologizing only vaguely for what they called a’tragic incident.’

And amid political divisions, Pashinyan finds himself in a conflict with one of the country’s most respected institutions  – the Armenian Apostolic Church, where figures like Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan have led public protests against Pashinyan’s decision to return border villages to Azerbaijan.

On June 25, authorities arrested Galstanyan, a leading figure in the church and of the ‘Sacred Struggle’ opposition movement, accusing him of orchestrating a terrorist plot to overthrow the government. Armenia’s Investigative Committee alleged he had recruited more than 1,000 former police and military personnel to stage bombings, disrupt power grids and paralyze transportation networks. 

Pashinyan assured that the judiciary system acted independently of his government and ‘in full accordance with the law of Armenia, respecting all the rights of all people.’

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS

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