{"id":15588,"date":"2026-01-25T15:41:18","date_gmt":"2026-01-25T15:41:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/?p=15588"},"modified":"2026-01-25T15:41:18","modified_gmt":"2026-01-25T15:41:18","slug":"lloyds-making-progress-ai-clues-sought-from-mag7-daily-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/?p=15588","title":{"rendered":"Lloyds making progress; AI clues sought from Mag7 \u2013 Daily Business"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"Bank\"Bank
Bank of Scotland is part of Lloyds<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lloyds Banking Group, which trades north of the border as Bank of Scotland and Halifax, was among the\u00a0top performing FTSE 100 stocks\u00a0last year, despite a 36% fall in third quarter profits and taking a hit from the motor finance scandal.<\/p>\n

Costs swelled 37% to reach \u00a33.18 billion for the quarter, including \u00a3875m of remediation costs, of which \u00a3800m was in relation to the impact of potential motor finance commission arrangements.<\/p>\n

Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, said that the motor provision is not \u201clife-threatening and without that distraction the underlying progress remains strong\u201d.<\/p>\n

As for general trading and the outlook, banks are often seen as a barometer of the economy so analysts will look pointers to business and consumer confidence, including the direction of the mortgage market,.<\/p>\n

The US Federal Reserve<\/strong> is braced for changes amid the spat with Donald Trump. In the meantime, it isn\u2019t expected to change interest rates.<\/p>\n

Four of the so-called Magnificent Seven report this week, with markets keen to find out whether the AI boom still has momentum.<\/p>\n

AI will be a focus when Apple<\/strong> reports its first quarter results on Thursday, with investors keeping an eye out for any more detail on the company\u2019s plans in this space.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn some ways, Apple seems the least committed of the Magnificent Seven to heavy capital investment on AI, since capital investment remains fairly steady at around 3% of sales,\u201d said AJ Bell\u2019s analysts.<\/p>\n

\u201cInvestors have been willing to keep backing the firm, despite an apparent lack of clarity on its AI strategy, its ongoing dependence upon the 19-year-old iPhone and suggestions that boss Tim Cook may step down in 2026.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the first week of January, Tesla <\/strong>reported\u00a0fourth quarter deliveries that missed forecasts, with a total of 418,227, compared to expectations of just under 423,000. For the full year, Tesla delivered 1.64 million vehicles, which was in line with expectations but represented an 8% drop compared to 2024, marking the second year in a row of annual sales declines.<\/p>\n

On the back of these figures, analyst consensus forecasts expect a 3% fall in total sales for the fourth quarter to $25bn (\u00a318.5bn) and a 40% drop in earnings per share (EPS) to $0.44, according to data provided by AJ Bell.<\/p>\n

For the year, analysts expect to see a 3% decline in sales to $95bn and a one-third fall in EPS to $1.61.<\/p>\n

DIARY<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

Monday 26 January<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \n
  • Trading statement from\u00a0Costain<\/strong><\/li>\n
  • Scottish Affairs Committee hears evidence on BBC Scotland<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Tuesday 27 January<\/strong><\/p>\n

      \n
    • Trading statements from\u00a0Dr Martens, Sage\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0Evoke<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      Wednesday 28 January<\/strong><\/p>\n

        \n
      • Trading statements from\u00a0Paragon Banking, Pets at Home\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0Hargreaves Services<\/strong><\/li>\n
      • Q4 figures from Meta <\/strong>and Tesla<\/strong><\/li>\n
      • BRC UK shop price index<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

        Thursday 29 January<\/strong><\/p>\n

          \n
        • Full-year results from\u00a0Crest Nicholson<\/strong>, Lloyds Banking Group<\/strong><\/li>\n
        • First-half results from\u00a0Renishaw\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0Rank<\/strong><\/li>\n
        • Trading statements or quarterly results from\u00a0Antofagasta, Easyjet, Glencore, Saga, Wizz Air, Greencore, CVS Group\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0Halfords<\/strong><\/li>\n
        • Q1 figures from Apple<\/strong><\/li>\n
        • Nationwide UK house price survey<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

          Friday 30 January<\/strong><\/p>\n

            \n
          • UK mortgage approvals<\/li>\n
          • EU GDP growth<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

            \t <\/div>\n