UK markets began September in shaky fashion as a global bond selloff, driven by renewed inflation fears amid renewed Middle East hostilities, pushed gilt yields to multidecade highs. The UK stock market was broadly flat after a wobble at the start of the week.
With Claude owner Anthropic reportedly set to formally announce its IPO in the coming days, the AI trade remains firmly in the spotlight. This week’s markets brief takes a look at an AI play closer to home: Computacenter CCC, which builds and fits data centers, is preparing to release its first half-year results since joining the FTSE 100 back in June. And following the bond market selloff, we break down what soaring bond yields actually mean for investors, pensions, and mortgages, as well as look ahead to July GDP numbers.
UK Stock Market’s AI Play
The UK stock market has been noted for its “anti-AI” credentials, owing to the index’s lack of tech stocks compared with the US and Europe. However, that tech exposure has been bolstered by the promotion of Computacenter to the blue-chip index back in June, and the UK market’s newest AI play will reveal its first half-year results on Tuesday since joining the index.
The stock is up 85% so far in 2026 and 138% over the last year on the back of demand from the likes of Meta and SpaceX’s xAI for its IT hardware solutions.
Computacenter is one of the world’s largest resellers of tech hardware and listed in London in 1998. It also installs and manages IT solutions on a corporate level.
AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould says it’s the type of tech company the UK stock market lacks and needs.
Computacenter has positioned itself as a major beneficiary of the US hyperscalers’ mammoth investment in AI infrastructure such as data centers, and counts both SpaceX SPCX and Meta META as two of its customers. The company’s services include providing vital cooling and cable equipment to Big Tech projects such as data centers.
In 2025 alone, Computacenter’s profits in North America almost doubled as hyperscaler data center investment surged. The company’s momentum has continued into 2026, with Computacenter saying it expects its full-year results to be “comfortably ahead of market expectations” in a recent trading update. It also expects profits to have doubled in the first half of the year compared with 2025.
“Data centers are now one of the most important growth areas for Computacenter,” says Bank of America analyst Aditya Buddhavarapu.
“Computacenter is winning deals because it can source, integrate and deploy infrastructure quickly and reliably, at a scale many competitors cannot match,” he adds.
Ahead of the first half-year results, Bank of America analysts are forecasting revenue growth of 38.2%. They say investors will particularly be looking out for insights on the growth outlook for the rest of the year and commentary on the hyperscaler demand environment.
Bond Markets’ Risk and Opportunities Rise
Global bond yields hit multidecade highs in early September—fueled by a combination of inflation fears, concern over government debt, and interventionist comments by US Federal Reserve chair Kevin Warsh.
This prompts fresh uncertainty for those approaching retirement whose bond exposure in their pensions is higher than other age groups. Those hoping to remortgage now face higher borrowing costs.
The biggest change in expectations is on interest rates. Financial markets predicted the Bank of England to make rate cuts as recently as January. They now predict as many as three rate rises. In a recent speech, the Bank’s chief economist, Huw Pill, said he saw “benefit in acting clearly, promptly and decisively.”
For mortgage holders and those about to remortgage in particular, this is bad news. Banks price the cost of lending each other money via the swap markets, and that cost is going up. In the past week, the average new mortgage rate on two-year, five-year, and 10-year fixed-rate mortgages has crept upward again. Though the average new UK mortgage rate hadn’t budged at 5.55% on Thursday, it took no time at all for commentators to predict mortgages will now get more expensive again.
“Credit card, mortgage and auto loan interest rates will rise if bond yields rise, as the lenders seek to preserve loan book margins and manage their risk,” says AJ Bell’s Mould.
Where there’s pain for some, elsewhere there are opportunities. Annuity rates have improved in the current era of higher interest rates, and they could improve still as bond yields rise. And as for buying bonds directly, those searching for higher income have good news. At the time of writing, the yield on the UK two-year gilt is well over the Bank of England’s base rate, while the 10-year gilt yield also exceeds the overall dividend yield from the FTSE 100.
UK GDP Figures Due
Prime Minister Andy Burnham and Chancellor John Healey will also be paying attention to Friday’s economic data release for July by the Office for National Statistics.
June’s GDP figures revealed the economy grew 0.3% in the month, bringing the growth rate to 0.4% for the second quarter. Added to the 0.6% growth in Q1, this has made the UK the fastest-growing nation in the G7 so far this year.
However, a note published this week by Deutsche Bank’s chief UK economist Sanjay Raja suggests all the tell-tale signs point to a coming slowdown.
“For starters, one-off supports to GDP growth from a sun-soaked summer and World Cup will naturally fade,” he says. “Two, higher energy prices will likely come home to roost.”
In terms of corporate news, Primark owner Associated British Foods ABF will report a full-year update on Sept. 10.
