A savings and Investment group and an energy-and-metals Business close out Thursday's long list of FTSE 100 updates, each exposed to a different strand of this week's market turbulence.

By the time investors reach the end of Thursday's reporting list, they will already have a lot to absorb. BT (LSE:BT.A) and National Grid (LSE:NG.) publish half-year results, Diageo (LSE:DGE) delivers a first-quarter statement, Next (LSE:NXT) updates on its third quarter, Auto Trader (LSE:AUTO) reports its half year, and Croda (LSE:CRDA) and Howden Joinery (LSE:HWDN) issue third-quarter updates. Rounding out the slate on Thursday 5 November are M&G (LSE:MNG) and Metlen Energy & Metals (LSE:MTLN), both with third-quarter updates — and all of it on the day of the Bank of England's Interest Rate decision.

M&G and Metlen have little in common operationally. But each is linked to one of the forces that has rattled the FTSE 100 this week: interest rates and financial markets on one side, energy and metals on the other. It examines the backdrop and the questions investors generally ask of companies like these.

Two businesses, two sets of pressures

M&G operates in savings, investment and asset management — areas where performance is closely bound up with the direction of markets and interest rates. Metlen, as its full name suggests, spans energy and metals, putting it closer to the Commodity and power price swings that have dominated recent headlines.

Tuesday 3 November illustrated both pressures. The FTSE 100 closed at 10,638.43, down 122.90 points, or 1.14%, ending a four-session winning streak with its steepest one-day fall in a month. Financial stocks were in the firing line, with the FTSE 350 banks index down 1.6% ahead of the rate decision. At the same time, commodities were sliding: copper fell to a seven-week low, the FTSE 350 basic resources index dropped 2.6%, and Reuters reported industrial metal miners at their lowest in almost four months. Antofagasta (LSE:ANTO) fell 3.5% and Glencore (LSE:GLEN) 2.8%.

The M&G lens: markets and rates

For a savings and asset management group, a third-quarter update often centres on flows and assets. Investors typically look for:

Net client flows:whether customers are adding money or withdrawing it, and across which products and channels.

Assets under management and administration:which reflect both flows and market movements.

Capital position:commentary on Solvency and Capital generation, which underpins dividends.

Progress against targets:whether management is on track with any financial goals set earlier.

Rates matter here in more than one direction. Higher rates can make cash and fixed-income products more attractive to savers, while also affecting the valuation of bond holdings and the relative appeal of other asset classes. market swings, such as Tuesday's, can also move the value of Assets under management.

The rate path is far from settled. A 25 basis point rise from 3.75% to 4% is widely expected on Thursday, which would be the first since August 2023. Money markets had fully priced four quarter-point hikes by next September, per LSEG data cited by Reuters. Alessia Berardi of Amundi Investment Institute, its head of global macroeconomics, said the market was pricing a full hiking cycle, but "we think that one or two moves will be enough..."

Tuesday offered a reminder that financial companies can still stand apart from the crowd. Hiscox (LSE:HSX) climbed 2.9% after a 9.5% rise in nine-month written premiums, even as the broader index fell.

The Metlen lens: energy and metals

For a business with interests in energy and metals, the commodity backdrop could hardly be more eventful. Oil has whipsawed. Brent settled on Monday 2 November at $104.77, down $8.66 or 7.63%, while US benchmark WTI settled at $96.46. Early on Tuesday, Brent rose to around $105.25 after The Wall Street Journal, citing US officials, reported a US strike on Iran's Qeshm Island; crude then slid about 2% over the day as investors weighed talks aimed at ending the wars in Ukraine and Iran. Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM Trade, said the strike report "added a degree of risk premium back into the oil price."

Metals moved sharply too, as copper's decline dragged miners lower. Investors reading an energy-and-metals update typically focus on:

Production and output trendsacross the company's operations.

Realised pricesversus benchmark prices.

Energy costs, which can be a significant input for metals processing.

Project progresson major investments.

Guidance, and how management expects commodity Volatility to affect the rest of the year.

These are generic reference points rather than forecasts.

The two companies' worlds connect through inflation. Reuters reported that elevated oil prices have fuelled Inflation fears, prompting many central banks to raise rates. ING went further, saying the worsening energy crisis had made it much harder for the Bank of England not to act. So the energy swings that matter to Metlen are also, indirectly, part of why rates — so important to M&G — are expected to rise.

Sterling, at about $1.3417 and 83.53p per euro on Monday, is another variable for any company with international operations. Eurozone inflation figures, due on Wednesday 4 November and expected at 3.9%, may add to the picture for businesses with European exposure.

Key dates to watch

Wed 4 Nov:Eurozone inflation figures, expected at 3.9%.

Thu 5 Nov:M&G and Metlen Q3 updates, alongside seven other FTSE 100 reports.

Thu 5 Nov:Bank of England MPC decision, with a rise to 4% widely expected.

Fri 6 Nov:US October jobs report.

Thu 12 Nov:ONS first quarterly GDP estimate for July to September, at 7:00am.

The bottom line

M&G and Metlen close out a remarkably busy Thursday, and each reports into a different version of this week's turbulence: rate and market uncertainty for the savings group, commodity volatility for the energy-and-metals business. Neither is likely to command the attention of the bigger names reporting the same day, but both offer a window on themes that have driven the FTSE 100 lower this week. How their shares respond may help show whether investors are drawing distinctions between companies or simply trading the broader macro mood.