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Stocks in Europe opened mixed on Friday ahead of US Vice President JD Vance meeting UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy in Kent. The FTSE 100 index opened up 6.08 points, 0.1%, at 9,106.85. The FTSE 250 was down 56.83 points, 0.3%, at 21,881.27, and the AIM All-Share was down 3.17 points, 0.4%, at 760.34. The Cboe UK 100 was slightly higher at 912.34, the Cboe UK 250 was down 0.2% at 19,284.05, and the Cboe Small Companies was down 0.1% at 17,160.57. In European equities on Friday, the CAC 40 in Paris gained 0.1%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt lost 0.2%. UK retail footfall declined in July, but less sharply than in the previous month, as the summer failed to bring the boost that businesses had hoped for, according to the latest British Retail Consortium-Sensormatic data on Friday. Total UK footfall decreased by 0.4% in July compared to the previous year, improving from the 1.8% fall seen in June. High street visits fell by 1.7% while shopping centre footfall dropped by 0.3%. However, retail park activity increased by 1.7%, reversing a 1.1% slide last month. UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy is due to meet US Vice President JD Vance on Friday amid ongoing conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine. They will discuss UK-US relations in a bilateral meeting before being joined by their families. The US and UK have found themselves at odds on Gaza, with Keir Starmer’s pledge to recognise a Palestinian state if Israel does not agree to a ceasefire drawing criticism from Washington. On Ukraine, Trump said on a visit to the UK last month that he would bring forward the deadline for Putin to agree a ceasefire or face higher tariffs to Friday. But speaking in the White House on Thursday, the US president would not commit to taking action when the deadline expires, saying only that it was ‘up to’ Putin. Kremlin officials claimed that a meeting between the US and Russian presidents had been agreed and could take place as early as next week, despite Moscow showing no sign of relenting in its attacks on Ukraine. ‘Today, August 8, marks the deadline set by President Trump for Russia to reach a ceasefire agreement with Ukraine. Should no significant progress be made, the US is expected to implement additional sanctions, potentially expanding to financial, energy, and diplomatic sectors,’ commented XS.com analyst Linh Tran. ‘This would be a pivotal development. If sanctions are triggered, global markets could face a new wave of disruption in supply chains, energy costs, and investor sentimentall of which historically have fueled gold’s bullish momentum.’ Gold was quoted higher at $3,395.45 an ounce on Friday morning against $3,387.20 late Thursday. In the US on Thursday, Wall Street ended mixed, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average shedding 0.5%, the S&P 500 losing 0.1% and the Nasdaq Composite rising 0.4%. The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was quoted at 4.26%, widening from 4.23%. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury was quoted at 4.83%, stretching from 4.80%. The pound was quoted up at $1.3443 early on Friday in London, compared to $1.3412 at the equities close on Thursday. The euro stood higher at $1.1660, against $1.1631. Against the yen, the dollar was trading broadly flat at JP¥147.38 compared to JP¥147.44. TBC Bank falls 12% at London’s market open. The Tbilisi, Georgia-based bank posted net pretax profit of ₾770.1 million, or around $285.3 million, for the first half of 2025, up 5.0% from ₾733.5 million the year before. Total operating income rose 13% to ₾1.61 billion from ₾1.30 billion. However, TBC Bank declared a dividend of ₾1.75 for the second quarter, taking its interim payout to ₾3.25 per share. This is lifted 27% on-year from ₾2.55 per share. The bank will begin its ₾75 million share buyback in the second half of August. Futura Medical sank 20%. The Guildford, Surrey-based sexual health products firm said sales of its new Eroxon product were ‘unpredictable’ and slower than expected, with sales trends remaining ‘challenging to identify and product’. As a result, Futura Medical is conducting a ‘thorough’ review of the current business and its commercial plans, including its sales and marketing strategies for Eroxon and costs associated with the business. The firm also named Alex Duggan as interim Chief Executive Officer, who brings more than 25 years of leadership experience in consumer healthcare and prescription medicines, and announced Finance Director & Chief Operating Officer Angela Hildreth intends to step down after a six-month notice period. At the other end, Blue Star Capital rose 4.8%. The investing company with a focus on blockchain, esports and payments said SatoshiPay has now fully invested the £1.0 million loan provided by Blue Star, to grow its existing digital asset portfolio by around 72 Ether at an average price of €3,188 per token. In Asia on Friday, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo improved 1.9%. In China, the Shanghai Composite faded 0.1%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong slipped 0.9%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed down 0.3%. Brent oil was quoted lower at $66.17 a barrel early in London on Friday from $66.48 late Thursday. Still to come on Friday’s economic calendar, Irish industrial production data at 1100 BST. Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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