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London’s blue chip index beat its peers in Paris and Frankfurt at Friday midday, while the FTSE 250 performed well despite UK service sector growth easing to a five-month low in September as new orders slowed. The FTSE 100 index was up 59.75 points, 0.6%, at 9,487.45. The FTSE 250 was up 155.19 points, 0.7%, at 22,202.49, and the AIM All-Share was up 4.78 points, 0.6%, at 793.73. Earlier on Friday, the blue-chip index hit a new intra-day high of 9,494.64 points. The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.6% at 949.08, the Cboe UK 250 was 0.7% higher at 19,437.02, and the Cboe Small Companies was up 0.5% at 17,801.43. In European equities on Friday, the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.3%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was up 0.1%. ‘The FTSE 100 reached new record highs in early trading on Friday as investors shrugged off concerns about the US government shutdown,’ said AJ Bell analyst Russ Mould. ‘There is growing expectation that the shutdown in Washington might continue until mid-October, with the scheduled jobs report due out today unlikely to be released. How long investors remain relaxed about this state of affairs remains hard to predict, but one worry is that it makes it significantly harder for the Federal Reserve to make informed decisions around interest rates.’ In UK economic data, growth in the UK service sector eased to a five-month low in September, as increases in output and new orders slowed, survey results from S&P Global showed. The S&P Global UK services purchasing managers’ business activity index fell to 50.8 points in September from 54.2 in August, and missed the flash reading of 51.9 released late last month. The reading remained above the neutral 50-point mark separating growth from contraction but indicated only a modest rise in activity. S&P Global said UK service providers suffered from sluggish demand conditions, with weak sales pipelines and pressure on margins from rising staff costs. The UK composite PMI also fell to 50.1 points in September from 53.5 in August. The index dropped to its lowest level for five months, and underperformed a flash reading of 51.0. The eurozone private sector saw its fastest growth in almost a year-and-a-half in September, as a service sector expansion picked up pace. The Hamburg Commercial Bank composite purchasing managers’ index edged up to 51.2 points in September from 51.0 in August. The latest PMI score, which climbed further above the 50-point neutral mark, represented the loftiest reading in 16 months. Eurozone producer prices fell at a faster pace than expected in August, numbers on Friday showed, amid a fall in energy prices. According to Eurostat, producer prices fell 0.6% on-year in August, after a 0.2% rise in July. A lesser decline to 0.4% was the market expectation, according to consensus cited by FXStreet. Back in London, consumer staples company Princes Group said it intends to float on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange. The Liverpool, England-based firm is positioning itself as an ‘international platform’ in the UK and European food and beverage market, and expects to be eligible for the FTSE UK indices immediately following admission. Princes reported £2.1 billion in pro forma revenue in 2024, and pro forma adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of £122.3 million. Pro revenue was GBP 964.2 million in the first half of 2025, the firm added. The planned trading launch comes as the company pursues a ‘tangible’ mergers & acquisitions pipeline, and ‘reflects long-term confidence in business,’ Princes said. Sterling was at $1.3454 at midday on Friday, up from $1.3415 at the London equities close on Thursday. The euro traded at $1.1736, up from $1.1697 late Thursday. Against the yen, the dollar was slightly lower at JP¥147.33 versus JP¥147.37. Stocks in New York were called to open higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite were called to open up 0.2%. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury narrowed to 4.09% on Friday from 4.11% on Thursday. The yield on the 30-year slimmed to 4.69% at midday from 4.70% on Thursday. In London, Bunzl led the FTSE 100 and gained 4.1%. Goldman Sachs raised the distribution and services company to a ’neutral’ rating, from ’sell, and increased its price target to 2,510p from 2,375p. At the other end of the index, Experian fell 0.7% after slumping 4.2% on Thursday. On Thursday, Fair Isaac, a software firm, announced a new programme which would give mortgage lenders the option to calculate and distribute FICO credit scores directly to customers. Citi analysts explained that as ‘things stand today, credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax, TransUnion) sell the data and the FICO score to a tri-merge (merging the three reports).’ ‘Our initial reaction is that this is negative for Experian and Equifax,’ Citi said. JD Wetherspoon fell the most on the FTSE 250 index, and was down 4.6% after it reported a rise in annual earnings, but noted that sales growth has eased in recent weeks and cost hikes ‘may have a bearing’ on its new financial year. The Watford-based pub firm currently expects a ‘reasonable outcome’ for the new year, however. Wetherspoon achieved a 10% pretax profit hike to £81.4 million in the year ended July 27, up from £73.9 million. Revenue improved 4.5% to £2.13 billion from £2.04 billion. ‘Holding the dividend flat suggests management are not feeling overly confident about the outlook with guidance for a ’reasonable outcome’ for the current financial year open to interpretation and unlikely to get pulses racing. Though Wetherspoon’s like-for-like sales for August tracked materially above those for the wider sector,’ noted AJ Bell analyst Russ Mould. Gold was higher at $3,866.50 an ounce at midday on Friday from $3,830.85 late Thursday. Brent oil was trading marginally lower at $64.41 a barrel from $64.42. Still to come on Friday’s economic calendar are composite PMI readings from the US and Canada. September’s US employment report will not be released on Friday due to the ongoing US government shutdown. Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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