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London’s blue chip index closed out Friday in the red, though recovered some its earlier losses, as mining stocks weighed heavy and gold retreated from record highs. The FTSE 100 index closed down 81.52 points, 0.9%, at 9,354.57. It had earlier traded as low as 9,276.91. The FTSE 250 ended 208.40 points lower, 1.0%, at 21,782.96 while the AIM All-Share shed 17.24 points, 2.2%, to 772.65. For the week, the FTSE 100 was down 0.8%, the FTSE 250 was 0.1% lower, and the AIM-All Share declined 1.7%. The Cboe UK 100 ended down 0.9% at 935.14, the Cboe UK 250 closed 1.2% lower at 18,996.60 while the Cboe Small Companies fell 1.2% at 17,508.04. Wall Street took a tumble on Thursday and shares of regional banks took a hit after Zions Bancorp and Western Alliance said they had been victims of fraud on loans to funds that invest in distressed commercial mortgages. Zions Bancorp said it would take a $50 million charge related to a loan issued by its California Bank & Trust division, while Western Alliance said it had begun legal proceedings over a bad loan. ‘While everyone has been watching the tech sector for signs of a bubble, it’s the banking sector that’s the root cause of a minor market sell-off today,’ said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell. Mould noted ‘pockets’ of the US banking sector including regional banks have given the market cause for concern. ‘This includes Zions flagging an unexpected loss on two loans and Western Alliance alleging a borrower had committed fraud,’ he added. But he said the pullback in UK-listed banks will be ‘sentiment-driven.’ ‘Investors have been spooked and moved to trim positions in the sector, possibly opting to have lower exposure in case a crisis is brewing. There is no evidence of any issues with the London-listed core banking names, but investors often have a knee-jerk reaction when problems appear anywhere in the sector,’ he added. Barclays shed 5.7%, while Standard Chartered fell 3.5% and HSBC 2.5%. Lloyds Banking Group and NatWest ended down 2.4% and 2.9% respectively. ICG, which has exposure private credit and asset backed finance fell 5.5%. Stocks in New York were lower at the time of the London close. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.1%, the S&P 500 was 0.3% lower, while the Nasdaq Composite declined 0.6%. Shares in Zions rallied 2.5% while Western Alliance firmed 0.9% at the time of the London equity market close, although both were well below opening highs. Gold miners were also prominent fallers in London as the price of the yellow metal retreated from record highs. Gold traded at $4,242.28 an ounce on Friday, down from $4,270.73 on Thursday. The latest volatility saw Fresnillo fall 11% and Endeavour Mining drop 5.5%. The pound was quoted lower at $1.3398 at the time of the London equity market close on Friday, compared to $1.3429 on Thursday. The euro stood at $1.1664, lower compared to $1.1671. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JP¥150.31, lower compared to JP¥150.83. The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was quoted at 4.00%, trimmed from 4.03% on Thursday. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury stood at 4.60%, narrowed from 4.62% on Thursday. In European equities on Friday, the CAC 40 in Paris closed ended 0.2% lower, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt slid 1.7%. Bucking the weaker trend in London, Pearson rose 2.3% as it said it remains on track to meet 2025 market expectations after reporting a pick-up in sales growth during the third quarter, driven by growth of its Virtual Learning segment. The London-based educational materials publisher said underlying group sales rose 4% year-on-year in the third quarter, taking growth for the first nine months of 2025 to 2%. Pearson said it expects stronger sales growth in the fourth quarter due to ‘known business unit dynamics’. Chief Executive Omar Abbosh said Pearson is ‘well positioned for the opportunities that lie ahead.’ Smiths Group climbed 1.7% after announcing the sale of Smiths Interconnect to Molex Electronic Technologies Holdings, part of Wichita, Kansas-based Koch Industries, at an enterprise value of £1.3 billion. The London-based engineering group said the sale price for its electronic connectors business represents 15.1 times headline earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of £86.1 million for financial year 2025, which ended July 31. Analysts at Jefferies said it is a ‘good price’ and ‘marks a significant milestone in the group’s strategy of unlocking value across its portfolio of businesses.’ Despite Friday’s falls Morgan Stanley said it is positive on UK equities from a European equity strategy perspective. ‘Our call is less about UK macro, and more UK equities’ rising level of attractive, bottom-up drivers, growing interest from investors from relatively low levels this year, & the added benefit of the market’s low beta,’ the bank said. Morgan Stanley said investor interest in the UK is on the rise from relatively low levels, while even some of the ‘more challenged’ portions of the UK equities market (discretionary, rate sensitive) are beginning to face relief as expectations start to pick-up that the November 26 budget will be ‘less bad than feared’ for equities and rates markets. ‘UK equities are low beta, underowned, and awash with idiosyncratic drivers,’ the broker added. Brent oil traded at $60.03 a barrel, down from $61.70 late Thursday. The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Pearson, up 25.50 pence at 1,119.50p, Haleon, up 6.70p at 351.80p, Reckitt Benckiser, up 106.00p at 5,910.00p, Coca-Cola HBC, up 62.00p at 3,556.00p and Smiths Group, up 40.00p at 2,406.00p. The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Fresnillo, down 276.00p at 2,352.00p, Barclays, down 21.45p at 357.80p, ICG, down 113.00p at 1,929.00p, Endeavour Mining, down 194.00p at 3,356.00p, and Antofagasta, down 124.00p at 2,663.00p. Monday’s global economic diary sees retail sales and industrial production in China. Later in the week inflation reports are due in the US, UK, Japan and Canada. Next week’s UK corporate calendar sees third quarter results from lenders Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group and NatWest plus consumer goods groups Unilever and Reckitt Benckiser. Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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