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European stocks were lower at Friday midday, with shares in New York set to open in the red as a week mired by tech valuation worries draws to an end. The FTSE 100 index traded down 78.58 points, 0.8%, at 9,657.20. The FTSE 250 was down 109.06 points, 0.5%, at 21,795.97, and the AIM All-Share was down 3.03 points, 0.4%, at 750.10. The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.7% at 963.14, the Cboe UK 250 fell 0.4% at 18,857.16, and the Cboe Small Companies was up 0.1% at 17,911.48. In European equities on Friday, the CAC 40 in Paris was 0.6% lower and the DAX 40 in Frankfurt slumped 1.0%. ‘Yet again, the market is selling off on any ’bad’ news, and we could be in for more volatility in the coming weeks. We would point out that November is seasonally a strong month for stocks. The S&P 500 has reported an average monthly return of over 5% for November over the last 5 years. Likewise, the FTSE 100 also has a strong history of outperformance in November, and the average monthly return is more than 4%. The question now is, can seasonality outweigh valuation concerns and fears about the US economy to deliver more stock market gains this month,’ XTB analyst Kathleen Brooks commented. The FTSE 100 is down around 0.6% so far this week. In New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 were called down 0.3% on Friday, and the Nasdaq Composite down 0.5%. Scope Markets analyst Joshua Mahony commented: ‘The broader market has been led lower by a pullback in mega-cap tech, with semiconductors particularly under pressure yesterday. Reports that Michael Burry has built short positions in names like Nvidia and Palantir have added to discussions around stretched valuations and whether the tech rally may be nearing a cyclical peak.’ Sterling was at $1.3120 on Friday afternoon, up from $1.3106 at the London equities close on Thursday. The euro was up at $1.1559 from $1.1536. Against the yen, the dollar was lower at JP¥153.04 versus JP¥153.12. UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves has told the Office for Budget Responsibility that she is preparing to raise income tax later this month, The Times reported. The watchdog will inform the Treasury of its assessment of the impact of the measure on Monday, the penultimate round of forecasts before the budget, according to the newspaper. Reeves could use a 2p rise in income tax to help plug what the National Institute of Economic & Social Research said is a £50 billion black hole in the nation’s public finances and give herself a larger fiscal headroom. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury was at 4.09%, unchanged from late Thursday. The yield on the 30-year was at 4.69%, widened from 4.68%. ‘It has been a mixed week for the dollar, where early-week strength finally eased a little yesterday on indications of softer US jobs data. Yet with the US government shutdown ongoing, we are still in the dark about the true labour market picture,’ analysts at ING commented. Still to come on Friday is the University of Michigan consumer sentiment reading at 1500 GMT. Gold was higher at $3,995.91 an ounce early on Friday afternoon, from $3,977.52 late Thursday. Brent oil was trading higher at $63.61 a barrel from $63.25. In London, Rightmove and British Airways owner IAG were the worst large-cap performers, down 12% and 8.5%. Rightmove warned operating profit growth could slow as it announced plans to ramp up investment on artificial intelligence capabilities. The online property portal said between 2026 to 2028 it will accelerate investment in consumer innovation, AI-powered operations and research and development for new growth. This includes plans to transform the Rightmove app and AI-powered search capabilities, introduce AI interfaces to drive efficiency, and fast-track several opportunities for long-term revenue growth. In 2026, the incremental profit and loss investment will be around £12 million with a further £6 million capitalised. Rightmove introduced guidance for 2026 of revenue growth of 8% to 10% and underlying operating profit growth of 3% to 5%, reflecting the increased investment. IAG maintained its annual outlook, but shares slumped as the British Airways owner reported ‘softness’ in US travel and weaker prices in the European market. London-based IAG, which also owns Aer Lingus and Iberia, said pretax profit in the third quarter of 2025 fell 2.1% on-year to €1.87 billion from €1.91 billion. Revenue was flat at €9.33 billion. IAG said that overall, it had a ‘good performance’ in the third quarter, after a ‘record’ period a year prior. ‘As expected the North Atlantic market saw some softness in US point-of-sale economy leisure and unit prices across our airlines were lower in the European market due to a combination of high growth by British Airways and more competitive markets elsewhere. The South Atlantic and Asia Pacific markets were strong,’ it said. Passenger revenue per available seat kilometre fell 2.4% in the third quarter, with the sharpest decline coming in North America, where it slumped 7.1%. In Europe, it was down 6.0%. In the domestic grouping, which includes Spain and UK, it fell 4.0%. PRASK fell 3.3% in Africa, Middle East & South Asia, rose 0.6% in Latin America & Caribbean and shot up 5.6% in Asia Pacific. ITV jumped 13% as it confirmed it is in the early stages of talks to sell its Media & Entertainment arm to Comcast-owned Sky in a deal worth £1.6 billion. The London-based television broadcaster and content producer said there can be no certainty that a deal will be struck. ITV’s announcement, noting ‘recent press speculation’, follows a Financial Times report on Thursday which stated that Comcast was in talks to buy the unit. Back in April, the FT had reported that Paris-based Banijay Entertainment was considering making a takeover offer for all of ITV, or just the Studios arm. AJ Bell analyst Dan Coatsworth commented: ‘ITV has flourished with its production arm, churning out hit TV shows and dramas that have entertained millions of people around the world. Streaming platforms are screaming out for new content, and ITV Studios has been an important cog in the wheel. Many investors would prefer if ITV only consisted of the Studios arm, and the prospect of a separation has fired up the share price. ‘A standalone ITV Studios business would be an instant takeover target itself. Netflix is an obvious buyer as it could obtain a rich library of content at the click of a finger, and a hub from which to generate more programmes to feed its platform. Not having the media and entertainment bit to worry about would mean potential suitors wouldn‘t have to take on parts of the current business they don’t want.’ Record fell 5.1%. The specialist currency and asset manager said revenue fell to £19.2 million in the six months to the end of September from £21.1 million a year prior. Pretax profit declined to £4.5 million from £5.9 million. Assets under management increased to a new high of $110.3 billion but the firm said the outlook for the current year is highly dependent on the timing of closing certain projects. ‘But we are in the middle of an important transition to becoming a business with higher margins and long-term recurring revenues, which will deliver sustained growth and increased value,’ said Chief Executive Officer Jan Witte. Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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