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London stocks opened lower on Friday as global markets remained under pressure following a sharp sell-off on Wall Street, with a bleak UK retail sales reading and higher-than-expected government borrowing before next week’s budget compounding the misery. The FTSE 100 index fell 56.65 points, 0.6%, to 9,471.00. The FTSE 250 was down 125.19 points, 0.6%, at 21,259.16, and the AIM All-Share was 6.22 points lower, 0.8%, at 734.98. The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.8% at 945.81, the Cboe UK 250 was 0.4% lower at 18,403.90, and the Cboe Small Companies was down 0.6% at 17,416.15. The CAC 40 in Paris fell 0.8%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt slumped 1.1%. On Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended down 0.8%, the S&P 500 shed 1.6% and the Nasdaq Composite slumped 2.2%. In Tokyo on Friday, the Nikkei 225 ended down 2.4%. In China, the Shanghai Composite shed 2.5%, and the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong slumped 2.4%. Sydney’s S&P/ASX 200 ended down 1.6%. ‘Indeed it’s been a truly remarkable 24 hours, with a sequence of moves that were almost impossible to predict,’ analysts at Deutsche Bank commented. ‘After the world’s largest company reported spectacular results, the stock was up around +5% by 3 pm London time. It closed down -3.15%. The broader market followed a similar pattern: the S&P 500 initially climbed +1.93%, only to fade and close down -1.56% as doubts about AI valuations crept back in. That marked the biggest intra-day swing for the S&P since the six days of extreme market turmoil that followed the Liberation Day tariffs in early April. Adding to the negative backdrop for crypto were lingering questions over the crypto market structure bill that’s being worked on in Congress.’ The analysts continued: ‘It’s hard to pin the blame for the global sell-off on the delayed September payrolls reportunless everyone was late back from an early Christmas lunchsince risk assets initially took the data well. That said, the release did offer enough moving parts that you could construct completely different narratives depending on which line you chose to focus on.’ According to figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics the US labour market added more jobs than expected in September, with total nonfarm payroll employment increasing by 119,000 in September, topping the FXStreet cited forecast of 50,000. But figures for July and August were revised downwards by a combined 33,000, while the unemployment rate edged up unexpectedly to 4.4% in September, from 4.3% in August. It had been expected to remain at 4.3%. The jobs market report for September is the last nonfarm payrolls data the Federal Reserve will be able to mull over before its final decision of the year on December 10. The yield on the 10-year US Treasury narrowed to 4.08% on Friday from 4.10% at the time of the London equities close on Thursday. The 30-year yield was unmoved at 4.72%. The pound was unchanged at $1.3091. The euro rose to $1.1547 from $1.1534. Against the yen, the buck fell to JP¥156.70 from JP¥157.46. UK public sector borrowing was higher than expected last month, numbers on Friday showed, ahead of next week’s government budget. The Office for National Statistics said net borrowing amounted to £17.43 billion in October, easing from £19.89 billion in September, but above an FXStreet cited forecast of £15.2 billion. On-year, it fell from £19.28 billion, however, the latest figure was the third-highest ever for an October since monthly records began in 1993. It was also topped by the October 2020 borrowing figure. ‘Borrowing in the financial year to October 2025 was £116.8 billion; this was £9.0 billion (or 8.4%) more than in the same seven-month period of 2024 and the second-highest April to October borrowing (not adjusted for inflation) on record, after that of 2020,’ the ONS said. Separate data showed UK retail was weaker than expected last month. Retail sales fell 1.1% in October from September, the ONS said. They had been expected to tread water, according to consensus cited by FXStreet. They had risen 0.7% in September. XTB analyst Kathleen Brooks commented: ‘Today’s data highlights the doom loop for the UK: the government continues to spend with aplomb in largely unproductive areas of the economy, as the consumer retreats in the face of a tax grab budget that has killed both consumer and business confidence.’ Gold fell to $4,046.47 an ounce early Friday, from $4,058.47 late Thursday afternoon. Brent fell to $62.56 a barrel from $63.44. In London, Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust, which is invested in a who’s who of US tech stocks, fell 2.5% in early trade. Stocks with defensive properties, such as water utilities, were among the better performers. Severn Trent added 1.4%, while United Utilities climbed 0.9%. Ithaca Energy slumped 9.2%, the worst FTSE 250 performer. Goldman Sachs cut the oil and gas producer to ’sell’. Elsewhere, Tullow Oil plunged 25%. The firm said it is engaging with bondholders, commodity traders and ‘other private sources’ in relation to a ‘refinancing of its capital structure’. ‘However given the risks associated with business performance, wider market conditions and the upcoming May 2026 bond maturity, Tullow is progressing alternative options with certain of its creditors, including an amend and extend exercise and other forms of liability management transactions,’ Tullow adds. Tullow expects 2025 production at the lower end of a 40,000 to 45,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day range. For 2026, its forecast range is lower at 36,000 to 42,000 boepd. Panmure Liberum analysts commented: ‘The company is in dire straits with a declining asset base and a mountain of debt that needs to be refinanced imminently. With little scope to sell any more assets to raise funds, the company has to cross its fingers and hope that lenders are open to restructuring the debt. We see little chance of a sale to a white knight due to the debt it would make more sense to wait until the company was bust and buy the assets from the administrators. There is no investment case to speak of at present, and little rationale for investors not to head for the exit.’ Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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