London's FTSE 100 opened sharply lower though it was hard to be certain due to a massive outage across Microsoft platforms that seemingly has knocked out the London Stock Exchange’s site.
According to Google Finance, the Footsie was down 52 at 8,152 in early trades.
The problem caused chaos across the globe, with banks and IT systems crippled and planes grounded. Microsoft announced on its social media accounts that it was "investigating an issue impacting users' ability to access various Microsoft 365 apps and services".
Ryanair warned of a “third party IT issue” affecting “all airlines operating across the network”, while Gatwick Airport has warned of cancellations.
Hargreaves Lansdown did get its numbers out, with the wealth platform noting stronger share-dealing volumes and record assets under management of £155.3 billion. Hargreaves is facing a £5.3 billion takeover from private equity group CVC.
UK Retail sales for June meanwhile declined 1.2% month over month, a threefold undershoot against the 0.4% slip expected by analysts. It follows a 2.9% rise in May.