- FTSE 100 up 12 points to 9,539
- Dow opens strongly
- Bitcoin slides from $91K to below $84K
- GSK in US legal wrangle
4.53pm: FTSE edges higher at the close
The FTSE 100 added 12 points to finish Friday’s session at 9,539. But it was a losing week for the index, which was down about 158 points.
Over in the US, dovish Fed comments halted the week’s sell-off, IG senior technical analyst Axel Rudolph noted.
“This week's sharp sell-off in US stocks and cryptocurrencies briefly stalled as Fed December rate cut expectations increased from 41% to 73% after New York Fed President John Williams suggested the Fed may cut rates again soon,” Rudolph said.
“The decline resumed on renewed tech selling, though, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 on track for their third straight losing week, hitting over two-month lows. Meanwhile Bitcoin slid to a seven-month low, and came close to the $80,000 mark, before halting its descent."
2.44pm: Dow makes triple-digit gain
Wall Street began Friday on the front foot with the Dow leading the charge with a triple-digit gain. It opened 250-odd points to the good with demand for 'old economy' defensives red hot.
The tech-heavy Nasdaq, off around 3% this week so far, opened in a more subdued mood. As did the broader-based S&P 500.
Here in London, dealers were extracting splinters from their backsides gained from sitting on the fence as the blue-chip index traded two points in the green.
1.46pm: US stocks set to open in the green
US stocks moved higher before Friday’s opening bell, bolstered by fresh signals that the Federal Reserve may still cut rates in December, moving the FTSE 100 out of the red.
Nasdaq futures rose about 0.4%, S&P 500 futures gained 0.5%, and Dow Jones added 0.5%, pointing to a positive start after a challenging week for Wall Street.
The shift came after New York Fed President John Williams suggested the central bank could reduce rates again next month.
In prepared remarks for a speech in Santiago, Chile, Williams said: “I view monetary policy as being modestly restrictive, although somewhat less so than before our recent actions.
"Therefore, I still see room for a further adjustment in the near term to the target range for the federal funds rate to move the stance of policy closer to the range of neutral, thereby maintaining the balance between the achievement of our two goals.”
AI stocks, which had been bracing for another rough session, trimmed or erased premarket losses following the remarks with Nvidia and AMD both turning positive.
However, the S&P 500 is down 2.9% on the week, the Dow nearly 3%, and the Nasdaq 3.6%.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin extended its steep sell-off, underscoring lingering risk-off sentiment driven by concerns over the AI trade and geopolitics. Bitcoin dropped another 8.8% to around $83,660, hitting a multi-month low.
Ipek Ozkardeskaya, Swissquote senior analyst, said the week is closing with more uncertainty than it began, pointing to Nvidia’s failed attempt to shore up the market, expectations that the Fed still won’t cut in December, and rising Japanese bond yields that could spur repatriation flows from the roughly $3.4 trillion of overseas assets held by Japanese investors.
She noted that the “bubble talk is bubbling everywhere” as stretched valuations coincide with rising macro risks. While today’s prices aren’t yet near the extremes of the dot-com boom, the late-1970s gold frenzy, or Japan’s 1980s bubble, she warned that history suggests “bubbles tend to inflate well beyond what reason would suggest.”
“Remember: a financial bubble is not a bubble until it bursts,” Ozkardeskaya concluded.
10.58am: FTSE shows relative resilience
The FTSE's 0.4% decline is the best of a bad bunch for European equity indices after almost three hours of trading as investors reacted to soft UK economic data and continued weakness in global technology shares.
Across the Channel, the DAX is down 1.3%, the CAC 40 is 0.9% lower, while Spain's IBEX 35 and Italy's MIB have dropped 1.6% and 1.15%.
This is after UK retail sales slumped by 1.1% in October, the sharpest monthly decline since May, and the preliminary services PMI also weakened.
Joshua Mahony, market analyst at Scope Markets, said: “This is a release consistent with a 0% November GDP figure, highlighting the impact being felt by pre-budget chatter that has essentially seen the UK economy grind to a halt.”
Clive Black, retail analyst at Shore Capital, calls the run-up to the 2025 UK Budget “horrid” and criticised tax policy uncertainty for undermining consumer sentiment, saying there "is a lot riding" on a busy December for the UK retail sector "if New Year trading updates are not to be another damning indictment of Reeves et al incompetence".
With global equity sentiment rocking due to renewed doubts over the outlook for AI and interest rates, Dan Coatsworth at AJ Bell, says: "There is a clear shift in risk appetite evident today, with tech stocks weaker and defensive-style companies such as utilities and consumer healthcare product providers in vogue."
The FTSE's large weighting of defensive names has helped limit losses.
Shares in giant Unilever are also rising amid reports it may sell food brands including Marmite.
10.26am: Ukraine developments hit defence stocks
Babcock is down despite strong results, Ukraine’s President Zelenskiy said he has agreed to work on a peace plan that was drafted by the US after contacts with Russia.
He says he expects to speak with Donald Trump in the coming days.
"The reported details of the proposals would require major concessions by Ukraine on territorial and military issues, and there was little in Zelenskiy’s comments to suggest these were acceptable to Kyiv," said Deutsche Bank.
"Still, with the news of talks coming just as US sanctions on Russia’s two oil largest companies are due to take effect today, oil markets saw some relief on risks to Russian oil supply. WTI crude is trading -1.20% lower this morning at $58.30/bbl, following at -0.50% decline yesterday."
Bloomberg reported that Keir Starmer will join Zelenskyy, Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz for an "urgent call" on the US-proposed peace plan.
As for Babcock, analyst David Farrell at Jefferies says the H1 results were strong, with EBITA 7% above consensus and broad-based margin gains. Nuclear stood out, with confidence in outlook and potential order book boosts ahead.
"Mgmt is upbeat about future opportunities, both UK and International, and while there is no change to FY26F expectations, the company is, in our view, tracking better than hoped," he wrote, saying he expected the shares to outperform.
10.01am: London movers
Some movers.
On the FTSE 350 the biggest faller is Ithaca Energy PLC (LSE:ITH), after Goldman Sachs downgraded the stock to a 'sell' on valuation concerns.
Tullow Oil PLC (LSE:TLW), no longer in the 350, is down 30% after warning that production will be at the lower end of its forecast as it races to refinance debt.
Analyst at Ashley Kelty at Panmure Liberum says: "No mention of the current level of net debt, but the guidance for year -end 2025 has now risen to $1.2 billion (from prior $1.1 billion)."
He thinks "a debt for equity swap may be required to keep the company going which would probably wipe out existing equity holders".
"The company is in dire straits with a declining asset base and a mountain of debt that needs to be refinanced imminently... 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."
ASOS PLC (LSE:ASC) fell 10% early doors but has seen some bargain hunters prop that up, as analyst Katie Cousins at Shore Capital argued the latest numbers show a retailer that is finally putting profit back at the centre of its model.
Her take is that the full-year figures are “higher profits on lower sales”, a deliberate strategy rather than an accident as ASOS prunes low-value, discount-driven sales and nudges shoppers towards full-price items.
Cousins points to meaningful progress behind the scenes: faster own-brand production through its Test & React model, supply-chain savings of about 20%, and early signs that customer initiatives (including its ASOS World loyalty scheme) are getting traction.
9.42am: PMI shows UK economic growth stalled
The preliminary 'flash' readings for the UK's services and manufacturing sectors are out.
The services PMI fell to 50.5 from 52.3, worse than the 52.0 expected, while the manufacturing PMI improved to 50.2 from 49.7, which was better than the 49.2 forecast.
Putting them together, the composite PMI dropped to 50.5 from 52.2, below the 51.8 consensus estimate.
"November’s flash PMI surveys brought disappointing news on the UK economy," says Chris Williamson, chief business economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence, which carries out the PMI surveys.
"Economic growth has stalled, job losses have accelerated, and business confidence has deteriorated.
"The PMI is broadly consistent with no change in GDP in November and a meagre 0.1% quarterly pace of growth so far in the fourth quarter.
"Some of this malaise has been blamed on paused spending decisions ahead of the Autumn Budget, but there’s a real chance this pause may turn into a downturn. The drop in confidence about the year ahead reflects growing concerns that business conditions will remain tough in the coming months, largely linked to speculation that further demand-dampening measures will be introduced in the Budget."
There was a sliver of good news, with a "marked" drop in selling price inflation to the lowest for nearly five years.
8.56am: Miners and tech funds lead fallers
The FTSE opened lower but has already pared a portion of losses now.
Top fallers include Polar Capital Tech Trust and Scottish Mortgage, both with lots of exposure to Nasdaq giants, down 4.3% and 2.3%.
Miner Antofagasta and Glencore are down 3.9% and 2.6%, while precious metals specialists Fresnillo and Endeavour have dropped 3.3% and 2.9%.
Defence and aerospace plays are in the red again, with Rolls-Royce, Melrose Industries, BAE and Babcock have sunk 4%, 2% and 1.7%. This is as Keir Starmer will be joining other European leaders in a call to respond to the Ukraine peace deal proposed by Russia and the US.
Retailers, banks and other financials are also among the bigger fallers.
Market analyst Kathleen Brooks at XTB says last night saw "a categorical reversal in sentiment, stocks plunged, intra-day volatility surged to its highest level since April, and Nvidia’s share price shed 3%.
"Stocks are now on track to register their worst week since President Trump’s tariff plan ripped through markets back in April."
The VIX volatility index, or fear gauge, has surged, Brooks mentions, also saying that technical signals are also worth watching to see where stocks go next, with the S&P 500 falling below its 50-day moving average earlier this week, "which suggests that near term momentum has shifted to the downside" and is now testing the 100-day simple moving average where a drop below this "could signify a deeper move, that could, ironically, help force the Fed’s hand to cut rates next month".
Brooks thinks the drivers for the sell-off has "no single driver", calling attention to concerns that the US economy will slow, the Fed won’t cut rates, and an "existential crisis" about lofty valuations for AI stocks.
"No corner of the market has been spared," she adds, with the MSCI world index on track to post a 3% loss for this week, on par with the 3.4% decline for the Nasdaq.
As well as the retail sales from ONS and consumer confidence from GfK, government borrowing also came in higher than expected at $17.4 billion, versus $15 billion expected.
It was the third-largest borrowing for the month of October on record and will add fuel to rumours that the Treasury will have to boost gilt issuance this year to keep up with this government’s spending demands.
The pound is up 0.2% versus the dollar, but still below $1.31.
8:15am: Proactive headlines
ASOS PLC (LSE:ASC) guided for a return to growth next year as cost controls lifted margins despite declining sales, with GMV expected to outperform revenue and profitability improving. Read more
GSK PLC's (LSE:GSK, NYSE:GSK) Tesaro unit has sued AnaptysBio in Delaware seeking to confirm its rights to cancer drug Jemperli after disputes over alleged licence-agreement breaches. Read more
Babcock International PLC (LSE:BAB) reaffirmed its full-year targets after reporting higher first-half revenue, profit and cash generation, supported by broad-based strength across its divisions. Read more
Tullow Oil PLC (LSE:TLW) reported production in line with expectations and said its priority is long-term financial stability as it works to manage field decline and progress refinancing. Read more
Hammerson PLC (LSE:HMSO) raised guidance and took full ownership of Reading’s Oracle centre, citing strong leasing, rising occupancy and improved rental income. Read more
ITM Power PLC (AIM:ITM) was selected to supply electrolysers for two German grid-balancing hydrogen projects totalling 710 MW, reinforcing its position in large-scale energy infrastructure. Read more
OpenAI partnered with Foxconn to co-design and build US data-centre hardware as part of its multi-trillion-dollar AI infrastructure expansion. Read more
UK Oil & Gas PLC (AIM:UKOG) raised £0.52 million to advance hydrogen-related studies and collaborations tied to its South Dorset Storage project and future government support applications. Read more
8.12am: FTSE opens lower
The FTSE 100 has dropped 78 points to 9,449.35 at the open, with the FTSE 250 falling 153 to 21,231.27.
Adding to the market gloom, there was also GfK’s consumer confidence index out overnight, showing a decline to -19 in November, from -17 in October. This was below the consensus forecast of -18.
UK retail sales volumes from the Office for National Statistics also showed a sharp decline in October, following four consecutive rises.
7.54am: GSK steps up US dispute
GSK PLC (LSE:GSK, NYSE:GSK) has stepped up a dispute over rights to its fast-growing cancer drug Jemperli in the US courts.
US subsidiary Tesaro has sued AnaptysBio in a Delaware court to confirm that alleged breaches of their 2014 licence deal allow it to end the current contract.
Tesaro wants to keep a perpetual licence to the medicine and cut by half the royalty and milestone payments it owes AnaptysBio.
San Diego-based AnaptysBio accused Tesaro of failing to meet some obligations under the agreement and that it plans to revoke Tesaro’s licence to develop and sell Jemperli, also known as dostarlimab.
7.42am: Bitcoin topples
Bitcoin is taking a hit too, crashing 9.2% over the past 24 hours.
The number-one cryptocurrency fell from just over $91k before US markets opened yesterday to around $86k after the close.
And this morning it has taken another lurch lower, tumbling to below $83.9k.
Analysts suggest a crypto crash may also force investors to liquidate other positions, such as their tech bets.
Also this hit listed BTC holders, including Strategy Inc (formerly Microstrategy), which fell 5% overnight, and MARA Holdings (formerly Marathon Digital), which dropped 7.75%.
London's pocket of crypto treasury companies are also likely to suffer.
7.29am: Bubble worries
"Yesterday was something," says Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote, who was "happily sitting and watching Nvidia save the market" before "all of a sudden...the mood started souring, and things went downhill from there."
After jump-starting the day with a 2% gain at the open, the Nasdaq toppled over 4.5% from its intraday high.
"Most of the news will say that AI spending and credit worries resurfaced – which is true," she says, with Oracle down 6.6% after becoming the latest member of OpenAI’s mega-deal circle but also becoming "the bellwether of AI credit risk, partly because it's spending billions financed by debt, and partly because it has weaker credit grades compared with Microsoft or Google".
Oracle's five-year credit default swaps (CDSs) spiked past 110 basis points – the highest in three years for these instruments that investors buy to hedge against the risk of default by a company or government.
"The higher the perceived risk of default, the higher the demand from investors, and the higher the price. I don’t want to bring this back, but Credit Suisse’s fall began in the CDS market," Ozkardeskaya reminds.
She also suggests market sentiment turned "from euphoria to drama" after some Wall Street comments on Nvidia’s own books started circulating yesterday, "suggesting unease around two pressure points: swelling inventories and unusual patterns in deferred revenue".
Nvidia has built up large stockpiles of chips, partly because demand is shifting toward its next-generation Blackwell platform, and partly because US export controls have left billions’ worth of H20 chips "potentially unsellable", which would force a multi-billion-dollar write-down.
With Nvidia also taking hefty pre-payments from customers and then recognising those payments as revenue "too quickly", before chips are delivered, this "is a practice that can flatter near-term results but could leave a gap if future orders slow", but also could be a wise move to smooth out the potential $500 billion avalanche of revenue it expects from Blackwell chip sales this year and next.
"When you dig deep enough, you’re sure to find dirt," says Ozkardeskaya. "And people only start digging when they begin to feel uncomfortable – and that level of discomfort is rising.
"Market opinion is becoming increasingly polarised between those who scream that this is a bubble and those who are willing to keep running. I believe this dynamic will lead to heightened volatility and big moves. It will be fun."
She points to some good news this morning, that Japanese yields are down from peak levels.
But after the 10-year JGB surpassed a critical level it could trigger Japanese repatriation back home, with roughly $3.4 trillion in overseas assets held by Japanese investors – from US Treasuries to tech and elsewhere – "that could, in theory, be pulled back home if domestic yields climb further. So the bubble talk is bubbling everywhere."
7.15am: FTSE 100 tipped for steep fall
The FTSE 100 has been tipped for a steep fall to end the week, resuming the sell-off seen earlier in the week after a wild session on Wall Street overnight, which saw bullish early gains flip to sizeable losses.
A fall of 86 points is the call for the London benchmark on the futures market, wiping out the 20.2 points gained the day before that closed at 9,527.65.
US stocks, which had bolted out of the gates on the back of AI bellwether Nvidia's results and a solid jobs report, then seemed to inexplicably reverse and dive into the red.
The Nasdaq fell 2.15%, the S&P 500 dropped 1.6% and the Dow Jones lost 0.8%, with Nvidia leading the retreat to finish down 3%.
"It was by far the wildest session on Wall Street since the post-Liberation Day sell-off that almost caused a meltdown in global markets," said market analyst Kyle Rodda at Capital.com.
He suggested the best explanation for the sell-off, despite Nvidia’s stellar results, was "probably related to monetary policy uncertainty", as although the US jobs report lifted the chances of a December Fed cut, the implied odds are still against a move.
Asian markets are firmly in the red this morning, with the Nikkei, Hang Seng and Shanghai Composite all down more than 2%.