- FTSE 100 closes 25 points lower at 10,757
- Quiet start expected on Wall Street
- Aviva figures applauded
- Miners continue their slump
4.50pm: London ends in the red
That's a wrap, folks. The FTSE 100 ended a lacklustre day down 22.56 points at 10,750.11, leaving it 1.4% lower for the week. The miners were the main drag, with Antofagasta leading the losers, a hangover from Thursday's production downgrade.
3.40pm: Michael Page shares boosted
Shares in Michael Page, the FTSE 250 recruitment group, were up 6% in afternoon trading.
The boost came from UBS, which upgraded to 'buy' from 'neutral', arguing the shares have been unfairly left behind by a wider sector rally.
The bank lifted its price target to 235p from 180p, implying upside of around 20% from the 195p at which the stock closed on 13 August.
Analysts Abi Bell, Rory McKenzie and Nicole Manion said Michael Page was entering the same phase of earnings stabilisation already seen across the staffing industry.
The stock has climbed roughly 43% from its April lows but remains down about 14% so far this year, against an average 17% gain for peers.
UBS said this underperformance was undeserved after it examined the group's cost base and the latest market data.
Michael Page's gross profit decline eased to just 0.2% year on year at constant currency in the second quarter, with about half of its markets now growing.
The bank expects a return to positive gross profit growth from the third quarter, helped by stronger areas such as executive search, US construction and Asia.
Management is targeting more than £40 million of annual cost savings from this year, which UBS believes will become increasingly visible as trading volumes stabilise.
The bank raised its earnings per share forecasts by up to 13% across 2026 to 2028, and now considers current market profit expectations achievable for the first time in four years.
Michael Page trades on 0.8 times enterprise value to gross profit, below its usual through-cycle range of 1.2 to 2.5 times.
In an upside scenario, driven by a full recovery in productivity, UBS sees the shares reaching 500p, or about 158% above current levels.
Its downside case, reflecting weaker fees and competition from digital hiring channels, points to 100p.
2.43pm: Wall Street's split direction
The FTSE 100 was still trading just below the gain line as Wall Street opened in mixed fashion on Friday.
The S&P 500 was hovering just above the record high it set the previous session, buoyed by cooler inflation data and fading fears of a Federal Reserve rate hike, while the Nasdaq Composite also edged higher and the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped fractionally.
Both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq were on course for weekly gains, with energy and technology stocks leading the advance as the artificial intelligence trade stayed in focus.
The steadier US open offered little fresh impetus for London, where the blue-chip index continued to hover around break-even.
Fresh data showed US retail sales fell last month by the most in more than a year.
12.23pm: Footsie claws back off session low but stays in the red
London's blue-chip index treads water as mining weakness offsets relief from cooler US inflation
The FTSE 100 was scratching around the flatline on Friday, clawing its way off the day's lows but still struggling to shake off a run of losses.
London's blue-chip index was last down around 5 points at 10,767, having earlier dipped as far as 10,724 before steadying.
That leaves the Footsie on track for a fifth straight session in the red, a rare sour patch in an otherwise buoyant summer for equities.
Miners did much of the damage, with Antofagasta sliding after trimming its copper production guidance.
Glencore, Fresnillo and Endeavour Mining were also on the back foot as industrial metal prices softened.
Elsewhere, the mood was steadier, helped by a friendlier backdrop across the Atlantic.
US stocks powered to fresh records overnight after cooler-than-expected inflation figures eased worries about further Federal Reserve interest rate rises.
That should, in theory, offer some support to risk appetite in London, though geopolitical jitters around the Middle East kept a lid on any real enthusiasm.
Attention now turns to next week's run of US retail earnings, with Target and Walmart on deck before Nvidia takes the spotlight later in the month.
9.50am: Aviva gets City thumbs up
Aviva (up 0.7%) has drawn positive responses from brokers after its first-half results beat expectations, with stronger-than-forecast general insurance earnings and progress integrating Direct Line helping offset softer performance in parts of its life business.
Aviva reported group operating profit of £1.326 billion for the first half of 2026, up 24% from £1.068 billion a year earlier, while operating earnings per share increased 10% to 31.8p. Cash remittances rose 47% to £1.498 billion and the interim dividend was lifted 7% to 14.0p.
Peel Hunt, which reiterated a 'buy' rating and 800p target price, said the operating result was better than expected because of a strong property and casualty contribution. Non-life operating profit of £905 million was 16% ahead of its forecast, while life operating profit of £582 million missed its estimate by 9%.
8.30am: Index slips into red as miners drag
The FTSE 100 is down 9 points, held back by another leg lower in the mining sector.
Antofagasta is the worst of it, off 3.5% at 3,625p, with Glencore down 2.2% at 548.3p and Fresnillo 2.1% lower at 2,810.5p.
Anglo American and Endeavour Mining are both around 2% weaker.
That takes the sector's decline to roughly 8% since Wednesday lunchtime, which sounds dramatic until you look at what came before it.
The world's 50 biggest listed miners added $206 billion of market value in the first seven sessions of August, $108 billion of that from gold and silver names alone.
Gold is now heading for a weekly loss, down 0.5% at $4,326.75 an ounce, having twice been rebuffed at $4,500.
Copper has come off the boil too, dipping below $6.55 a pound as Chinese buyers baulk at the price.
Profit-taking, then, rather than anything more sinister.
Ahead of the open
London's blue chips are tipped to open around 27 points higher on Friday, riding a wave of overnight optimism.
The tone was set on Wall Street, where the S&P 500 closed at a record and the Nasdaq hit a two-month high.
The trigger was July's producer price index, a gauge of factory-gate inflation, which slowed sharply and came in below forecasts.
That followed Thursday's soft consumer price reading and a jobs report showing 23,000 positions were lost in July.
Traders now see a below-40% chance of a September rate rise from the Federal Reserve, down from 50% last week.
Asia took the hint, with Seoul climbing more than 1% as chipmakers SK hynix and Samsung extended their recovery.
Tokyo also advanced, with SoftBank, the technology investment group, surging 4%. Hong Kong and Sydney were the exceptions, both slipping.
Crude extended Thursday's 2% fall as investors clung to hopes of a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Not everyone is convinced the case for tightening is dead. Cleveland Fed president Beth Hammack said on Thursday that rates need to rise now, with inflation above 3% and well clear of the 2% target.
