- FTSE 100 ends the session 0.43 points lower at 10,831.09
- Nasdaq: Little change, up around 0.1% in early trading
- Not much direction from US markets at open
- The muted US open offered little fresh momentum
Close
The Footsie ended Friday virtually unchanged, after nibbling around the gain line most of the session. After its mid-week wobbles, the blue-chip benchmark has added around 38 points over the last five trading days.
2:45pm: Footsie continues downward journey
The FTSE 100 is at 10,817.98, down 13.54 points, or 0.13%, having surrendered ground as Wall Street opened.
That marks a softer tone for London after the index had been broadly steady around the 10,830 area earlier in the session.
The US open has provided little fresh direction. Futures had pointed to a mixed start, with Nasdaq-100 futures modestly higher while S&P 500 and Dow futures were around flat to slightly weaker.
The cash market opened on a mixed-to-weaker note: the Dow fell around 0.3%, the S&P 500 slipped 0.1–0.2%, while the Nasdaq was little changed, up around 0.1%.
The cautious opening comes after the stronger-than-expected August US jobs report, which has revived speculation about the Federal Reserve potentially raising interest rates later this month.
For the FTSE 100, the reaction is also being shaped by its very different sector mix. A marginal move in US technology shares has limited read-across for an index heavily exposed to banks, energy and miners.
Oil remains elevated, with Brent around $95 a barrel, while sterling is near $1.35 against the dollar.
The key question for the rest of the afternoon is whether Wall Street's subdued opening develops into a clearer direction.
For London, investors will also be watching oil, metals and UK bond yields, where recent pressure has been an important influence on domestic equities.
2:07pm: FTSE 100 slips
London’s blue-chip index has slipped back into negative territory, down 0.18% at 10,811.90, after briefly edging into positive territory earlier.
The retreat leaves the index 24.88 points below its earlier high as investors continue to digest the US jobs data
1:30pm: FTSE 100 edges up
London’s blue-chip index has turned positive, edging up 0.05% to 10,836.78, a gain of 5.26 points, as investors continue to digest the latest US jobs data.
The FTSE 100 has traded mostly flat and range-bound today.
The upward movement occurs as the market processes the freshly released US labor data, which has brought some immediate intraday volatility to the US Dollar and global commodities.
US non-farm payrolls rose by 162,000 in August 2026, compared with a long-term average monthly increase of 122,870 since 1939.
The series reached a record high gain of 4.631 million jobs in June 2020, while the record decline of 20.469 million jobs was recorded in April 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The US jobs report provides a monthly snapshot of employment trends outside the farming industry, offering a key measure of the economy’s labour-market health and a potential influence on Federal Reserve policy and financial markets.
Spot gold fell 2.14% to US$4,397.06 an ounce, down US$96.09. Citi, though, remains bullish on precious metals, viewing the recent pullback as a buying opportunity.
The bank has set a zero-to-three-month price target of US$4,800 an ounce and a six-to-12-month forecast of US$5,000, compared with spot gold at around US$4,500. Citi also expects silver to reach US$75 an ounce, while identifying US$4,366 and US$4,218 as key support levels for gold.
Brent crude was trading at US$91.26 a barrel, down 0.40% or US$0.37, as oil prices remain sensitive to shifting Middle East supply risks.
Citi and ANZ have raised their Brent forecasts as Middle East supply disruptions deepen. Citi expects Brent to average US$86 a barrel in the third quarter, while ANZ has lifted its short-term forecast to US$95. ANZ estimates the conflict could remove 2.3bn-2.4bn barrels of Persian Gulf supply this year.
Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey warned that weak productivity, ageing populations and higher defence spending are creating longer-term pressures on government debt and borrowing costs. UK gilt yields remain elevated, with long-dated yields recently reaching multi-decade highs.
Shares of BHP remain in focus after reports that China Baowu is considering a 15%-25% stake in BHP's Jimblebar iron ore mine.
BHP said it regularly considers options to create long-term shareholder value, but no agreement has been reached.
Computacenter PLC (LSE:CCC) (CCC) continues to be the top gainer of the hour, and highest-trending stock on the FTSE 100, gaining 3.72% to trade at 5,560p.
The technology group surged to the absolute top of the London index because of the AI boom tailwinds.
UBS has raised its price target for Computacenter, the IT services group, by 33% to 7,000p, maintaining a Buy rating.
The broker said the company’s growth drivers, including artificial intelligence spending, hyperscaler investment and a hardware refresh cycle, remained underappreciated.
UBS raised its 2026 pre-tax profit forecast by 1% to £350 million and its 2027 forecast by 16% to £423 million.
US stock futures were mixed on Friday, with Nasdaq 100 futures leading modest gains while S&P 500 futures were little changed and Dow futures edged lower ahead of the August jobs report.
Nasdaq 100 Futures (NQ=F): Up 0.39% to 29,640.00, a gain of 115.25 points. S&P 500 futures near 7,758 and Dow futures around 53,700, although prices are moving ahead of the opening bell.
12.00pm: Markets brace for pivotal US jobs report
The FTSE 100 held close to the flatline at midday as investors avoided making large commitments before the release of the closely watched US employment report.
London’s blue-chip index was down just one point at 10,830, having recovered from a decline of around 28 points shortly after the opening bell.
The FTSE 250 continued to outperform, gaining 0.2% to 24,552. The FTSE 350 and All-Share edged 0.02% higher, while the AIM All-Share added 0.03%.
The US employment report is scheduled for 1.30pm BST and could produce significant moves across equities, bonds, currencies and commodities.
A Reuters survey forecasts that non-farm payrolls increased by 56,000 during August, following an unexpected decline of 23,000 in July. Estimates range from a loss of 25,000 jobs to an increase of 121,000, illustrating the uncertainty surrounding the release.
The unemployment rate is expected to remain at 4.1%, while annual wage growth is forecast to slow from 3.2% to 3%. Private-sector figures released earlier this week showed companies added only 38,000 jobs during August.
US equity futures reflected the cautious mood. Dow futures slipped 0.1%, while S&P 500 futures were almost unchanged and Nasdaq 100 futures gained around 0.4% following Thursday’s technology-led rally.
Treasury markets were similarly subdued. The US two-year yield held near 4.34%, while the 10-year yield stood at approximately 4.76% and the 30-year yield hovered around 5.24%.
Markets currently assign about a 50% probability to a Federal Reserve interest-rate increase in September, down from more than 63% before Governor Christopher Waller indicated that he could support leaving rates unchanged if inflation continues to moderate.
Sterling was little changed at US$1.3533.
Brent crude declined 0.7% to US$94.86 a barrel, providing some relief from the energy-driven inflation concerns that contributed to this week’s global bond sell-off.
Spot gold traded at US$4,471.96 an ounce, holding close to its recent highs and standing roughly 1% above the US$4,430 area recorded during Thursday morning trading.
The firm bullion price supported London-listed precious-metals producers. Fresnillo gained 1.7% to 3,215p and Endeavour Mining advanced 1.3% to 4,794p, reversing their losses from earlier in the session.
Computacenter remained the strongest FTSE 100 performer, gaining 3% after UBS raised its price target from 5,250p to 7,000p. Vodafone rose 2.1% following a Goldman Sachs upgrade, while Kingfisher added 1.8%.
10.50 am: Computacenter leads Footsie after UBS target hike
Computacenter headed the FTSE 100 risers on Friday after UBS substantially increased its price target to reflect the technology group’s exposure to the artificial intelligence infrastructure boom.
Shares rose 2.8% to 5,520p after the broker reiterated its ‘buy’ recommendation and lifted its target price by a third, from 5,250p to 7,000p.
The advance also followed a strong technology rally on Wall Street, where the Nasdaq Composite gained 1.4% as Microsoft, Apple, Meta Platforms and Nvidia moved higher. Falling US Treasury yields helped support technology valuations.
UBS highlighted the opportunity created by growing investment in AI data centres, which require substantial spending on servers, cooling equipment, networking and other physical infrastructure.
Computacenter sources, builds and manages technology infrastructure for corporate, public-sector and hyperscale customers, giving it more direct exposure to AI-related capital spending than many of London’s software companies.
The broker’s reassessment follows a strong July trading update, when Computacenter forecast that first-half adjusted profit before tax would be approximately double the previous year’s £81.5 million.
The company reported stronger-than-expected demand from North American hyperscale customers and further AI-related projects in the UK. Its committed product-order backlog at the end of June was also well ahead of the £7.1 billion recorded at the close of 2025.
Computacenter is scheduled to publish its half-year results on September 8.
The rise helped the FTSE 100 recover most of its earlier decline. The index was almost unchanged at 10,828, while the FTSE 250 gained 0.2% to 24,546.
Vodafone rose 2.1% following its separate Goldman Sachs upgrade, while Kingfisher gained 1.7%. Fresnillo and Endeavour Mining moved higher as precious-metals shares recovered from their weaker start.
Experian remained the largest blue-chip faller, dropping 4.4%, followed by RELX and IG Group.
9.15am: Mid-caps prove resilient as FTSE 100 edges lower
The FTSE 100 remained slightly lower on Friday morning despite further relief in global bond markets, while mid-cap shares advanced against a broadly cautious backdrop.
London’s blue-chip index was down 12 points, or 0.1%, at 10,819, having been called around five points higher before the opening bell.
The FTSE 250 gained 69 points, or 0.3%, to 24,565. The FTSE 350 and All-Share slipped 0.1%, while the AIM All-Share was almost unchanged.
Domestic economic data provided a mildly supportive backdrop for mid-cap companies. The UK manufacturing purchasing managers’ index remained above the 50 mark separating expansion from contraction for a tenth consecutive month, registering 51.7 in August.
Although growth eased to a five-month low, business confidence reached its strongest level in six months and employment increased at the fastest pace in two years. Input-cost inflation also slowed to its weakest rate since February.
The data reinforced the impression of resilience among domestically exposed companies, although it could not be identified as the sole cause of the FTSE 250’s outperformance.
Global bond markets also found relief for a second session. The US 10-year Treasury yield retreated to around 4.76%, Germany’s equivalent Bund yield eased to approximately 3.36% and Japan’s 10-year yield fell to 2.9%.
Australia remained an exception, with its 10-year government bond yield holding close to a 15-year high at approximately 5.16%.
Investors nevertheless remained cautious before the US non-farm payrolls report, due at 1.30pm BST. The figures could determine whether the improvement in bond-market sentiment continues.
Computacenter led the FTSE 100 risers with a 3.4% advance, following Thursday’s technology-led rally on Wall Street. Mining shares also remained generally weaker as metals ps consolidated before the US employment figures, although the broadly similar moves across the sector suggested portfolio rotation rather than fresh company-specific news.
8.15am: Mining weakness outweighs technology gains
The FTSE 100 opened modestly lower on Friday as weakness across the major mining companies outweighed gains in selected technology-related stocks following Wall Street’s overnight rally.
London’s blue-chip index was down 21 points, or 0.2%, at 10,810.28, while the FTSE 250 resisted the decline with a 0.11% gain to 24,523.65.
The fall came despite a strong lead from Wall Street, where technology shares helped the Nasdaq Composite rise 1.4%. Microsoft gained 2.6%, Meta Platforms advanced 3% and Nvidia added 1.8%, while the S&P 500 and Dow Jones rose 1.06% and 1.18%, respectively. Wall Street close
That technology strength appeared to carry into selected London-listed companies. IT infrastructure and services group Computacenter led the FTSE 100 risers with a 2.7% gain, while Polar Capital Technology Trust advanced 0.86%.
The gains were not broad enough to lift the wider index. Glencore and Anglo American both fell 1.22%, while Fresnillo and Rio Tinto declined 1.2% apiece.
Experian was the largest blue-chip faller, retreating 2.21%. Coca-Cola HBC lost 1.71%, British American Tobacco fell 1.61% and Coca-Cola Europacific Partners declined 1.49%.
Among the other risers, Melrose Industries gained 1.51%, Vodafone added 1.35%, Informa rose 1.05% and Rentokil Initial advanced 1%.
The FTSE 350 and All-Share were both down 0.16%, while the AIM All-Share slipped 0.06%.
7.00 am: FTSE 100 called lower despite improved global sentiment
The FTSE 100 is expected to open modestly lower on Friday despite a technology-led rally on Wall Street and easing government bond yields.
IG’s out-of-hours market indicated a decline of approximately 10.5 points shortly before 7 am. The cautious call follows a strong Thursday session in London, when the FTSE 100 gained 0.7% to close at 10,831.52. IG FTSE 100 market
Metlen Energy & Metals, Informa and London Stock Exchange Group were among Thursday’s leading blue-chip risers, while Reckitt and Convatec weighed on the index.
Government bond markets provided a more supportive overnight backdrop after the sharp sell-off earlier in the week. The UK 10-year gilt yield eased to approximately 5.16% from 5.24% on Wednesday, while the 30-year yield declined to around 5.80% from 5.87%.
Wall Street rallied as lower Treasury yields reduced concerns about another imminent increase in US interest rates.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 624 points, or 1.18%, to 53,686.11. The S&P 500 rose 1.06% to 7,747.71 and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 1.4% to 26,584.06.
Technology stocks drove the recovery, with Microsoft gaining 2.6%, Meta Platforms rising 3% and Nvidia adding 1.8%. Tesla climbed 5.4%.
The US 10-year Treasury yield retreated to approximately 4.76% after Federal Reserve governor Christopher Waller indicated that he could support keeping rates unchanged if inflation continues to moderate. Wall Street close
Asian markets mostly followed Wall Street higher. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained around 2.1%, Japan’s Nikkei 225 added 0.6% and South Korea’s Kospi rose 0.9%, with technology shares among the strongest performers. Asian markets
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 finished virtually unchanged at 9,019.50, slipping just 0.6 points. The index reached an intraday high of 9,070.20 before giving back its gains and briefly falling below 9,000.
Gold traded near US$4,475 an ounce after its recent rebound, supported by the softer dollar and lower Treasury yields. Copper was little changed at approximately US$6.58 per pound, while iron ore stood near US$99.40 a tonne.
Oil prices remained elevated as the US-Iran conflict continued to threaten energy shipments through the Strait of Hormuz. Brent crude traded at approximately US$95.40 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate was near US$91.40. Commodity prices
Sterling strengthened to around $1.353 against the dollar. Bitcoin was trading near $81,000 after reaching an intraday high close to $82,000.
Attention will turn to the US nonfarm payrolls report later on Friday. The employment figures will provide an important test of expectations that the Federal Reserve could leave interest rates unchanged at its September meeting.
London’s opening direction will therefore balance the stronger global technology backdrop and easing bond yields against elevated oil prices and continuing geopolitical uncertainty.
