Stocks in London closed mixed on Friday, with weak mining and pharmaceutical stocks dragging the blue-chip FTSE 100 lower, but mid-caps posting modest gains.
The FTSE 100 index closed down 22.56 points, 0.2%, at 10,750.11. The FTSE 250 ended up 29.71 points, 0.1%, at 24,867.42, while the AIM All-Share closed up slightly at 800.92.
For the week, the FTSE 100 was down 1.4%, the FTSE 250 was up 0.1%, and the AIM All-Share climbed 0.3%.
Analysts question summer lull
For the FTSE 100, Friday’s falls drew an underwhelming week to an end, with analysts wondering if the drop reflected a summer lull or something more significant.
David Morrison, senior analyst at Trade Nation, said it looks as if momentum on London is picking up to the downside.
“These pullbacks mark a pause in a sustained summer rally that had pushed European indices to record highs,” Mr Morrison said.
The question now is whether this marks the top for some of these indices or if there are more gains to be had after a decent period of profit-taking.
“Much may depend on what happens to US indices. This week’s softer US inflation readings, along with last week’s disappointing payroll release, has led to a dialling back of Fed rate hike expectations. This has supported equities. But European investors are keeping a close eye on energy prices, especially as the summer edges to its conclusion.”
US data fuels rate debate
In European equities on Friday, the CAC 40 in Paris closed down 0.2%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt rose 0.5%.
Stocks in New York were weaker. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.2%, as was the S&P 500 index, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 0.5%.
Figures on Friday showed a surprise drop in US retail sales adding fuel to the debate over the future path of interest rates after soft inflation readings this week.
The report from the US Census Bureau showed advance monthly US retail and food services sales declined 0.6% on-month in July to 763.6 billion US dollars from 768.1 billion dollars in June. The FXStreet-cited consensus was for 0.1% growth in July.
The data followed encouraging consumer and wholesale inflation prints earlier in the week, and adds weight to hopes that interest rates will not be raised at the September Federal Open Market Committee meeting.
After the data release, the CME FedWatch tool placed a 69% chance that interest rates will be left on hold in September compared to 66% a day earlier, and 56% the week before.
Analysts pinned some of the decline on the shifting of Amazon’s Prime event into June this year, after taking place in July in 2025.
More generally, Ksenia Bushmeneva, economist at TD Economics, suggests that consumer spending in the US is transitioning from the weather and tax-refund-driven rebound seen in the second quarter to a more moderate pace of growth in the third.
Reflecting the data, the greenback faltered across the board.
The pound traded at 1.3550 US dollars on Friday afternoon, up from 1.3498 dollars at the equities close on Thursday. The euro stood higher at 1.1583 dollars against 1.1535 dollars. Against the yen, the dollar was lower at 159.12 yen, compared to 159.33 yen.
Against the euro, sterling faded slightly to 1.1698 euros from 1.1701 euros.
The yield on the US 10-year Treasury stretched to 4.69% on Friday from 4.64% on Thursday. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury widened to 5.27% from 5.21%.
Company movers
Back in London, Entain rose 2.1% after further consideration of Thursday’s results, when the Ladbrokes owner reported better-than-expected revenue figures.
Aviva was in the green, up 1.8%, after strong first-half results which saw operating profit reach £1.33 billion in the six months that ended June 30, topping the Visible Alpha consensus of £1.25 billion.
RBC Capital Markets analyst Ben Cohen said the profit beat was driven by the UK & Ireland General Insurance business which came in 6% ahead of consensus.
Mr Cohen said overall the results were a “small positive”.
But Antofagasta fell sharply for the second day in a row, down 4.6%, after Thursday’s lowered production guidance. Meanwhile, drug stocks and large FTSE 100 constituents GSK and AstraZeneca both fell 2.1%.
On the FTSE 250, recruiters Michael Page and Hays continued their recent revival, up 5.5% and 5.3% respectively.
Page received a boost as UBS upgraded the stock to “buy” from “neutral” and increased its share price target to 235p from 180p.
UBS said that even after a 43% rally from April lows Michael Page has still lagged sector peers, down 14% year-to-date versus peers up 17% on average.
“We now think this underperformance is undeserved,” UBS said. The Swiss bank has an upside scenario of 500p per share for Page.
But it was a woeful day for investors in GB Group as shares sank 31%.
The Chester-based identity verification and fraud prevention company lowered revenue growth guidance, as it grapples with tough trading conditions in the Americas Identity arm and the departure of its sales leader in that region.
It expects revenue for the financial year ending March 31 2027 to rise by between 1% and 3%, the outlook cut from mid-single-digit percentage growth previously.
Shore Capital analyst Alasdair Young said the announcement is “disappointing given management reported Q1 trading in line with expectations three weeks ago”.
He said it is “another setback to the reacceleration narrative and raises legitimate questions over whether competitive pressures in Americas Identity are greater than previously appreciated”.
On AIM, Cohort climbed 6.1% after it was awarded a 140.7 million euros contract from Saab to deliver integrated sonar systems for the Polish Orka submarine programme.
The Reading-based defence technology business said that work will start immediately, with deliveries to continue out to the mid-2030s.
Brent oil for October delivery traded at 87.94 dollars a barrel on Friday afternoon, up slightly from 87.87 dollars late on Thursday.
Gold traded at 4,388.17 dollars an ounce on Friday, up from 4,369.95 dollars on Thursday.
The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Sage Group, up 45.50p at 1,060.50p, Experian, up 79.00p at 2,890.00p, Autotrader, up 13.80p at 539.60p, IG Group, up 31.00p at 1,363.00p and Entain, up 11.60p at 557.20p.
The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Antofagasta, down 171.00p at 3,585.00p, Glencore, down 12.00p at 548.90p, AstraZeneca, down 248.00p at 11,460.00p, GSK, down 39.00p at 1,817.50p and Marks & Spencer, down 7.20p at 383.50p.
Looking ahead
Monday’s global economic calendar has industrial production and retail sales figures in China and a Gross Domestic Product print in Japan overnight plus an inflation report in Canada.
Monday’s UK corporate calendar has full-year results from Optima Health.
