5th Nov 2025 06:56
(Alliance News) - Stocks in London are set to open lower on Wednesday, after slumps on Wall Street and mixed trade in Asia ahead of US employment data later.
IG says futures indicate the FTSE 100 to open 10.2 points lower, 0.1%, at 9,704.76 on Wednesday. The index of London large-caps closed up 13.59 points, 0.1% at 9,714.96 on Tuesday.
In New York on Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 0.5%, the S&P 500 lost 1.2% and the Nasdaq Composite slumped 2.0%.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 lost 2.5%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was up 0.4%, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong declined 0.1%. In Sydney, the S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.1%.
"The rally that began in April is finally feeling its age. What we are seeing today wasn't just a dip; it was a full-scale reality check. Japan's Nikkei dropped over 4%, its biggest single-session hit in half a year, as traders bolted from the same AI and chip names they'd been worshipping all summer," SPI Asset Management analyst Stephen Innes commented.
"This wasn't the usual intraday shake-out. It felt more like the oxygen suddenly thinning at the top of a mountain that everyone assumed had no summit. After months of crowding into the AI complex, investors are discovering that even the 'new economy' trades breathe the same air as the old one. Palantir dropped 8% despite raising guidance — the kind of move that screams "positioning exhaustion" rather than disappointment."
Focus on Wednesday will be on the ADP private payrolls report in the US, some rare light during a data blackout amid the government shutdown.
Pepperstone analyst Michael Brown commented: "Focus falls mainly on US releases, with the October ADP employment report due this lunchtime taking on extra importance in the absence of an official BLS labour market report at the end of the week, and with the data set to point to 40,000 private sector jobs having been added last month. The latest ISM services survey is also due, with the headline index seen rising back into expansionary territory, at 50.7."
Sterling fell to USD1.3028 on Wednesday morning, from USD1.3045 at the time of the London equities close on Tuesday. The euro ebbed to USD1.1489 from USD1.1494. Against the yen, the dollar rose to JPY153.66 from JPY153.41.
Brent traded at USD64.46 a barrel, barely budging from USD64.48. Gold declined slightly to USD3,969.01 an ounce from USD3,971.09.
The yield on the 10-year US Treasury ebbed to 4.08% from 4.10%. The 30-year yield faded to 4.66% from 4.67%.
Wednesday's global economic calendar has composite PMI readings in the UK, US and the eurozone plus ADP private payroll data in the US.
Wednesday's UK corporate calendar has half-year results from food and clothing retailer Marks & Spencer plus trading statements from housebuilder Barratt Redrow, engineer Weir Group, and pub operator JD Wetherspoon.
By Eric Cunha, Alliance News news editor
Comments and questions to [email protected]
Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.