21st Nov 2025 12:07
(Alliance News) - European stocks climbed off session lows heading into Friday afternoon, but still traded in the red after shares in New York suffered sharp declines overnight.
The FTSE 100 index fell 41.49 points, 0.4%, to 9,486.16. The FTSE 250 was down 117.84 points, 0.6%, at 21,266.51, and the AIM All-Share was 8.62 points lower, 1.2%, at 732.58.
The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.6% at 947.24, the Cboe UK 250 was 0.5% lower at 18,396.07, and the Cboe Small Companies was down 1.4% at 17,280.87.
The CAC 40 in Paris fell 0.4%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was down 0.6%.
In New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is called up 0.4%, the S&P 500 flat and the Nasdaq Composite down 0.2%. The DJIA fell 0.8% on Thursday, while the S&P and Nasdaq slumped 1.6% and 2.2%.
The yield on the 10-year US Treasury narrowed to 4.07% midday Friday London time, from 4.10% at the time of the London equities close on Thursday. The 30-year yield narrowed to 4.71% from 4.72%.
"European markets are showing their relative resilience today, with the moderate losses seen this morning standing in stark contrast to the 2% declines seen for tech heavy indices such as the Nasdaq, Nikkei 225, and Hang Seng," Scope Markets analyst Joshua Mahony commented.
"Yesterday's Nvidia bounce appears to have been short-lived, with the concerns evident around valuations coming back to haunt big tech once again. Central to the wider market decline was the Nvidia swing from +5% at the open, to a 3% decline. There had been a hope that Wednesday's earnings will have drawn a line under the recent selling pressure, building a narrative that the dip buyers were set to step in."
The pound fell to USD1.3058 midday Friday, from USD1.3091 at the time of the London equities close on Thursday. The euro declined to USD1.1516 from USD1.1534.
UK government borrowing topped expectations last month, giving Chancellor Rachel Reeves some food for thought and highlighting the "difficult backdrop" ahead of next week's budget.
The Office for National Statistics said net borrowing amounted to GBP17.43 billion in October, easing from GBP19.89 billion in September, but above an FXStreet cited forecast of GBP15.2 billion.
The figure topped a GBP14.4 billion Office for Budget Responsibility forecast outlined in March.
Pantheon Macroeconomics analyst Elliott Jordan-Doak said the October monthly borrowing overshoot was the "second-highest" of the financial year so far.
"There was little good news for the chancellor in this morning's public finances release," Jordan-Doak said.
"Today's data will have no effect on the budget forecasts that are already finalised, but October borrowing illustrates the difficult backdrop to the upcoming budget. Borrowing has now overshot the fiscal watchdog's projections in four of the seven months so far this fiscal year."
The UK private sector lost impetus in November, according to a preliminary purchasing managers' index reading from S&P Global, despite manufacturing swinging to growth from contraction.
The flash composite PMI fell to a two-month low of 50.5 points in November from October's final tally of 52.2. Falling closer to the 50-point neutral mark, the reading suggests the UK private sector was nearly stagnant this month ahead of next week's UK government budget.
The flash manufacturing PMI rose to 50.2 points in November from 49.7 in October. The flash November reading represents a 14-month-high. The services PMI, however, fell to a seven-month low of 50.5 from 52.3 in October.
Separate data showed UK retail was weaker than expected last month.
Retail sales fell 1.1% in October from September, the ONS said. They had been expected to tread water, according to consensus cited by FXStreet. They had risen 0.7% in September.
Against the yen, the buck fell to JPY156.85 midday Friday, from JPY157.46 at the time of the London equities close on Thursday. The greenback came off an intra-day low of JPY156.56, however.
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi confirmed Friday that her cabinet approved a stimulus package worth JPY21.3 trillion, approximately USD135 billion, insisting that her government was being fiscally "responsible".
"What Japan should do now is not to weaken its national strength through excessive austerity measures, but to strengthen its national power through proactive fiscal policies," Takaichi said in Tokyo.
"While fostering a strong economy and increasing the growth rate, we will reduce the government debt-to-GDP ratio, achieve fiscal sustainability and secure trust from the market," she said.
ING analysts commented: "Japan's stimulus package targets inflation stabilisation, strengthening defence and diplomacy, and sustainable growth. It should spur short-term growth and reduce inflation, but may put pressure on Japanese government bonds. The BoJ's policy normalisation will likely continue, though it faces challenges and may proceed at a slower pace."
Gold fell to USD4,034.75 an ounce early Friday afternoon, from USD4,058.47 late Thursday afternoon. Brent fell to USD62.31 a barrel from USD63.44.
In London, consumer credit checking services firm Experian was among the better performers, up 2.5%. Citigroup raised the stock to 'buy' from 'neutral'.
Suffering from a downgrade, Ithaca gave back 14%. Goldman Sachs cut the oil and gas producer to 'sell'.
Tullow Oil plunged by a third. The oil and gas producer in Ghana and the Ivory Coast said it is engaging "with bondholders, commodity traders and other private sources" on refinancing its capital structure, including ahead of a bond maturing in May 2026".
Given market risks and operational performance, Tullow said it is also exploring "alternative options" with creditors, including amend-and-extend measures and liability management exercises.
On the up, Ukraine peace deal hope lifted Ferrexpo, the iron ore pellet producer traded 3.9% higher.
A Donald Trump-backed plan to end the war is "good" for both sides, the White House said, according to an AFP report on Thursday.
The US plan would require Ukraine to cede land to Russia and would limit the size of Kyiv's military, according to a draft obtained by the Associated Press.
Still to come on Friday is a US PMI reading at 1445 GMT.
By Eric Cunha, Alliance News news editor
Comments and questions to [email protected]
Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
Related Shares:
ExperianIthaca EnergyTullow OilFerrexpo