31st Oct 2025 12:16
(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London were lower at midday on Friday, as shares in WPP continued to slide and weighed on the FTSE 100, threatening a nine-day winning streak.
The FTSE 100 index was down 33.66 points, 0.3%, at 9,726.40. The FTSE 250 was down 60.99 points, 0.3%, at 22,215.29, and the AIM All-Share was up 1.39 points, 0.2%, at 771.19.
The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.4% at 970.19, the Cboe UK 250 was 0.4% lower at 19,299.09, and the Cboe Small Companies was down 0.1% at 17,881.89.
In European equities on Friday, the CAC 40 in Paris was down 0.3%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was 0.2% lower.
"Weakness on Wall Street haunted European markets on the morning of Halloween and saw the FTSE 100 retreat from its latest record high," said AJ Bell analyst Russ Mould.
"The main culprit was uncertainty about the future policy of the Federal Reserve after its chair Jerome Powell suggested a cut in December, to follow this week's, was not a foregone conclusion."
Powell, speaking after the Fed cut rates by a quarter point at its October meeting, said a reduction in December was not a "foregone conclusion," and a cut should not be assumed.
JPMorgan analyst Michael Feroli said: "By Powell's standards, these were unusually blunt remarks."
Sterling was at USD1.3124 at midday on Friday, down from USD1.3149 at the London equities close on Thursday. The euro was slightly lower at USD1.1563 from USD1.1565. Against the yen, the dollar was steady at JPY154.11.
Stocks in New York were called higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was called up 0.1%, the S&P 500 index 0.8% higher, and the Nasdaq Composite to rise 1.3%.
The yield on the 10-year US Treasury widened slightly to 4.10% at midday on Friday from 4.09% on Thursday. The yield on the 30-year was at 4.66%, stretched from 4.64%.
In London, shares in Smith & Nephew rose 2.2% after Citigroup raised its price target for the Hull, England-based medical technology firm to 1,600 pence from 1,450 pence.
The bank maintained its 'buy' rating on Smith & Nephew.
Fresnillo shares were 1.0% higher after it said it has acquired Canadian gold exploration company Probe Gold.
The Mexico-focused silver and gold mine operator said the total equity value is approximately CAD780 million, equivalent to approximately USD560 million, from an all-cash consideration of CAD3.65 per share.
Probe is the 100% owner of the Novador Gold project and the early-stage Detour Gold project, both located in Quebec, Canada.
Fresnillo said it will look to advance the development of the Novador project, which is currently undeveloped, when the transaction is complete.
The firm said it expects to finance the acquisition with existing cash on hand, which stood at USD1.8 billion as of June 30.
Fresnillo Chief Executive Octavio Alvidrez said: "We are delighted to announce the acquisition of Probe Gold, a company that fits our pursuit of high-quality exploration projects. This acquisition is consistent with our disciplined approach to M&A we have consistently set out over time.
WPP continued to weigh on the FTSE 100 as it fell 4.4%, after it plunged 17% on Thursday when it warned performance in the year-to-date was at the "low-end of expectations" as it cut the company's outlook.
Auto Trader shares were down 3.7% as it said its Chief Operating Officer Catherine Faiers is stepping down, as Moonpig appointed her its new chief executive.
FTSE 250 constituent Moonpig, a London-based online greeting card and gifting company, said that Faiers will take over from Nickel Raithatha, who announced plans to step down as CEO back in June.
Shares in Moonpig were down 0.2%.
Neither company has confirmed timing for the planned management reshuffle, though Auto Trader and Moonpig will update on leaving dates for Faiers and Raithatha respectively "in due course".
Shares in Anglo-Eastern Plantations were 7.1% higher as it reported higher output and firmer prices in the first nine months of 2025, underpinned by production growth.
The Indonesia and Malaysia-focused palm oil producer said own fresh fruit bunch, or FFB, production rose 6.7% year-on-year to 816,200 tonnes, from 764,800 a year prior, boosted by improved yields from young and mature palms in Bengkulu and Kalimantan.
External FFB purchases climbed 21% to 883,600 tonnes from 733,000, driven by new third-party crop intake at the recently commissioned HPP mill in North Sumatra.
As a result, crude palm oil production increased 8.0% to 321,500 tonnes, while palm kernel output rose 14% to 79,500 tonnes.
Among small-caps, shares in Caledonian Holdings jumped 27%.
The firm said it has entered a binding agreement with AlbaCo shareholders Moulsdale Investments and Nevis Investments on a share swap.
In total, Caledonian will receive 500,000 shares in AlbaCo, valued at GBP500,000, and will issue 12.50 billion new shares to Alba shareholders.
"The board believes the share swap strengthens the alignment between Caledonian and key AlbaCo shareholders and enhances Caledonian's investment position as AlbaCo continues to progress its business and licencing ambitions," the company said.
Versarien shares sank 28%.
The Gloucestershire, England-based said it has signed a non-binding heads of terms with a "UK quoted public company" for the disposal of its remaining material assets and subsidiaries.
The consideration for the assets would be GBP100,000 in cash and around GBP100,000 in shares in the potential acquirer.
Versarien said it has entered a period of exclusivity with the potential acquirer until the end of November.
"In the absence of successfully concluding the transaction in as short a timeframe as possible, the board may have no alternative but to seek to appoint administrators to Versarien," it added.
Gold was higher at USD4,010.10 an ounce at midday on Friday from USD3,998.00 late Thursday. Brent oil was trading lower at USD64.15 a barrel from USD64.92.
Still to come on Friday's economic calendar is Canadian GDP data, which is due shortly.
By Michael Hennessey, Alliance News reporter
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Related Shares:
Smith & NephewFresnilloWPPAuto TraderMoonpig GrAnglo-Eastern PlantationsCaledonian HoldVersarien