13th Nov 2026 12:11
(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London were mixed at midday on Friday, with the FTSE 100 edging higher as gains for insurers and financial services stocks offset weakness elsewhere, while investors digested slowing eurozone economic growth and a global Microsoft outage.
The FTSE 100 index was up 15.86 points, 0.2%, at 10,878.18. The FTSE 250 was down 95.04 points, 0.4%, at 24,821.30, and the AIM all-share was up 0.87 points, 0.1%, at 757.13.
The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.2% at 1,079.06, the Cboe UK 250 was down 0.5% at 21,866.63, and the Cboe small companies was marginally lower at 18,757.05.
In European equities on Friday, the CAC 40 in Paris was marginally lower, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was marginally higher.
Economic growth in the eurozone slowed in the third quarter, while the bloc's trade deficit remained wider than expected, according to figures published by Eurostat.
Gross domestic product increased by 0.4% quarter-on-quarter in the three months to September, in line with the flash estimate published in late October, but slowing from 0.6% growth in the second quarter.
On an annual basis, growth accelerated slightly to 1.3% from 1.2% in the previous quarter, also matching the flash estimate.
Separately, Eurostat reported that the eurozone's trade deficit narrowed to EUR10.3 billion in September from EUR16.6 billion in August, but remained significantly wider than the EUR4.5 billion deficit expected by FXStreet-cited market consensus.
The reading also marked a sharp deterioration from a EUR13.5 billion trade surplus recorded in September 2025, amid a sharp increase in the trade deficit in energy.
Across the wider EU, the trade surplus with the US nearly halved to EUR10.9 billion in September from EUR21.3 billion a year earlier, while the deficit with China widened 18% to EUR41.7 billion from EUR35.2 billion.
Meanwhile, the EU's trade surplus with the UK increased 16% to EUR18.7 billion from EUR16.1 billion, and its surplus with Switzerland rose 32% to EUR9.0 billion from EUR6.8 billion.
The EU's trade deficit with Norway, a major energy supplier, trebled to EUR6.3 billion in September from EUR2.1 billion a year prior.
Pertinently, the EU's overall trade deficit in energy widened by 56% to EUR37.6 billion in September from EUR24.1 billion a year prior.
The pound was quoted at USD1.3232 at midday on Friday, edging down from USD1.3233 at Thursday's London equities close. Against the euro, sterling edged up to EUR1.1973 from EUR1.1968.
The euro traded at USD1.1052 at midday on Friday, lower than USD1.1061 late Thursday. Against the yen, the dollar edged down to JPY159.94 from JPY159.97.
In London, Aviva was among the FTSE 100's leading risers, climbing 2.7% after the insurer reiterated confidence in meeting its three-year group targets, supported by growth in its general insurance and wealth businesses.
Aviva said it expects earnings per share growth broadly in line with its 11% target for 2026, after reporting general insurance premiums of GBP11.8 billion for the nine months to September 30, up from GBP10.0 billion a year earlier.
Wealth net flows increased to GBP10.9 billion from GBP8.3 billion, while wealth assets under management climbed to GBP267 billion at September 30 from GBP224 billion a year earlier.
Its solvency II cover ratio improved to 179% from 176% at the end of June.
At the other end of the FTSE 100, 3i Group declined 2.1% after Citigroup cut its price target to 3,700 pence from 4,040p, while maintaining its 'buy' rating.
On the FTSE 250, Wise jumped 5.8% after reporting higher half-year profit and revenue, supported by continued growth in customers and international payment volumes.
The London-based money-transfer services provider said pretax profit rose 9.2% to USD334.9 million in the six months to September 30 from USD306.7 million a year earlier, as net revenue increased 23% to USD1.45 billion from USD1.18 billion.
Net income grew to USD249.2 million from USD234.8 million, while active customers increased 21% to 16.2 million. Cross-border transaction volumes climbed 24% to USD141.0 billion.
Elsewhere, Asos rose 2.2% after Peel Hunt upgraded the online fashion retailer to 'buy' from 'add', raising its price target to 560p from 475p.
WH Smith was the FTSE 250's biggest faller, shedding 7.7% as the retailer extended losses following the publication of its annual results on Thursday.
Oxford BioMedica fell 2.9% after Jefferies lowered its price target to 716p from 827p.
Meanwhile on Aquis, Atomic Metals jumped 15%.
The London-based project acquisition, exploration and development vehicle targeting critical power and precious metals in the US, Canada and Australia on Thursday began trading on the Access segment of the Aquis Stock Exchange Growth Market.
Shares in Atomic Metals are up 25% since Thursday's initial public offering.
Stocks in New York were called to open modestly higher on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average expected to rise 0.1%, the S&P 500 up 0.2%, and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.1%.
The yield on the US 10-year Treasury widened to 5.13% from 5.08% at Thursday's close, while the yield on the 30-year Treasury increased to 5.47% from 5.42%.
Microsoft shares were down 2.3% in premarket trading in New York as the technology titan continued efforts to restore services following a global outage affecting Outlook and other Microsoft 365 applications.
The Redmond, Washington-based company said it was seeing "positive results" from its recovery efforts and ruled out malicious activity as the cause of the disruption, attributing the outage to elevated load on its infrastructure.
The disruption, which began late Thursday, left businesses, governments and individuals worldwide unable to access crucial services for more than half a day.
Airlines in India warned that customer enquiries might not be reaching them, while New Zealand said the outage had forced a halt to visa application processing. Japan also warned of widespread disruption.
Meanwhile, rail passengers in the UK may have trouble accessing tickets that have been emailed because of the Microsoft outage, companies have said.
National Rail, which provides information about Britain's train network, said people who bought e-tickets after the outage began were likely to have been affected.
Reports of service problems on monitoring website Downdetector had begun to decline by 0900 GMT, suggesting that Microsoft's efforts to restore access were making progress.
Brent crude was trading at USD95.91 a barrel at midday on Friday, up from USD93.53 late Thursday.
Global oil supplies are expected to exceed demand in the fourth quarter, after increased Gulf exports led to a market surplus in October for the first time since the Iran war, the International Energy Agency said Friday.
Even though attacks on tankers trying to transit the Strait of Hormuz have continued, Gulf shipments reached 18.4 million barrels per day – though that was still 26% below pre-war levels, the Paris-based agency said in its monthly report.
"The oil market is showing tentative signs of rebalancing, with global oil supplies surpassing demand for the first time since the outbreak of the war in Iran," the IEA said.
Gold was quoted at USD3,891.31 an ounce, higher than USD3,865.83 on Thursday.
Still to come on Friday's economic calendar are US producer price inflation figures for October, due at 1330 GMT. Producer prices are expected to rise 0.4% month-on-month, according to market consensus, slowing from a 1.3% increase in September.
By Eva Castanedo, Alliance News senior economics reporter
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