5th Oct 2026 12:15
(Alliance News) - Stocks in Europe were mixed on Monday, with the FTSE 100 outperforming as oil majors climbed on a rise in the Brent price due to continued Middle East tensions.
Fiscal and political uncertainty were a theme on the continent, keeping a lid on the euro, meanwhile.
The FTSE 100 index was up 27.96 points, 0.3%, at 10,489.91. The FTSE 250 fell 73.14 points, 0.3%, at 24,121.10, and the AIM all-share edged down 1.69 points, 0.2%, at 782.06.
The Cboe UK 100 added 0.4% at 1,041.56, the Cboe UK 250 was down 0.2% at 20,985.13, and the Cboe small companies fell 0.2% at 18,917.53.
In European equities on Monday, the CAC 40 in Paris fell 1.0%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was down 0.1%.
In New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 are called down 0.2%, and the Nasdaq Composite 0.3% lower.
"The non-farm payrolls number was a long way short of expectations, but in a looking-glass world where weak economic data could mean relief on the rate hike front this has been taken positively by investors. This logic was applied in Asia too, which saw widespread gains," AJ Bell analyst Russ Mould commented.
"Less positively for markets, oil is still holding above USD100 per barrel, even if signs of improvement in the supply picture have helped to keep crude in check."
Global oil stockpiles are "scarily thin" owing to the US-Iran war, Saudi Aramco chief executive Amin Nasser said Monday, days after G7 nations agreed to release more of their inventories to ease supply concerns.
"The system is already straining," Nasser told the Energy Intelligence Forum in London. "And with precious little else the world can turn to, the supply resilience cushion is scarily thin."
A barrel of Brent rose to USD102.72 on Monday from USD100.50 late Friday afternoon. Gold rose to USD4,158.23 an ounce from USD4,143.18.
Sterling faded to USD1.3224 midday Monday, from USD1.3233 at the time of the London equities close on Friday. Against the euro, it rose to EUR1.1797 from EUR1.1750.
The single currency fell to USD1.1204 from USD1.1260 on Friday. It sank to USD1.1162 earlier on Monday, its lowest level since May 2025. Against the yen, the dollar rose slightly to JPY157.98 from JPY157.70.
Analysts at Barclays commented: "A narrative is building in markets that goes roughly like this: Western governments have borrowed too much, bond markets everywhere are rebelling, and yields are surging because investors are finally demanding compensation for sovereign credit risk. It is only a matter of time before the reckoning in fixed income spills over into equities.
"France is a different animal. Here, the fiscal story is real — and the bond market is right to be concerned. The OAT/Bund spread significantly increased to over 150bp last week, the widest since the eurozone debt crisis of 2011. France now trades wider than Italy and wider than Greece — a sentence that would have seemed absurd a few years ago."
OATs and Bunds are French and German government bonds, respectively.
Barclays analysts continued: "But - while the direction of travel is concerning, the magnitude of the stress is not anywhere close to the level of the 2010-12 eurozone crisis. During that period, French bank [credit default swaps] widened to over 300bp for BNP Paribas, and over 350bp for Societe Generale — levels that reflected existential doubt about the solvency of the French banking system. Today, bank CDS are a fraction of those readings. The CAC 40 fell 33% peak-to-trough from April 2011 to September 2011. The current drawdown is nowhere close. There is no interbank funding stress. There is no dollar liquidity squeeze."
In Spain, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Monday he would call an early election on November 29, after parliament rejected housing relief measures proposed by his government.
"To do more, we need to renew and broaden the support of the people," Sanchez, in office since 2018, said in a televised address, adding his aim was "to secure a much broader, progressive majority in parliament".
The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was quoted at 5.29% early Monday afternoon, widening from 5.26% late Friday afternoon London time. The 30-year yield was at 5.64%, widening from 5.61%.
In London, Shell rose 1.0% and BP added 0.8%, tracking Brent higher. Ithaca rose 3.8%, also supported by a higher oil price, as it announced a new buy.
It has agreed to buy a portfolio of offshore oil assets in Canada from Suncor Energy Inc for up to USD1.11 billion. The Aberdeen, Scotland-based oil and gas company operating in the North Sea said it will pay an initial USD860 million for the assets, located off the East Coast of Newfoundland and Labrador, plus potential oil price related contingent consideration of up to USD250 million.
BT shares were 1.8% higher. It announced a deal to rescue TalkTalk Telecommunications Ltd and PlatformX Communications Ltd out of administration.
The UK government on Monday announced an intervention into the planned acquisition, with the UK Competition & Markets Authority inviting comments until Friday. The CMA has until October 19 to report back to Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport Lisa Nandy, which could lead to a blocking of the deal under UK competition law.
The London-based telecommunications firm said the total cash impact in financial 2027 arising from the deals will be around GBP400 million, comprising both consideration and other cash impacts.
AJ Bell's Mould commented: "While TalkTalk's customer base has been steadily whittled down by tough competition in the broadband market, it still had some 1.6 million customers as of this May. Adding these customers to its ranks will entrench BT's competitive position, even if the company will have to take a sizeable initial cash hit as it progresses the deal.
"BT will hope the transaction can inject further life into recovery efforts which have managed to dial up a 90%-plus total return since Kirkby took the helm in early 2024."
Paris-listed Schneider Electric announced a deal of its own. The stock fell 9.3%. The Paris-based electrical equipment company on Monday said it will pay USD205 in cash per share in Boston, Massachusetts-based PTC, a 42% premium to its USD144.03 closing price in New York on Friday.
The deal values PTC's equity at USD22.6 billion and gives it an enterprise value of USD23.7 billion.
PTC was up 38% in pre-market dealings in New York.
Back in London, EnSilica shares shot up 13%. The Oxford, England-based computer microchip maker for space and communications, industrial, and automotive markets swung to a pretax profit of GBP2.2 million in the year to May 31, from a loss of GBP3.5 million. Revenue improved to GBP27.8 million from GBP18.2 million.
"This has been a record year for EnSilica," CEO Ian Lankshear said. "With a growing base of recurring revenue and a clear focus on the high-margin space and satellite communications market, we are confident that EnSilica is well positioned to sustain this momentum into FY27 and beyond."
By Eric Cunha, Alliance News news editor
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