28th Nov 2025 12:24
(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London were higher at midday on Friday, as investors continued to digest Wednesday's UK government budget and broker upgrades for Weir Group and IMI led to share price increases.
The FTSE 100 index was up 20.46 points, 0.2%, at 9,714.39. The FTSE 250 was up 14.26 points, 0.1%, at 22,105.73, and the AIM All-Share was up 2.23 points, 0.3%, at 751.22.
The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.3% at 972.57, the Cboe UK 250 was up 0.2% at 19,215.38, and the Cboe Small Companies was up 0.8% at 17,566.91.
In European equities on Friday, the CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.2%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was 0.1% higher.
"The FTSE 100 looks set to end the week in decent fashion and US futures point to post-Thanksgiving gains when Wall Street opens for business," said AJ Bell analyst Dan Coatsworth.
"Gilt yields are modestly higher again but relatively stable after Wednesday's leak-induced volatility and when compared with the reaction to previous fiscal events in the UK. For now, the budget has only registered as a mild tremor on the market Richter scale, much to the relief of the government."
Coatsworth added: "Asian markets were mixed but mainly kept afloat by continuing hopes of a pre-Christmas rate cut from the Federal Reserve, with investors increasingly pricing in a similar move from the Bank of England at its own meeting in December."
The number of UK house sales in October was 2% lower than in the same month a year earlier, according to HM Revenue & Customs figures.
Across the UK, an estimated 98,450 home sales took place in October 2025, which was 2% lower than in October 2024 but 2% higher than in September 2025.
Nick Leeming, chair of Jackson-Stops, said: "Today's transaction results show a mixed-bag; whilst there were reports of transactions pressing ahead to beat the budget deadline, in the main we saw a market on pause."
He added: "It is likely we will see more stock come to the market in the short-term, with minor price adjustments for properties just over the GBP2 million cliff edge.
In the budget on Wednesday, the government announced a high value council tax surcharge in England on homes above GBP2 million from April 2028.
Sterling was at USD1.3204 at midday on Friday, down from USD1.3251 at the London equities close on Thursday. The euro was lower at USD1.1565 from USD1.1599. Against the yen, the dollar was lower at JPY156.24 versus JPY156.27.
US financial markets were closed for Thanksgiving Day on Thursday and are open for just a half day on Friday.
Stocks in New York were called higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 indexes were called up 0.1% while the Nasdaq Composite was called 0.2% higher.
The yield on the 10-year US Treasury narrowed slightly to 4.00% at midday on Friday from 4.01% at Wednesday's close. The yield on the 30-year was at 4.65%, narrowed marginally from 4.66%.
In London, Weir Group shares were up 1.9% and led the FTSE 100 index after Exane BNP reinitiated the stock with an 'outperform' rating and a price target of 3,450 pence.
Similarly, IMI shares climbed 1.3% after Exane BNP reinitated the firm with an 'outperform' rating and a 3,100p price target.
At the other end of the blue-chip index, Whitbread sank 6.2% as it was hit by a double downgrade from Bernstein, who cut its rating to 'underperform' from 'outperform'.
Whitbread warned that measures announced in the UK government's 2025 budget will significantly increase its cost base next year, even as the Premier Inn owner maintained confidence in its current-year outlook. The hotel and restaurant group said third-quarter trading remained strong, with UK revenue per available room continuing to grow and forward bookings running ahead of last year.
The price target was lowered to 2,500p from 3,600p.
Shares in Burberry were down 2.4%.
JPMorgan cut its rating for the London-based fashion house to 'underweight' from 'neutral'. However, it raised the price target to 950p from 850p.
On the FTSE 250 index, Mitchells & Butlers jumped 11% as it said like-for-like sales continued to "outperform the market across all segments", helping offset pressures of rising labour and food costs.
The Birmingham, England-based restaurant and pub operator said pretax profit jumped 20% to GBP238 million for the 12 months that ended September 27 from GBP199 million the year prior, with basic earnings per share up 19% to 29.7 pence from 25.0p.
"We are pleased to report another year of strong performance. Like-for-like sales continued to outperform the market across all segments," said Chief Executive Phil Urban.
Among small caps, shares in European Metals Holdings were up 70%.
The firm developing the Cinovec lithium project in Czech Republic said the Czech government awarded a grant of up to EUR360 million to Geomet sro for the development of the Cinovec lithium mine.
Geomet holds the mineral exploration licenses for Cinovec. It is 49% owned by European Metals and 51% by CEZ as.
The final amount of the grant will be confirmed upon formal award, European Metals said, and called it a "transformational milestone".
It "represents one of the largest direct project-level funding commitments to a critical raw materials project" in the EU.
Shares in Caffyns were down 11% as the firm kept its interim dividend unchanged at 5.0 pence per share despite swinging to a loss.
The Eastbourne, Sussex-based car dealership chain reported a pretax loss of GBP934,000 in the six months that ended September 30, swung from a GBP213,000 profit a year before. Revenue was down 2.7% to GBP134.0 million from GBP137.7 million, while operating expenses were up 4.2%.
Caffyns CEO Simon Caffyn said the UK motor retail market was "particularly challenging" during the recent six months, but the company has made a number of operational changes to improve performance.
"Our forward-order book for new cars is at satisfactory levels, although concerns remain over the general economic background and, in particular, customers' reaction to the government's November budget," Caffyn said.
There was a sharp decline in UK vehicle production in October, according to data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders.
Figures from the UK motor industry trade group showed vehicle production fell 31% year-on-year in October to 62,116 cars and commercial vehicles from 89,871 units previously.
Car output alone declined 24% to 59,010 units from 77,484 units, and at 46%, almost half of all cars produced in October were either battery electric, plug-in hybrids or hybrid models.
Gold was up at USD4,171.30 an ounce at midday on Friday from USD4,153.66 late Thursday. Brent oil was trading lower at USD62.77 a barrel from USD63.28.
Still to come on Friday's economic calendar is Canadian GDP data and CPI figures for Germany.
By Michael Hennessey, Alliance News reporter
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Related Shares:
Weir GroupIMIWhitbreadBurberryMitchells & ButlersEuropean Metals HoldingsCaffyns