31st Oct 2025 09:25
(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London opened lower, threatening a nine-day streak for the FTSE 100, as Princes Group sets its IPO price and house prices rose.
The FTSE 100 index opened down 31.25 points, 0.3%, at 9,728.81. The FTSE 250 was down 23.39 points, 0.1%, at 22,252.89, and the AIM All-Share was up 0.49 points, 0.1%, at 770.29.
The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.3% at 970.79, the Cboe UK 250 was 0.3% lower at 19,320.02, and the Cboe Small Companies was down 0.1% at 17,882.24.
In European equities on Friday, the CAC 40 in Paris was down 0.2%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was 0.4% lower.
Annual UK house price growth edged higher in October, a tracker from mortgage lender Nationwide showed on Friday.
Property values increased by 0.3% month-on-month in October, following a 0.5% rise in September, taking the average UK house price to GBP272,226, Nationwide said.
The typical UK house price increased 2.4% annually in October, compared with a 2.2% rise in September.
Robert Gardner, Nationwide's chief economist, said: "The housing market has remained broadly stable in recent months, with house prices rising at a modest pace and the number of mortgages approved for house purchase maintained at similar levels to those prevailing before the pandemic struck.
"Against a backdrop of subdued consumer confidence and signs of weakening in the labour market, this performance indicates resilience, especially since mortgage rates are more than double the level they were before Covid struck and house prices are close to all time highs."
Sterling was at USD1.3145 on Friday morning, down from USD1.3149 at the London equities close on Thursday. The euro was higher at USD1.1572 from USD1.1565. Against the yen, the dollar was higher at JPY154.21 versus JPY154.11.
In Asia on Friday, the Nikkei 225 in Tokyo was up 2.1%. In China, the Shanghai Composite was down 0.8%, while the Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong was 1.4% lower. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney was flat.
In the US on Thursday, Wall Street ended lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average down 0.2%, the S&P 500 lost 1.0% and the Nasdaq Composite retreated 1.6%.
The yield on the 10-year US Treasury widened slightly to 4.10% on Friday morning from 4.09% on Thursday. The yield on the 30-year was at 4.66%, widened from 4.64%.
In London, Fresnillo shares were up 0.7%.
The London and Mexico-City based silver and gold miner said it has entered a definitive arrangement agreement to buy Toronto-based Probe Gold for CAD3.65 per share.
The total equity value is around CAD780 million, or around USD560 million, on a fully diluted basis.
The firm said Probe is a leading Canadian exploration company which is focused on the acquisition, exploration and development of "highly prospective" gold properties.
"We are delighted to announce the acquisition of Probe Gold, a company that fits our pursuit of high-quality exploration projects," said Fresnillo Chief Executive Officer Octavio Alvidrez.
"While Mexico will remain central to our operating and growth strategy, Probe's assets will meaningfully complement our existing pipeline of projects and prospects. We are confident that the Novador project, together with our advanced exploration projects in Mexico, will underpin Fresnillo's long term future, further positioning us as one of the leading precious metals companies in the world."
WPP was down 1.6% as it continued to fall after it plunged 17% on Thursday, as it warned performance in the year-to-date was at the "low-end of expectations" as it cut the company's outlook.
Moonpig shares were up 0.7% after it appointed Catherine Faiers as chief executive officer, to replace Nickyl Raithatha who is stepping down as previously announced.
Faiers is currently chief operating officer at Auto Trader. Shares in Auto Trader were down 1.9%.
Kate Swann, non-executive chair, said: "Catherine brings a wealth of experience in e-commerce and public companies, with a proven track record of leading customer-focused digital, data, and technology transformations."
Faiers' start date will be announced in due course, Moonpig adds.
Noting Faiers' departure, Auto Trader CEO Nathan Coe says: "Catherine has been instrumental to many of the changes we have made in the business and will be missed. However, we are in the fortunate position to have a depth of talent at Autotrader enabling us to continue with our existing strategy and plans without interruption."
Among small caps, shares in Caledonian Holdings jumped 35%.
The firm said it has entered a banding agreement with AlbaCo shareholders Moulsdale Investments and Nevis Investments on a share swap.
Each of the shareholders will exchange 250,000 AlbaCo shares of 100p each for 6.25 billion new shares in Caledonian Holdings worth 0.004p each.
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.
Princes Group starts conditional dealings on Friday and says its offer price is 475 pence, equating to a market capitalisation of around GBP1.16 billion.
The Liverpool, England-based canned goods seller said the IPO offer comprises 84.2 million new shares to raise around GBP400 million of gross proceeds.
The shares will be admitted to trading on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange next week on Wednesday.
Gold was higher at USD4,009.70 an ounce early on Friday from USD3,998.00 late Thursday. Brent oil was trading lower at USD63.85 a barrel from USD64.92.
Still to come on Friday's economic calendar are Canada GDP data and eurozone inflation figures, the latter which are due at 1000 GMT.
By Michael Hennessey, Alliance News reporter
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