6th Nov 2026 09:10
(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London opened sharply lower on Friday, with the FTSE 100 falling 1.5% as European markets followed a steep sell-off on Wall Street, while UK house prices recorded their largest annual decline in three years.
The FTSE 100 index opened down 164.33 points, 1.5%, at 10,618.33. The FTSE 250 was down 177.46 points, 0.7%, at 24,524.52, and the AIM All-Share was down 4.91 points, 0.7%, at 752.18.
The Cboe UK 100 was down 1.4% at 1,054.69, the Cboe UK 250 was down 0.6% at 21,703.07, and the Cboe Small Companies was down 0.2% at 18,643.80.
In European equities on Friday, the CAC 40 in Paris was down 1.2%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt fell 1.5%.
UK house prices fell in October, recording their steepest annual decline in three years as elevated borrowing costs and renewed inflationary pressures weighed on demand, according to figures from Lloyds Bank.
House prices declined 0.6% month-on-month in October, following a 0.1% fall in September, compared with an FXStreet-cited consensus forecast for a 0.1% increase.
The average property price dropped to GBP296,285 from GBP298,167.
On an annual basis, prices fell 1.2%, the largest decline since October 2023 and significantly worse than market expectations for a 0.3% fall.
Prices were down 0.5% on a quarterly basis.
Andrew Asaam, mortgages director at Lloyds, said: "Housing demand is currently being tested by a challenging economic backdrop. Renewed inflationary pressures, driven in part by the conflict in the Middle East, are keeping borrowing costs high and adding to the squeeze on household finances, making some buyers understandably more cautious."
He added: "However, it's important to put October's fall in context. House prices have changed relatively little over the past couple of years, as the market has gradually adjusted to higher interest rates. The recent rise in energy and other household costs has added to the pressure on buyers, so some adjustment in prices is not surprising."
Regionally, Northern Ireland recorded the strongest annual house price growth at 4.4%, slowing from 6.9% in September. Scotland saw prices rise 2.8%, while Wales recorded growth of 1.6%.
In England, the North West led annual gains at 2.2%, followed by the North East at 2.0%.
Greater London recorded the sharpest decline, with prices falling 3.1% annually, while the South East and South West both registered declines of 2.4%.
The pound was quoted at USD1.3396 early Friday, lower than USD1.3473 at the London equities close on Thursday. Against the euro, sterling fell to EUR1.1979 from EUR1.2001 a day earlier.
The euro declined to USD1.1184 from USD1.1228 late Thursday. Against the yen, the dollar rose to JPY158.05 from JPY157.84.
In the FTSE 100, International Consolidated Airlines Group was among the few risers, edging up 0.8% after reporting a decline in third-quarter operating profit but maintaining its full-year outlook amid resilient demand.
The British Airways, Iberia and Aer Lingus owner said operating profit fell 16% to EUR1.73 billion in the three months ended September 30 from EUR2.05 billion a year earlier, missing company-compiled consensus of EUR1.81 billion.
"Strong pricing was offset by lower capacity, the impact of one-off disruption events and in particular by higher jet fuel prices," IAG said.
Despite the profit shortfall, the airline group said it remained on track to deliver full-year market expectations and highlighted a positive outlook for demand.
At the other end of the blue-chip index, Airtel Africa fell 3.1%, AstraZeneca declined 2.9%, and British American Tobacco lost 2.7%.
In the FTSE 250, Man Group dropped 4.9% after Deutsche Bank Research lowered its price target for the investment manager to 355 pence from 365p, while maintaining its 'hold' rating.
At the top of the mid-cap index, TBC Bank Group jumped 8.8% after reporting higher quarterly earnings.
Among smaller companies, Billington Holdings plunged 19% after warning that its 2026 underlying pretax profit would fall significantly short of market expectations due to difficulties with two projects.
The structural steel and construction safety solutions group now expects underlying pretax profit of between GBP4.0 million and GBP5.5 million, compared with market expectations of GBP8.3 million.
Billington said a project in the north of England had proved more costly than anticipated, while the performance of an industrial project had also contributed to the expected profit shortfall.
The company also cited client-led delays to a significant bridge contract, meaning previously anticipated contract profits would not be recognised in 2026.
Billington said the final determination of profit recognition would be made after the year-end.
In the US on Thursday, Wall Street suffered heavy losses, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average falling 3.4%, the S&P 500 declining 4.4% and the technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite plunging 5.5%.
The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was quoted at 4.83% early Friday, narrowing from 4.84% on Thursday. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury was unchanged at 5.25%.
In Asia on Friday, the Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo ended down 6.0%. In China, the Shanghai Composite closed down 1.1%, while the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong fell 1.3%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed down 0.5%.
Brent oil was trading at USD97.76 a barrel early Friday, higher than USD97.34 late Thursday.
Gold was quoted at USD4,073.33 an ounce early Friday, lower than USD4,116.08 on Thursday.
Still to come on Friday's economic calendar, the eurozone releases retail sales figures.
In the US, investors await the October nonfarm payrolls report and unemployment rate, followed by the University of Michigan consumer sentiment index.
By Eva Castanedo, Alliance News senior economics reporter
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