2nd Oct 2026 09:06
(Alliance News) - Stock prices in Europe opened on the up on Friday, clawing back some of Thursday's weakness, with the mood more sanguine following the sell-off and ahead of a US jobs report.
Stocks stateside had a more favourable day than their European counterparts on Thursday, registering a minor advance as Treasury yields eased in afternoon dealings in New York.
Focus on Friday is on the US nonfarm payrolls report. According to consensus cited by FXStreet, the US economy is expected to have added 90,000 jobs last month, cooling from 162,000 in August.
The FTSE 100 index added 21.30 points, 0.2%, at 10,449.57. The FTSE 250 rose 36.29 points, 0.2%, at 24,179.50, and the AIM all-share climbed 3.57 points, 0.5%, at 785.61.
The Cboe UK 100 added 0.1% at 1,037.13, the Cboe UK 250 edged up 0.1% at 21,047.63, and the Cboe small companies was fractionally higher at 18,997.64.
In European equities on Friday, the CAC 40 in Paris and the DAX 40 in Frankfurt each added 0.3%.
In Tokyo on Friday, the Nikkei 225 ended down 0.9%, after jumping 3.3% on Thursday. The Hang Seng Index in Hong Kong was down 2.8%. Financial markets in Hong Kong were closed on Thursday. They remain closed in Shanghai. Sydney's S&P/ASX 200 closed up 0.8%.
In New York on Thursday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended slightly higher, while the S&P 500 rose 0.2%. The Nasdaq Composite rose fractionally.
The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was quoted at 5.25% early Friday, narrowing from 5.30% late Thursday afternoon. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury was at 5.62%, easing from 5.63%.
"We have seen extreme volatility in the Treasury market, a mixed performance for stocks and a decline in expectations that the Federal Reserve will hike rates on consecutive meetings," XTB analyst Kathleen Brooks commented.
"The weaker core PCE report for August triggered the recalibration in October rate hike expectations, and Friday's jobs report could be the final piece of the puzzle that will determine if the Fed does pause its mini hiking cycle. This jobs report is less a read on the state of the US labour market, and more of a referendum on whether the Fed should continue to raise interest rates."
Fed Vice Chair Philip Jefferson said policymakers should make a decision after "carefully examining trends in the data", adding that "my colleagues and I will need to come to our own judgement, which may take more time".
And another official, Michelle Bowman, said she did not "currently see an urgent need for further action".
The remarks came after New York Fed chief John Williams said "there is no need for urgency, and we have time to gather more information".
Still, Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan warned: "I currently estimate the target range needs to rise an additional 50 basis points or more to appropriately balance the outlook and risks for our dual mandate goals."
The recovery of Treasury prices, which move inversely to yields, was partly down to some of the more dovish remarks, analysts at Deutsche Bank believe.
"Whilst European assets struggled yesterday, there was a very different tone in the US. Initially, it looked like Treasury yields would hit new highs, and we did see the 10yr yield hit its highest intraday level since 2002 yesterday, at 5.34%. But that turned in the afternoon," Deutsche analysts said.
"That left an October Fed hike just 30% priced by yesterday's close, down from 37% on Wednesday and 70% on Monday before NY Fed President Williams similarly signalled no urgency for the next hike."
Against the dollar, the euro rose to USD1.1265 on Friday morning from USD1.1238 at the time of the London equities close on Thursday. It fell to its lowest level since May 2025 on Thursday.
Sterling traded at EUR1.1723 against the single currency, down from EUR1.1739 late Thursday afternoon. The pound traded at USD1.3212 against the greenback early Friday, up from USD1.3204. The dollar traded at JPY157.87, up slightly from JPY157.48.
A barrel of Brent eased to USD101.11 early Friday, from USD101.71 at the time of the London equities close on Thursday. Gold climbed to USD4,186.53 an ounce from USD4,163.35.
In London, IG Group shares slumped 25%.
In a trading statement, the online trading platform said it now expects total revenue growth to be in a mid-single-digit per cent range year-on-year in 2026.
According to company compiled consensus, analysts forecast revenue of GBP1.26 billion in 2026 which would have been up 12% from 2025's GBP1.12 billion.
In July, IG said it expects to report at least 10% organic total compound annual revenue growth over the medium term.
Plus500 lost 10% and CMC Markets shed 7.2% in response.
JD Sports fell 0.8%, the second worst FTSE 100 performer, in a negative read across after sportswear maker Nike reported overnight. Nike traded 8.7% lower in after hours dealings in New York as it unveiled a restructuring aimed at improving underperforming businesses after quarterly sales fell short of forecast.
BT Group was the best performer, adding 2.8%. The Financial Times reported BT has opened talks with UK government officials over a possible takeover of TalkTalk.
BT Chief Executive Allison Kirkby met with officials in the UK government's Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport to gauge whether a possible bid for TalkTalk would lead to a lengthy competition watchdog probe, the FT reported. The FT cited three people familiar with the matter.
The FT added that two of the people said telecom firm BT is keen on buying TalkTalk's wholesale and retail businesses.
TalkTalk sells home broadband and phone services in the UK. Its PXC offering, meanwhile, supplies other telecom providers with internet connectivity services.
BT's Openreach is a supplier of TalkTalk.
In September, PA reported that TalkTalk said it remains in "advanced discussions" with potential buyers of its consumer and broadband businesses as the troubled telecoms firm races to secure its future.
JD Wetherspoon added 8.8% as it reported promising trading in recent weeks.
In the nine weeks to September 27, like-for-like sales rose 8.6%, "helped, no doubt, by exceptional weather", Chair Tim Martin said.
"The company has made substantial progress in recent years in increasing the number of beer gardens and outside seating areas. This has resulted in sales improving in hot weather whereas, in the past, sales sometimes declined," the chair added. "Wetherspoon has made a good start to the financial year, although it is at least partially due to weather, which will inevitably revert to the norm. At this early stage, we continue to anticipate profit before tax and separately disclosed items in line with current market expectations."
JD Wetherspoon puts market consensus at GBP74 million for pretax profit before separately disclosed items in the new financial year.
In the year ended July 26, pretax profit declined 13% to GBP77.7 million from GBP89.3 million a year prior, though revenue climbed 5.2% to GBP2.24 billion from GBP2.13 billion. Before "separately disclosed items", pretax profit was 28% lower at GBP58.6 million. Like-for-like sales rose 4.2%. Operating costs climbed 6.7% to GBP2.12 billion.
Capita fell 1.8%. The outsourcing and business services provider noted that the UK National Audit Office is reviewing the administration of the Civil Service Pension Scheme.
Capita took over the administration of the scheme, which has some 1.7 million members, in December 2025. But it has been mired by delays and backlogs and Capita in August admitted "that the service delivered on the Civil Service Pension Scheme has not been good enough since the transition in December 2025".
Capita said on Friday: "Since Capita's H1 announcement on 4 August, we have made good operational progress in both August and September across priority areas of CSPS. Capita recognises the need for continued service improvement, and we are implementing further automation along with stronger governance including improved management information. This will continue to improve operational output and member experience. Capita accepts that performance remains below the standards that scheme members and the government rightly expect. The remediation of CSPS remains the group's top priority."
By Eric Cunha, Alliance News news editor
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