London stocks were expected to open slightly lower on Friday, tracking overnight declines on Wall Street and in Asia, as renewed concerns over artificial intelligence valuations and broader market fragility weighed on investor sentiment.
Futures platform IG forecast the FTSE 100 to edge down 0.1% to 9,729.48, following Thursday’s 0.4% decline, after a volatile session marked by the Bank of England’s close vote to hold interest rates at 4%.
Overnight, U.S. markets tumbled, with the Nasdaq Composite down 1.9%, the S&P 500 off 1.1%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average also lower, as nervousness around AI-driven stock valuations and cautious remarks from U.S. bank chiefs sparked broad-based selling.
In Asia, major benchmarks extended the decline, with traders wary that global equities may have run up too quickly in recent months.
In fixed income, U.S. Treasury yields inched higher, with the 10-year note at 4.10%, after Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee warned that the U.S. government shutdown is impeding the Fed’s visibility on inflation, complicating rate policy decisions.
In UK data, October footfall figures indicated signs of stabilisation, with high streets seeing modest growth despite ongoing cost pressures.
On the corporate front, reports suggested Comcast is exploring a potential takeover of ITV’s media division, with plans to merge it with Sky to create a stronger UK streaming platform capable of competing with global rivals.
In commodities, gold rose to $4,005 an ounce, while Brent crude firmed to $64 a barrel, ahead of key economic data releases later today from Canada, Germany, the UK, and the U.S.
