\n\tFTSE 100 up 28\u00a0points at\u00a010,600
\n\tBurberry sinks 5.4%
\n\tTech stocks continue to sell off
\n\tBrent crude eyes $85\/bbl
<\/p>\n
5.15pm: In the green<\/p>\n
London stocks finished Friday\u2019s session higher, adding 28 points at 10,600. Meanwhile, US stocks were on track for a negative week as investors turned away from tech stocks.<\/p>\n
\u201cMajor US indices are heading for a weekly loss as the broad technology sell-off gathered pace, with stretched AI valuations and concerns over future spending dragging chipmakers lower, while SpaceX’s slide below its IPO price underscored the market’s waning appetite for high-growth names,\u201d IG chief technical analyst Axel Rudolph said.<\/p>\n
\u201cUS data was mixed with unexpectedly rising import prices, housing starts soaring to their highest level in three months and US industrial output growth coming in slightly weaker than expected while consumer sentiment topped forecasts.”<\/p>\n
3.10pm: Wall Street lurches lower<\/p>\n
The FTSE 100 held onto modest gains on Friday, standing apart from a heavy session on Wall Street.<\/p>\n
US stocks fell, leaving the major indices on course for weekly losses as the semiconductor sell-off deepened.<\/p>\n
The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1%, the S&P 500 fell around 0.8% and the Nasdaq Composite shed about 1.6%.<\/p>\n
The PHLX Semiconductor Index tumbled more than 3%, entering a bear market, after Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 4%.<\/p>\n
The tech-led rally from March lows has stalled as investors question the scale of corporate spending on artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n
Adding to the jitters, China’s Moonshot unveiled Kimi K3, an open model it says is the world’s largest.<\/p>\n
Netflix dropped 12% in early trading after third-quarter revenue guidance fell short, with the streaming group citing a “dynamic and competitive” entertainment landscape.<\/p>\n
1.30pm: level-par<\/p>\n
The FTSE 100 was treading water on Friday as London shrugged off a fresh bout of selling in US technology stocks.<\/p>\n
Wall Street looks set to end the day in the red, with futures pointing lower and the major US indices on course for weekly losses as the semiconductor sell-off rolled on.<\/p>\n
Dow Jones futures slipped 0.6% and S&P 500 contracts dropped around 0.8%.<\/p>\n
Nasdaq-100 futures were the weakest, down about 1.6%, after a soft session on Wall Street and the launch of the world’s most powerful open AI model by China’s Moonshot.<\/p>\n
Netflix shed more than 10% in premarket trading after third-quarter revenue guidance fell short, with the streaming group pointing to a “dynamic and competitive” entertainment landscape.<\/p>\n
The tech-led rally from March lows has stalled as investors question the scale of corporate spending on artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n
The PHLX Semiconductor Index tumbled over 4% on Thursday, and Japan’s Nikkei 225 followed with a 4% fall.<\/p>\n
Truist Financial and Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ:FITB)<\/a> close out the week’s earnings, alongside the University of Michigan consumer sentiment reading.<\/p>\n 12.12pm: Listless drift<\/p>\n A listless session has seen London stocks fall marginally deeper into the red, with the top stocks index down 19 points at\u00a010,553.<\/p>\n Elsewhere,\u00a0Panmure Liberum has upgraded\u00a0Dunelm\u00a0to ‘hold’ from ‘sell’ and nudged its target price up to 820p from 810p, saying the homewares retailer’s fourth quarter brought relief that trading did not deteriorate further.<\/p>\n The broker described the outcome as respectable given challenging conditions and adverse weather, though it remains cautious about calling the turn after weaker news flow through the second and third quarters.<\/p>\n Fourth-quarter sales rose 2.9% to \u00a3428 million, an improvement on the weaker third-quarter exit rate, when Panmure Liberum estimates sales were declining by around 1% following a broad-based softening in March.<\/p>\n Growth was achieved despite two weeks of exceptionally warm weather reducing store footfall.<\/p>\n 10.30am: FTSE 100 capitulates<\/p>\n The FTSE 100 has dipped into the red as the morning progresses and is now 4 points lower at\u00a010,567.79, with early signs of a poor start to the day for US stocks.<\/p>\n Wall Street futures are pointing to a 2% decline for the Nasdaq when trading gets underway in a few hours’ time, while those for the S&P 500 are down 1% and Dow Jones futures are 0.7% lower.\u00a0<\/p>\n “The market is ending the week with two bruises: AI fatigue and Hormuz heat,” commented\u00a0Tickmill Group’s\u00a0Patrick Munnelly. “The semiconductor selloff has gone from profit-taking to position-clearing, dragging Asia toward its worst levels in months, while Brent\u2019s rebound toward $85\/bbl keeps the inflation-risk premium alive.”<\/p>\n Munnelly noted that soft US CPI and PPI data this week were enough to cool expectations for interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve,\u00a0but not enough to boost sentiment.<\/p>\n “The message from markets is blunt: rate expectations have softened, but risk appetite has not been rescued,” he added.<\/p>\n 9.45am: Footsie loses ground<\/p>\n Mid-morning, the FTSE 100 has given up most of its early gains and is now just 10 points higher at\u00a010,581.88. Still, it’s faring better than its European counterparts, with Frankfurt’s DAX down 0.7% and the Paris CAC 40 shedding 0.8%.<\/p>\n “The FTSE 100 managed to shake off a big sell-off in Asian markets to trade modestly higher on Friday morning,\u201d said\u00a0AJ Bell’s\u00a0Russ Mould.\u00a0\u201cThe index\u2019s contingent of defensive utilities and tobacco stocks, as well as its big energy names, helped it advance when many of its global counterparts are stuck in the mud.”<\/p>\n A better indicator of the local market may be the FTSE 250, which is 0.6% weaker at\u00a023,582.45.<\/p>\n \u201cWith sentiment brittle, investors are becoming increasingly wary of valuations in the AI and technology sector \u2013 most notably in the memory chip space, where share prices have surged to unprecedented levels this year,” Mould added.\u00a0\u201cThis is particularly evident in Asian markets, which have also had to absorb weak Chinese growth figures this week and which are particularly exposed to disruptions to global energy supply.\u201d<\/p>\n 9.15am: No semis to worry about\u00a0<\/p>\n The FTSE 100 continues to trade higher, with “no semis to worry about,” according to Neil Wilson at\u00a0Saxo Markets.\u00a0London’s blue chip index is now up 38 points at\u00a010,610.45.<\/p>\n Elsewhere, the picture is not as pretty.\u00a0<\/p>\n “We’re seeing a bit of a shakeout in markets led by semiconductor stocks,” Wilson noted. “Asia took the cue from a sharp fall on Wall Street, with the Nikkei 225 down 4%, while the Kospi would have been rattled had it not been for a holiday.”<\/p>\n The\u00a0S&P 500\u00a0fell 0.5% on Thursday, after a slide in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (ADR) (NYSE:TSM)<\/a> following its latest earnings\u00a0weighed on the chip sector.\u00a0Semis led\u00a0the\u00a0Nasdaq Composite down 1.5%, while the Nasdaq-100 broke down further below its 50-day moving average and fell below recent\u00a0horizontal support under 29k.\u00a0TSMC slumped 7% in Taiwan.\u00a0<\/p>\n Vodafone is lending its weight to the Footsie this morning, now up 3.7%, while\u00a0Severn Trent PLC (LSE:SVT)<\/a>\u00a0has picked up 3%.<\/p>\n Tech investors Polar Capital<\/a> Technology Trust and Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust\u00a0are still amongst the biggest losers, down 3.7% and 3.3% respectively.<\/p>\n Burberry has overtaken them, though, sagging 5.4%, as “investors weighed steady but unspectacular progress in the group\u2019s turnaround,” according to etoro market analyst Adam Vettese.<\/p>\n “The market had hoped for clearer evidence of accelerating momentum or more bullish commentary on the outlook,” Vettese added. “With store traffic remaining challenging and the macro environment still uncertain, the update was viewed as in-line rather than a catalyst for upgrades.”<\/p>\n 8.15am: Positive start for the Footsie\u00a0<\/p>\n The FTSE 100 has shrugged off a global sell-off tech and AI-related stocks, rising 16 points to\u00a010,588.36 in the first 15 minutes of trading.\u00a0<\/p>\n Cigarette-makers\u00a0British American Tobacco PLC (LSE:BATS)<\/a>\u00a0and Imperial Brands PLC (LSE:IMB)<\/a>\u00a0led the charge, gaining 3.1% and 1.8% respectively. Information and analytics group\u00a0RELX PLC (LSE:REL)<\/a>\u00a0rose 1.4%, while\u00a0Vodafone Group PLC (LSE:VOD)<\/a>\u00a0and drinks group\u00a0Diageo PLC (LSE:DGE)<\/a>\u00a0both added 1.2%.<\/p>\n On the loser board, Polar Capital Technology Trust PLC (LSE:PCT)<\/a>\u00a0and Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust PLC (LSE:SMT)<\/a>\u00a0bore the brunt of the shift out of technology stocks, sinking 3.3% and 2.5% respectively.\u00a0Antofagasta PLC (LSE:ANTO)<\/a>\u00a0shed 2.5% and\u00a0St James’s Place PLC (LSE:STJ)<\/a>\u00a0was down 2.1%.\u00a0<\/p>\n