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Richard Hunter, of the broker Interactive Investor, thinks there could be a gloomy mood over markets this Halloween. He said:
In the tech space, Meta Platforms dropped by more than 11% in response to increasing concerns over the level of AI spending, where the company revealed that it was looking to raise $25 billion for the purpose. Microsoft shares dropped by 3% on similar concerns, despite an otherwise highly positive earnings report.
…The mood was also sombre as investors digested the previous comments from Fed Chair Powell, who poured cold water over the probability of a further rate cut in December which markets had priced in.
…The mixed market mood from overseas weighed on the FTSE100 at the open, although the premier index remains close to record highs. WPP failed to find any friends with another share price decline following yesterday’s sharp sell-off, while Standard Chartered, HSBC and Burberry felt some pressure on the weak Chinese economic outlook.”
UK stock market falls at the open
The FTSE 100 has slipped 0.2% at the open, retreating from its recent record. Fresnillo is the best performer across the index, up 1.6%.
WPP is still at the bottom, with its shares falling a further 1.9% this morning after it slashed its sales growth guidance for the year yesterday and its boss called its recent performance “unacceptable”. Its shares fell yesterday to their lowest level since 1998.
Gold miner Fresnillo buys Canadian rival for £424m
On the corporate front this morning, the metals miner Fresnillo has announced it will buy Probe, the Canadian gold mining company, for $780m in Canadian dollars (about £424m).
Shares in the FTSE 100 miner have risen by more than 240% this year, making it the best performer across the whole index, boosted by the steady rise of the price of gold. Fresnillo, which is listed in London but headquartered in Mexico City, operates gold and silver mines across Mexico.
Introduction: UK house prices rise in October
Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy.
Some good news for homeowners this morning as UK house price growth unexpectedly grew in October.
House prices rose by 0.3% over the past month, a deceleration compared with a 0.5% rise in September, according to Nationwide Building Society. But it is still better than expected by analysts, who had forecast that prices would be flat.
Property prices are 2.4% higher compared with a year ago, and now stand at an average of £272,226.
Robert Gardner, chief economist at Nationwide, said:
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.
Looking forward, housing affordability is likely to improve modestly if income growth continues to outpace house price growth as we expect. Borrowing costs are also likely to moderate a little further if bank rate is lowered again in the coming quarters.”
Alice Haine, an analyst at the investment platform Bestinvest, added the slowdown in house price growth suggests that buyers and sellers are adopting a “wait and see” approach ahead of the budget on 26 November. She said:
Among the myriad of proposals reportedly under consideration is a ‘mansion tax’ on homes valued over £2 million. Council tax reform, capital gains tax applied to the sale of high-value residences and replacing stamp duty with an annual property tax are also on the table. Even landlords are under pressure once again, despite already grappling with higher taxation and tighter regulation, with speculation that National Insurance (NI) may be applied to rental income – yet another hit for the private rental sector.
…With so many property tax changes in the mix, buyer demand has slowed, but the number of homes up for sale has risen, placing those still hunting for a home in a stronger position. Some sellers, keen to move fast, may not only price their homes more competitively but also be more amenable to negotiation.”
Elsewhere overnight, the biggest news came from US tech giants Apple and Amazon.
Both companies reported better-than-expected results yesterday, thanks to record-breaking iPhone sales at Apple and huge demand for cloud computing at Amazon.
The results should put investors in the US in a good mood later this afternoon, but they appear to have had a mixed effect over in Asia: in Japan, the Nikkei 225 index rose by 2%, while shares in South Korea also rose.
But shares in China fell on Friday after the electric car brand BYD reported a 33% drop in its third quarter profit. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 lost some of its early gains, dropping by about 0.1% . Taiwan’s Taiex and India’s BSE Sensex were also down.
The Agenda
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9.30am GMT: ONS national accounts
