FTSE 100 ends week in the red as investors look to upcoming Budget
Chancellor Rachel Reeves will deliver the spending statement on October 30, with several tax hikes mooted.
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The FTSE 100 fell slightly on Friday, ending the week more than 1% down as investors focused on next week’s autumn Budget.
London’s blue-chip index fell 20.54 points, or 0.25%, to end the day at 8248.84.
The index started the day in the red amid weakness in the energy and housebuilding sectors. While it swung positive several times during the day, the FTSE ended slightly down.
Russ Mould, analyst at AJ Bell, said it came after “pretty dire figures on consumer confidence with households in a downbeat mood ahead of next week’s Budget and the long-heralded ‘difficult decisions’ it might contain”.
At the end of the day in Europe, Frankfurt’s Dax index had risen 0.02%, while the Cac 40 in Paris had closed down 0.09%.
In New York, a little after markets had closed in Europe, the S&P 500 had gained 0.47%, while the Dow Jones was 0.19% lower.
On currency markets the pound gained 0.04% against the dollar at 1.298 and rose 0.16% against the euro at 1.2003.
In company news, NatWest revealed it made an operating pre-tax profit of £1.7 billion between July and September, 26% higher than the £1.3 billion at this time last year.
The increase was partly driven by an increase in lending and the amount of money customers deposited.
It joined high street rivals Lloyds and Barclays in unveiling higher profits than analysts were expecting this week, as the banking sector continues to strengthen as interest rates start to fall.
NatWest shares rose 0.58%.
Boohoo cautioned investors over Frasers Group’s recent demand to make its founder Mike Ashley the chief executive of the struggling online fashion firm.
London-listed Boohoo said on Friday that the call by Frasers Group, which is a major investor in Boohoo, “requires careful consideration”, partly because Frasers also owns a major stake in competitor Asos.
On October 24, Frasers – which is Boohoo’s largest shareholder with a 27% stake – called for a meeting of Boohoo investors to back its plans to appoint Mr Ashley.
Boohoo shares rose 6%.
Brent Crude Futures were up 2.205% to 76.020 US dollars at the close of trading.
The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Mondi, up 28p to 1272p, Anglo American, up 44p to 2434.5p, Rio Tinto, up 87.5p to 5022p, Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust, up 14.6p to 877p, and Glencore, up 6.1p to 404.2p.
The biggest fallers were Lloyds, down 4.54p to 57.66p, Airtel Africa, down 6.6p to 108.6p, Smith & Nephew, down 34p to 1088p, Barclays, down 6.65p to 241.4p, and Aviva, down 11.2p to 462.6p.