The FTSE 100 opened 0.61 points higher at 10,863.7, tracking losses on Wall Street and mixed Asian markets, as investors assess developments in Ukraine peace negotiations and renewed tensions between the US and Iran. Brent crude futures rose 0.41% to USD 96.21 per barrel. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) declined 0.16% to USD 88.60 per barrel.
Sterling traded at USD 1.3228 early Friday, marginally lower than USD 1.3233 when London equities closed on Thursday. Against the euro, sterling fell to EUR 1.1961 from EUR 1.1968 the previous day.
On the upside, Experian rose 0.81% to 2,988.00p, while InterContinental Hotels Group advanced 0.73% to USD 180.35. Unilever climbed 0.46% to 4,951.25p, and Associated British Foods gained 0.35% to 2,013.00p. Sage Group increased 0.34% to 1,177.00p, while Coca-Cola HBC edged up 0.33% to 4,222.00p.
On the downside, 3i Group recorded a 2.10% fall to 2,653.00p, while Anglo American dropped 1.91% to 3,755.00p. St. James's Place slipped 1.68% to 1,140.50p, and Antofagasta declined 1.58% to 3,166.00p. Polar Capital Technology Trust lost 1.44% to 583.00p, while Airtel Africa fell 1.41% to 280.40p.
Landsec more than doubled its profit amid more investment into UK shopping centres. The landowner, which recently bought Metrocentre in Gateshead and upped its stake in Bluewater, said footfall at its ‘best-in-class’ sites is up 1.6% compared to the 0.1% national average.
The firm posted a GBP 243 million pre-tax profit in the six months to September, up from GBP 98 million last year, as it benefited from an GBP 88 million boost to the valuation of its assets.
NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang resigned on Thursday after his extramarital affair raised national security concerns. The company named Colette Kress as interim CEO. She is the current Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. Huang faced growing calls to resign after his affair with an alleged Chinese spy.
Late Wednesday, media reports said Huang had another extramarital affair with an NVIDIA employee who reported to him. The Board of Directors also named its first-ever chairman, Harvey C Jones, an entrepreneur and venture investor on Thursday. NVIDIA shares plunged 10% in premarket trading on the same day.
Microsoft is still working to restore Outlook, Teams and Copilot following a global outage that started on Thursday. The company said recovery efforts had delivered only partial results, with some services remaining unstable.
The disruption, affecting users in 74 countries, threatens to disrupt the working day for UK businesses reliant on Microsoft’s software. Microsoft blamed unexpectedly unavailable servers, ruled out a cyber attack, and has yet to confirm when services will be fully restored.
Also Read: Stock Market Update: Nifty 50 Opens 89.5 Points Lower, Sensex Falls 77.23 Points
In the US, the NASDAQ Composite fell on Thursday as investors assessed the departure of NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang. The tech-heavy index dropped 0.39% to end at 25,366.09, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 189.40 points, or 0.36%, to 52,297.09. The S&P 500 fell 0.35% and closed at 7,592.40.
In Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 rose 0.53% to 61,142.35, while China’s Shanghai Composite edged down by 0.59%. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng declined 1.58%, and South Korea’s Kospi dipped 0.98%. In India, both the Nifty 50 and the Sensex declined by 0.73% and 0.54%, respectively.