London open: FTSE edges lower after US tech selloff; retail sales in focus

23rd Oct 2026 07:44

(Sharecast News) - London stocks edged lower in early trade on Friday following a tech selloff on Wall Street, as investors mulled a bigger-than-expected drop in UK retail sales and a plunge in consumer confidence.

At 0840 BST, the FTSE 100 was down 0.2% at 10,708.60, while Brent crude was up 1% at $113.32 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate was 1.3% firmer at $100.71 amid reports the US and Israel are planning renewed military strikes on Iran after the midterm elections.

Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, commented: "The tech-heavy Nasdaq fell sharply as the mounting chorus of AI spending concerns threatened to turn into a cacophony."

He said "tech grabbed the headlines" as the S&P500 and Nasdaq suffered. "Meta Platforms spooked investors, even after exceeding revenue expectations and providing upbeat guidance, as the company revealed that it would be creating a new class of stock to raise funds for the 'hundreds of billions of dollars' for further capital expenditure. Quite apart from any dilutive effect on existing shareholders, the Nvidia CEO added that demand for neoclouds was 'off the charts', but growth was being impeded by an increasing scarcity of capital.

"The combined red flags sent Meta Platform shares down by 7%, while Nvidia fell 4% which was a disproportionate weight on the indices. There were also steep declines elsewhere in the broad sector, with falls of more than 8% for Advanced Micro Devices, 6% for Micron Technology and 10% for CoreWeave. With competition for capital high and increasingly expensive, the AI trade has hit the buffers more recently as investors question the likely return on capital required to justify this spend - and over what timeframe - despite there being strong signs of growth in selected shares across the space.

"Although shielded from much of the current technology noise, the FTSE 100 opened slightly lower as sentiment was tainted by the latest retail sales release."

Figures from the Office for National Statistics showed that retail sales fell 0.4% in September following a 0.7% rise the month before, and versus expectations for a smaller decline of 0.1%.

In the three months to September, sales were up 0.7% compared with the three months to June.

ONS senior statistician Hannah Finselbach said: "Retail sales grew in the latest quarter with growth led by motor fuel which, despite recent price increases at the pump, have now returned to monthly sales levels last seen before the start of the conflict in the Middle East.

"Food and drink sales also contributed to growth in the quarter, partly helped by the warm weather and the World Cup, although they fell back slightly in September."

Also on Friday a survey from GfK showed that consumer confidence plunged in October to the greatest extent since the onset of the Covid pandemic.

GfK's long-running consumer confidence index fell 11 points from September to -24, with all five confidence measures down.

Excluding a 25-point slide at the onset of Covid, this marked the steepest fall since the Brexit vote in 2016.

The index for personal finances over the last 12 months declined to -10 in October from -3 the month before, while the gauge tracking expectations for personal finances over the next year fell to -3 this month from 5 in September.

The measure for the general economic situation over the last 12 months was 12 points lower at -48, while the index for the general situation over the next year deteriorated to -36 in October from -22 in September.

The major purchase index came in at -22 this month, down from -8 in September.

The savings index, which is not included in the overall index score, ticked one point higher to 28.

Neil Bellamy, consumer insights director at GfK, an NIQ company, said there had been "an extraordinary collapse" in consumer confidence.

"The last time we saw an 11-point drop was in July 2016, following the Brexit vote. In recent years, only the onset of the Covid pandemic saw a larger fall (down 25 points)," he said. "While all measures are lower, the two largest decreases are in expectations for the wider UK economy in the coming year and the intention to make major purchases, both slumping by 14 points. With no single major economic event driving the decline, and with weakness seen across the full spectrum of income, age and gender demographic groups, these are damaging findings given the UK government's priority of economic growth.

"Relentless cost-of-living pressures, against an international backdrop of unresolved regional conflicts that are themselves contributing to domestic inflation now at 3.5%, appear to have swept aside the nascent optimism we saw following the appointment of a new UK prime minister this summer. Headline consumer confidence is now back to the level seen in April, May and June of this year and the summer's buoyant mood has evaporated. The speed of this deterioration is alarming."

In equity markets, Anglo American rallied after an upgrade to 'buy' at Bank of America.

BP and Shell were also in the black as oil prices rose, while student accommodation provider Unite Group edged up after agreeing to sell the academy school at its newly-completed Hawthorne House development in London for £40.7m.

On the downside, Eurowag tumbled after TA Associates sold its remaining stake in the payments processor in a placing.

Rio Tinto nudged lower after saying it will invest $1.9bn in the Kangwinan bauxite project in Queensland, Australia, adding 20m tonnes of annual production capacity as it looks to maintain its position as a leading global bauxite producer. First output is targeted for 2029, with full production expected by 2032.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 10,708.60 -0.15%

FTSE 250 (MCX) 24,201.69 -0.04%

techMARK (TASX) 6,209.06 -0.56%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Anglo American (AAL) 3,700.00p 2.09%

Ithaca Energy (ITH) 295.50p 1.97%

BP (BP.) 623.00p 1.91%

Antofagasta (ANTO) 3,071.00p 1.72%

Weir (WEIR) 2,496.00p 1.30%

Shell (SHEL) 3,933.00p 1.27%

Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,142.50p 1.15%

Lion Finance Group (BGEO) 12,220.00p 0.99%

Barratt Redrow (BTRW) 324.70p 0.90%

Spirax Group (SPX) 7,275.00p 0.83%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

The Sage Group (SGE) 1,174.00p -1.76%

Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 1,228.40p -1.73%

Fresnillo (FRES) 2,420.00p -1.62%

Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,065.50p -1.56%

Informa (INF) 835.40p -1.46%

IG Group Holdings (IGG) 949.50p -1.45%

JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 89.82p -1.40%

WPP (WPP) 391.10p -1.34%

Experian (EXPN) 3,058.00p -1.26%

International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 403.70p -1.17%

FTSE 250 - Risers

EnQuest (ENQ) 31.75p 3.57%

Energean (ENOG) 739.00p 3.27%

Harbour Energy (HBR) 303.20p 3.05%

Diversified Energy Company (DI) (DEC) 1,092.00p 3.03%

Inchcape (INCH) 642.00p 2.40%

Victrex plc (VCT) 919.00p 2.34%

IntegraFin Holding (IHP) 370.50p 2.15%

Breedon Group (BREE) 330.60p 2.09%

Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 227.00p 2.02%

Raspberry PI Holdings (RPI) 566.25p 1.96%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

W.A.G Payment Solutions (EWG) 100.20p -8.41%

AO World (AO.) 88.90p -4.72%

IP Group (IPO) 67.00p -4.15%

Baltic Classifieds Group (BCG) 2.27p -4.14%

Ninety One (N91) 191.40p -3.82%

Zigup (ZIG) 459.50p -3.26%

Lancashire Holdings Limited (LRE) 675.00p -2.60%

Trainline (TRN) 221.00p -2.39%

PPHE Hotel Group Ltd (PPH) 1,444.00p -2.04%

Auction Technology Group (ATG) 473.80p -1.90%