London open: Stocks slide as jitters set in ahead of payrolls, Nvidia earnings

18th Nov 2025 08:10

(Sharecast News) - London stocks slid in early trade on Tuesday as ongoing worries about a potential AI bubble and jitters ahead of this week's delayed non-farm payrolls report and third-quarter earnings from US chipmaker Nvidia rattled markets.

At 0840 GMT, the FTSE 100 was down 1% at 9,582.02.

Adding to worries about a potential AI bubble were comments from the head of Google parent Alphabet, who told the BBC no company would be immune if the bubble bursts.

Sundar Pichai said while the growth of AI investment had been an "extraordinary moment", there was some "irrationality" in the current boom in the sector. Asked in an interview with the BBC whether Google would be immune to the impact of the AI bubble bursting, Pichai said the tech giant could weather that potential storm but also issued a warning.

"I think no company is going to be immune, including us," he said. "We can look back at the internet right now," referring to the dotcom crash of 2000. "There was clearly a lot of excess investment, but none of us would question whether the internet was profound."

"I expect AI to be the same. So I think it's both rational and there are elements of irrationality through a moment like this."

Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "The FTSE 100 opened sharply lower, as European markets mirrored Wall Street's risk-off tone, with investors trimming exposure ahead of a heavy week of macro and earnings catalysts. Profit-taking dominated early trade, as sentiment cooled across global equities.

"The S&P 500's Monday winning streak finally broke after starting the previous 10 weeks on the front foot, a rare run seen only three times in history. Stocks drifted lower into the close, as traders shifted to a cautious stance ahead of key catalysts - Nvidia earnings tomorrow evening and the delayed September jobs report on Thursday. With AI optimism colliding with uncertainty over the Fed's next move, pre-event positioning kept risk appetite in check. Longer term investors can stick to their guns, pullbacks are never fun but are often healthy, especially in a market that's showing signs of frothiness.

"Gold extended its slide, underscoring a growing correlation with risk assets as it fell in tandem with equities and even speculative plays like Bitcoin, now below $90,000 for the first time in six months, as markets reassess rate cut hopes. Traditionally a safe haven, gold's new found inability to decouple from other asset classes could tarnish its defensive role heading into year-end."

In equity markets, miners and gold miners were the worst performers, with Fresnillo, Anglo, Antofagasta, Glencore, Hochschild and Endeavour all lower.

Housebuilder Crest Nicholson tanked as it downgraded its full-year profit outlook.

Elsewhere, Convatec slumped after Novo Holdings - which had been its largest shareholder - exited its position in the medical technology firm via a placing of 155m shares.

FirstGroup fell sharply after saying it expects "modest" growth in adjusted earnings per share in FY 2026.

On the upside, ICG surged to the top of the FTSE 100 after French asset manager Amundi agreed to take a near 10% in its British rival. The news came alongside the company's interim numbers, which showed a 6% uplift in fee-earning assets under management, to $84bn.

Imperial Brands also rose as it posted an uplift in sales and earnings, supported by higher prices and growing demand for the tobacco group's range of next general products.

Greencore rallied after saying it had struck a deal to sell its Bristol soups and sauces site to Compleat Food Group to meet regulatory conditions on its Bakkavor takeover as it also posted a jump in annual profit.

Industrial products group Diploma advanced as it delivered better-than-expected results for the fiscal year to 30 September, with organic revenues and profit margins ahead of guidance, helped by higher volumes across all three divisions.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 9,582.02 -0.97%

FTSE 250 (MCX) 21,438.53 -1.15%

techMARK (TASX) 5,503.41 -0.56%

FTSE 100 - Risers

ICG (ICG) 2,030.00p 7.46%

Imperial Brands (IMB) 3,220.00p 2.12%

AstraZeneca (AZN) 13,770.00p 1.31%

British American Tobacco (BATS) 4,194.00p 0.84%

Diploma (DPLM) 5,295.00p 0.67%

Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 679.60p 0.44%

Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 319.40p 0.38%

Tesco (TSCO) 438.80p 0.30%

Unilever (ULVR) 4,476.00p 0.22%

RELX FINANCE BV 3.375% GTD NTS 20/03/33 (BW73) 98.64p 0.00%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Fresnillo (FRES) 2,214.00p -5.30%

Anglo American (AAL) 2,674.00p -4.29%

WPP (WPP) 308.10p -3.75%

Convatec Group (CTEC) 231.60p -3.18%

Antofagasta (ANTO) 2,655.00p -3.03%

Schroders (SDR) 375.80p -2.94%

Glencore (GLEN) 353.30p -2.90%

Barclays (BARC) 399.60p -2.73%

Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 14,335.00p -2.68%

Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,556.50p -2.60%

FTSE 250 - Risers

SDCL Efficiency Income Trust (SEIT) 62.20p 4.19%

Bakkavor Group (BAKK) 224.50p 2.75%

Ruffer Investment Company Ltd Red PTG Pref Shares (RICA) 300.00p 1.69%

Softcat (SCT) 1,461.00p 0.76%

Sirius Real Estate Ltd. (SRE) 96.65p 0.68%

Oakley Capital Investments Limited (DI) (OCI) 571.00p 0.53%

Petershill Partners (PHLL) 313.50p 0.16%

Twentyfour Income Fund Limited Ord Red (TFIF) 112.40p 0.00%

AO World (AO.) 102.20p 0.00%

Merchants Trust (MRCH) 572.00p 0.00%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Hochschild Mining (HOC) 346.60p -6.12%

FirstGroup (FGP) 188.30p -6.04%

Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 57.50p -4.49%

Ceres Power Holdings (CWR) 357.20p -4.29%

Endeavour Mining (EDV) 3,086.00p -3.14%

JPMorgan Japanese Inv Trust (JFJ) 713.00p -3.13%

Great Portland Estates (GPE) 311.50p -3.11%

Diversified Energy Company (DEC) 1,155.00p -3.10%

RHI Magnesita N.V. (DI) (RHIM) 2,335.00p -2.91%

Baillie Gifford Japan Trust (BGFD) 888.00p -2.84%icg