FTSE 100 posts weekly loss as AI jitters spark risk-off move
Nov 6 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 fell 1% on Friday after touching a more than three-week low earlier in the session and registered a weekly decline, as AI jitters following Democrats' capture of the US Congress sparked a broad risk-off move.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 index .FTSE fell 1.01% to 10,673.94 points and was down 0.5% for the week, while the midcap FTSE 250 .FTMC slipped 0.80%, but still eked out a tiny weekly gain.
The Democrats' capture of the US House and Senate earlier this week sparked concerns of AI regulation, a slowdown in data-centre buildouts and hyperscalers tightening their purse strings
The S&P 500 .SPX and the Nasdaq .IXIC indexes traded higher on Friday, after posting on Thursday their sharpest one-day falls since April 2025
"When $2.5 trillion of value is lost from one of the major US stock market indices in a day, it's understandable that investors are feeling on edge," said Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell
The jitters spilled over to global markets, with the European benchmark STOXX 600 .STOXX ending 1% lower .EU
Most sectors in London slid, with precious metal miners .FTNMX551030 being an exception and rising 1.7%
Telecom stocks .FTNMX151020 dropped 3.6%, leading the declines in the index, with BT Group BT.L and Airtel Africa AAF.L sliding 6.4% and 4%, respectively
Traditionally defensive sectors such as pharma .FTNMX201030 and personal care, drug and groceries .FTNMX452010 also slid around 0.6% and 1.7%, respectively, highlighting the breadth of the market retreat
Oil prices slipped on Friday, weighing on energy stocks .FTNMX601010, which ended down 1.6% O/R
Separately, Lloyds said British house prices fell at the fastest annual pace in a year in October as higher mortgage costs weighed on demand
Man Group EMG.L was the biggest faller on the FTSE 250 with a 7.6% drop after Kuwait's public pension fund on Thursday won a lawsuit against the asset manager