The FTSE 100 ended lower on Friday while technology stocks fell as the New York Times reported OpenAI may delay its initial public offer.
The FTSE 100 closed down 21.87 points, or 0.2%, at 10,508.02. The FTSE 250 ended down 14.22 points, 0.1%, at 23,147.19, and the AIM All-Share fell 1.57 points, 0.2%, to 770.35.
For the week, the FTSE 100 rose 1.4%, the FTSE 250 was 0.2% lower and the AIM All-Share was down 3.4%.
In European equity markets on Friday, the CAC 40 in Paris ended down 0.6%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt fell 1.3%.
In New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.2%, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite were 0.1% lower.
Technology stocks pulled back on Thursday in the US, and on Friday in Asia and Europe, after Apple and Microsoft raised prices for products amid rising costs.
The iPhone maker Apple cited component price increases, including raised memory costs, behind its near 20% price hike. Microsoft lifted the price of an Xbox, blaming the rising cost of console storage and memory.
In Asia, South Korea’s Kospi closed down 5.8% after a volatile week for chip giant and market heavyweight SK hynix, whose share price shed 8.4% on Friday. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 fell 4.2% with tech investment giant SoftBank plunging 13%.
Stephen Innes at SPI Investment Management said the AI trade is “widening” and “consumers may increasingly be asked to fund the bill”.
“The AI buildout is rapidly becoming a new source of cost pressure across the economy, and it is no longer confined to a few expensive Nvidia chips or hyperscaler earnings calls.
“The appetite for compute is pulling through demand for memory, storage, power, transformers, cooling systems, fibre, generators and skilled electrical labour. This is what happens when a digital revolution runs headlong into a very physical world.”
In addition, the New York Times reported OpenAI is looking at pushing its listing back from late this year into 2027 over fears it will not attract enough interest to give it a one trillion dollar listing.
Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, said the delay has weighed on the market mood, although she noted there were already concerns that the market could not absorb this amount of equity issuance, especially on the back of the SpaceX listing.
“If OpenAI and Anthropic stagger their IPOs over the next 18 months or so, the market may be better placed to absorb these new listings,” she said.
The pound traded at 1.3216 dollars on Friday afternoon, higher from 1.3213 dollars on Thursday. Against the euro, sterling ebbed to 1.1588 euros from 1.1604 euros on Thursday.
The euro traded higher against the greenback, at 1.1406 dollars on Friday against 1.1387 dollars on Thursday. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at 161.64 yen, little changed from 161.63 yen on Thursday.
The US 10-year Treasury yield traded at 4.37% on Friday, narrowed from 4.39% on Thursday. The US 30-year Treasury yield traded at 4.86%, stretched from 4.85% on Thursday.
On the FTSE 100, investors favoured defensive stocks amid the sell-off with tobacco firms British American Tobacco (BAT) and Imperial Brands up 1.1% and 0.8% respectively.
Continuing the theme, food retailers Tesco and J Sainsbury were up 1.1% and 1.5% respectively.
BAT announced plans to start a new share buyback, saying it starts next Tuesday and ends on July 29.
Fallers were broad-based. Speciality chemicals manufacturer Croda fell 4.9%, miner Glencore dipped 1.3%, Premier Inn owner Whitbread declined 2.9% and lender Barclays eased 2.0%.
Housebuilders were mostly lower amid reports Andy Burnham, the likely next UK prime minister, is considering an overhaul of the UK property tax system in that he will look to replace council tax and stamp duty paid with a single annual property tax.
JPMorgan analyst Zaim Beekawa thinks the removal of stamp duty would likely be positive for transactions, but in the short term the continued speculation on changes may weigh on activity as customers may wait to see what could come before buying a property.
Barratt Redrow was down 1.3%, with Persimmon down 1.7%. Berkeley Group fell 3.6% further hit by a downgrade by Berenberg.
The broker moved its rating to ‘hold’ from ‘buy’, noting Berkeley Group’s relative outperformance means the valuation and upside are less compelling than other opportunities in sector.
Oil prices continued their downward trend, heading towards 70 dollars a barrel. Brent crude for August delivery traded lower at 71.49 dollars a barrel on Friday, down from 74.42 dollars on Thursday.
Fears eased after an attack on a vessel in the Strait of Hormuz. The cargo ship, reported by US media to have been hit by Iran, resumed its transit through the strait with the crew, vessel and cargo “unharmed”, according to Taiwanese shipping operator Evergreen Marine.
AJ Bell head of financial analysis Danni Hewson said the strike offered a reminder to take “nothing for granted despite the increase in shipping flows through the Strait of Hormuz”.
Gold traded at 4,085.63 dollars an ounce on Friday, up from 4,025.66 dollars on Thursday.
David Morrison at Trade Nation said: “Bulls will now be hoping that the area around 4,000 dollars now acts as support. But in the same way that the dollar was overdue a pullback, gold was overdue a rebound. Consequently, it may be too early to sound the ‘all clear’.”
The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Endeavour Mining, up 109.0p at 3,852.0p, Coca-Cola HBC, up 130.0p at 4,890.0p, Sage Group, up 21.4p at 817.6p, Burberry, up 25.5p at 1,108.5p and Reckitt Benckiser, up 104.0p at 4,931.0p.
The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Croda International, down 155.0p at 3,020.0p, Whitbread, down 72.0p at 2,455.0p, Airtel Africa, down 8.8p at 334.2p, Polar Capital Technology Trust, down 18.0p at 690.0p and BP, down 11.45p at 469.40p.
Monday’s global economic calendar has retail sales figures in Japan overnight and UK mortgage approvals data.
Next week’s local corporate calendar has trading statements from grocer J Sainsbury and Primark owner Associated British Foods.
Contributed by Alliance News
