FTSE 100 Live: FTSE 100 slides as Wall Street turns mixed

The Dow Jones Industrial Average came under selling pressure immediately after the open, slipping into negative territory within minutes and trading 0.06% lower at 51,744 by 9:31am ET.

Post afternoon, the FTSE 100 continues to be under significantly heavier selling pressure than the FTSE 250, falling 134.56 points, or 1.24%, to 10,681.58, compared with a 0.35% decline in the mid-cap index.

The FTSE 100 is also bearing the brunt of Friday's profit-taking, while the slight decline in the FTSE 250 indicates that selling pressure is less broad-based across UK equities.

US markets opened slightly higher despite flat industrial production in August.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 48.7 points, or 0.09%, at the open to 51,826.78, while the S&P 500 gained 19.4 points, or 0.25%, to 7,657.17.

The Nasdaq Composite rose 103.8 points, or 0.39%, to 26,522.09, with technology stocks leading the early gains.

US industrial production was unchanged in August after rising 0.2% in July, while manufacturing output fell 0.3%. This was below market expectations.

Year on year, total industrial production was 1.4% for August 2026.

Total industrial production stood at 103.1% of its 2017 average in August, 1.4% higher than a year earlier, while capacity utilisation remained unchanged at 76.3%.

A stronger-than-expected industrial production reading is generally positive for the US dollar, as it can signal stronger economic activity and support expectations for corporate earnings.

The crypto market is showing strong gains among several altcoins, with Gravity, NEAR Protocol and Arbitrum among the biggest daily risers, while Bitcoin remains the dominant asset by market capitalisation.

The sector got a boost yesterday after the Securities and Exchange Commission introduced new rules aimed at easing regulatory uncertainty.

Gold prices rose to a one-week high on Friday and were heading for their first weekly gain in four weeks as falling oil prices eased inflation concerns, although a stronger US dollar capped the advance.

Spot gold rose 0.7% to $4,372.27 an ounce, after reaching its highest level since 11 September earlier in the session, leaving it 0.6% higher for the week.

The FTSE 100 is bearing the brunt of the selling, falling 1.05% to 10,702.78, while the FTSE 250 is down just 0.22% at 24,297.37.

The widening gap shows the large-cap shares are facing substantially heavier pressure than mid-caps, consistent with the weakness in banks and energy stocks that has been weighing on the FTSE 100.

US stock futures are pointing to a modestly firmer Wall Street open, with Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.15% at 29,786.50.

The tone remains cautious rather than strongly bullish, with investors weighing lower oil prices and easing inflation concerns against the Federal Reserve's latest rate increase and signals that borrowing costs could remain high.

Panmure Liberum: Wizz Air ( Wizz Air Holdings PLC (AIM:WIZZ) ) 'sell' maintained, target raised to 700p from 600p

RBC Capital Markets: Vistry Group ( Vistry Group PLC (LSE:VTY) ) 'underperform' maintained, 180p target vs 271.6p share price

Deutsche Bank: Wickes ( Wickes Group PLC (LSE:WIX) ) upgraded to 'hold' from 'sell', target raised to 210p from 165p

Cavendish: Mothercare forecasts for FY2028/29 withdrawn; 7p target under review due to uncertain outlook, current year forecasts retained

The FTSE 100 is down 0.91%, almost 99 points, showing that selling pressure remains.

The FTSE 250 has slipped into negative territory, falling 4.27 points, or just 0.02%, to 24,347 after being marginally higher earlier.

This suggests the earlier resilience in mid-cap shares has faded.

The FTSE 250's leading risers remain concentrated in technology, growth and industrial stocks, although the index as a whole has slipped marginally into negative territory.

Ocado Group PLC (LSE:OCDO) leads the group, rising 5.5%, while Trustpilot Group PLC (LSE:TRST), Raspberry Pi Holdings PLC (LSE:RPI) and Oxford Nanopore Technologies PLC (LSE:ONT) all gain more than 4%, pointing to strong buying across technology and digitally focused growth stocks.

Hill & Smith Holdings PLC (LSE:HILS), Kier Group PLC (LSE:KIE) and Avon Technologies PLC (LSE:AVON) are also up more than 3%, adding industrial, infrastructure and defence exposure to the advance.

US markets face a busy final session of the week later on Friday, with US industrial production data, Federal Reserve officials' speeches and fresh positioning data due to shape expectations for economic growth and interest rates.

The industrial production figures will provide a reading on activity across the manufacturing, mining and utilities sectors, while comments from Fed policymakers could offer further clues on the path for monetary policy.

Investors will also assess the weekly Commitments of Traders data, which tracks speculative positions across major futures markets including crude oil, gold, copper and US equity indices.

The releases come after the Federal Reserve raised interest rates earlier this week, making policymakers' comments particularly relevant as markets assess the prospect of further tightening.

Corporate America's earnings strength is not a bubble, says Goldman Sachs strategist David Snider as quoted in a Bloomberg report.

He highlights that profits at S&P 500 firms surged roughly 30% in the first two quarters of 2026, among the strongest results on record.

The boom is fueled by a resilient economic outlook and artificial intelligence growth.

Full-year expectations are the highest since the post-Covid rebound in 2021, suggesting fears of unsustainable earnings are misplaced.

Brent crude futures fell 1.5% to $103.22 a barrel on Friday afternoon, extending their decline for a third session as expectations of a partial recovery in Saudi oil supplies eased concerns over disruptions.

Saudi Arabia is seeking to restore about half the capacity of its damaged East-West pipeline within days, with full operations expected to resume within roughly six weeks, according to reports.

GBP/USD is trading at $1.33454, down 0.10%, showing that sterling remains under pressure against the dollar despite stronger-than-expected UK retail sales.

The move keeps the pound close to a seven-week low, with the pair having fallen sharply earlier in the week as the US Federal Reserve raised interest rates while the Bank of England held its rate at 3.75%.