London's FTSE 100 fell 1.01 percent to 10,673.94 on Friday 6 November 2026, recovering much of a steep intraday plunge as a rebound on Wall Street eased a global sell-off in technology shares.

The index opened flat at 10,784.16 but slid within minutes and reached a low of 10,528.07 in the morning, a fall of about 254 points or 2.35 percent. At midday it was on course for its worst session since mid-March. Short covering and profit-taking on bearish positions then trimmed the losses into the weekend, leaving the index down 108.72 points on the day and about 0.5 percent lower for the week.

The trigger was Thursday's rout on Wall Street, its worst session since April 2025, when the Nasdaq fell 5.5 percent and the S&P 500 dropped 4.4 percent after Democrats won control of both chambers of the US Congress. Investors feared tighter regulation of artificial intelligence, slower data-centre construction and leaner capital spending by the big technology companies known as hyperscalers. Around 2.5 trillion dollars of value was lost from a major US index in a single day, and Asian markets then plunged overnight, with Japan's Nikkei down more than 6 percent.

The FTSE 100 has limited direct exposure to large technology companies, but Friday showed how a global de-risking wave reaches every market. Losses were remarkably broad. Traditionally defensive sectors such as pharmaceuticals, personal care and drug and grocery retailers each slid about 3.5 percent at their worst. Energy shares fell about 2.5 percent at midday as oil prices slipped, with Brent crude trading near 97 dollars a barrel. The only meaningful sector gain came from precious metals miners, which rose about 1.2 percent as investors sought hard-asset protection.

BT Group was the biggest FTSE 100 faller, down 5.86 percent to 217p. Airtel Africa fell 4.01 percent, Hiscox dropped 3.38 percent, Sage lost 3.20 percent, British American Tobacco fell 3.18 percent and Next slipped 3.16 percent. London Stock Exchange Group fell 2.85 percent and National Grid dropped 2.80 percent. In the FTSE 250, Man Group tumbled 7.65 percent after the High Court ruled that the investment manager could have to pay around 155 million dollars for its part in a corruption case involving Kuwait's state pension fund.

There were risers too. Rolls-Royce gained 2.89 percent to 1,261.20p, Coca-Cola HBC rose 3.36 percent after saying it had received no notification from the Russian government of any changes to its Russian business, and Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust climbed 2.51 percent after reporting a sharp increase in net asset value. IAG, the owner of British Airways, rose 1.52 percent after reporting lower third-quarter profit but increasing its dividend and pressing ahead with its share buyback programme. The FTSE 250 ended 0.80 percent lower at 24,504.32.

Investors were also digesting a stronger-than-expected US jobs report. Non-farm payrolls increased by 165,000 in October, well ahead of consensus expectations for a 65,000 rise and more than double September's upwardly revised gain of 60,000. The unemployment rate dipped to 4.1 percent from 4.2 percent, and average hourly earnings rose 0.4 percent month on month to 38 dollars, with annual wage growth accelerating to 3.1 percent. The figures strengthened the case for a December rate hike by the US Federal Reserve.

Domestic news was negative as well. UK house prices recorded their largest annual decline in three years in October, falling 1.2 percent year on year against expectations of a 0.3 percent drop, and 0.6 percent on the month. Greater London was weakest, with prices down 3.1 percent annually. The figures came a day after the Bank of England raised Bank Rate by 25 basis points to 4 percent on Thursday 5 November, its first rate hike in three years.

Retail footfall also fell sharply in October, down 4.7 percent on the year according to the British Retail Consortium, with high streets the worst hit due to stormy weather. Sterling fell about 0.6 percent to near 1.337 dollars, while holding steady at about 1.198 against the euro.

Across Europe, markets closed lower but well off their lows. France's CAC 40 fell 0.81 percent to 8,139.00, Germany's DAX 40 dropped 1.92 percent to 25,820.36 a day after a record high, and Milan's FTSE MIB slipped 0.90 percent to 50,052.96. Key events next week include results from Vodafone, Rolls-Royce and Taylor Wimpey, UK labour market data and US inflation figures.