The FTSE 100 was trading at about 10,886 in early trading on Thursday, 12 November 2026, leaving London's leading index roughly 1% below the 11,000 level after European markets closed at record highs the day before.

The index closed on Wednesday, 11 November, up 0.8% at 10,835.47, a gain of 83.88 points, according to Hargreaves Lansdown. The FTSE 250 also rose, ending 0.7% higher at 24,925.04. A market briefing published at 04:30 GMT on Thursday put the FTSE 100 at 10,885.70 in early trading, with 11,000 identified as the next round-number level to watch.

Record close for European stocks

The gains in London were part of a broad advance across Europe. The pan-European STOXX 600 rose 0.7% to 663.05 on Wednesday, a record closing high, while Germany's DAX rose 1.2% to 26,662.77, also a record close and above its previous closing record of 26,599.99 set on 28 August.

France's CAC 40 rose 0.66% to 8,332.87, Italy's FTSE MIB added 0.37% to 51,946.54 and Spain's IBEX 35 climbed 0.46% to 20,027.90.

Technology shares led the advance. Strong results from US cloud provider CoreWeave lifted sentiment across the sector and eased concern about heavy spending on artificial intelligence. Dutch chipmaker ASML rose 3.2% and German chipmaker Infineon gained 6.4%. Siemens Energy rose after surging demand from data centres lifted its margins, profits and outlook, and banks also advanced, with Deutsche Bank up 2.0% and ING up 1.3%.

Oil prices and the pound

Oil prices also rose on Wednesday, with Brent crude up 2.4% at $93.69 a barrel and US West Texas Intermediate crude 2.1% higher at $87.85, after Iran's security chief said Tehran would not allow any enriched nuclear material to leave the country.

The pound was quoted at $1.3284 late on Wednesday afternoon, down from $1.3323 at the same time on Tuesday, according to Morningstar. Sterling remains under pressure from a stronger dollar after hotter-than-expected US inflation figures raised expectations of further US interest rate rises.

US markets higher

In the United States, equity markets were higher across the board around the time of the London close on Wednesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 0.1%, the S&P 500 was 1.2% higher and the Nasdaq Composite jumped 1.9%, as technology shares recovered.

The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was quoted at 5.01% at midday in London on Wednesday. US bond markets were closed on Wednesday for Veterans' Day.

Thursday's economic calendar includes UK gross domestic product, industrial production, manufacturing production and trade figures at 07:00 GMT, which traders will watch for signs of how the UK economy performed in the third quarter.

Sources: Hargreaves Lansdown and Morningstar. Market levels change during trading; this article is for information only and is not financial advice.