London’s FTSE 100 drifted in and out of positive territory in afternoon dealings before finally closing slightly higher on Friday, but equities across the Atlantic tumbled as worries over artificial intelligence sector spending sent tech stocks deeply into the red.
asserted
worries → drift → red
For the week, the FTSE 100 added 0.4%, the FTSE 250 rose 0.9% and the AIM all-share also climbed 0.9%.
asserted
AIM → add → week
The pound was quoted at 1.3396 dollars late on Friday afternoon, higher than 1.3369 dollars at the London equities close on Thursday.
asserted
pound → quote → Thursday
Against the euro, sterling rose to 1.1996 euros from 1.1977 euros a day earlier.
asserted
sterling → rise → euros
Earlier on Friday, the pound topped the 1.20 euros threshold for the first time since April 2025.
asserted
pound → top → April
Against the yen, the dollar fell to 157.50 yen from 157.85 yen.
asserted
dollar → fall → yen
The CAC 40 in Paris ended flat, while Frankfurt’s DAX 40 fell 0.9%.
asserted
DAX → end → Paris
The likes of energy technology firm Siemens Energy, semiconductor company Infineon Technologies and infrastructure and construction group Hochtief, all with a sizeable data centre exposure, weighed on Frankfurt.
asserted
likes → weigh → Frankfurt
Paris and London fared better than Frankfurt, but there were still pockets of weakness among blue-chip names in both markets.
asserted
Paris → fare → markets
Schneider Electric, which similarly provides services to data centres, ended lower in Paris.
asserted
which → provide → Paris
In London, investment trust Polar Capital Technology shed 6.0%.
asserted
Technology → shed → %
Its portfolio includes a who’s who of tech names which were in the red stateside on Friday.
asserted
which → include → Friday
IT infrastructure and hardware reseller Computacenter, a partner of chipmaker Nvidia and also exposed to the ebbs and flows of AI sentiment, also ended down 6.0%.
asserted
Computacenter → expose → sentiment
AJ Bell analyst Dan Coatsworth said there has been an “AI reality check”.
asserted
Coatsworth → say → ?
“For years, investors have treated tech as the golden ticket to wealth creation, and for a long time they have been richly rewarded,” Mr Coatsworth said.
asserted
Coatsworth → treat → time
“That enthusiasm is now evaporating, and some investors are racing for the exit.
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investors → evaporate → exit
“The gigantic declines we’ve seen this week in shares such as Alphabet and Intel suggest that investor sentiment has been turned on its head.
asserted
sentiment → see → head
Current price action implies tech investors want to jump off the treadmill rather than slow it down.”
asserted
investors → imply → it
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SPI Asset Management analyst Stephen Innes said: “The boom is beginning to eat its own tail.
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boom → read → tail
AI spending creates demand.
asserted
spending → create → demand
Demand creates scarcity.
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Demand → create → scarcity
Scarcity creates pricing power.
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Scarcity → create → power
Pricing power pushes the cost of the buildout even higher.
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power → push → buildout
“Then Wall Street turns around and asks the hyperscalers why the buildout has become so expensive.”
asserted
buildout → turn → hyperscalers
Hyperscalers are large cloud computing service providers, including Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, and Oracle.
asserted
Hyperscalers → include → Microsoft
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.8%, the S&P 500 was 1.6% lower and the Nasdaq Composite plunged 2.7%.
asserted
Composite → plunge → ?
The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was quoted at 4.94% late on Friday afternoon, narrowing from 5.00% on Thursday.
asserted
yield → quote → Thursday
The yield on the US 30-year Treasury was at 5.31%, narrowing from 5.33%.
asserted
yield → narrow → %
Brent oil was trading at 117.61 dollars a barrel on Friday, higher than 113.75 dollars late on Thursday, as investors kept one eye on both the conflict in the Middle East and the Russia-Ukraine war.
asserted
investors → trade → East
Brent traded as high as around 118 dollars a barrel on Friday, its highest level since April.
asserted
Brent → trade → April
Gold was quoted at 3,898.22 dollars an ounce on Friday, lower than 4,012.39 dollars on Thursday.
asserted
Gold → quote → Thursday
Gold fell as low as around 3,891 dollars an ounce on Friday, the precious metal’s weakest level in more than a year.
asserted
Gold → fall → year
On the London Stock Exchange, NatWest ended as the worst FTSE 100 performer, shedding 8.8%.
asserted
NatWest → end → %
Guidance on net interest margin spooked the market.
asserted
Guidance → spook → market
Speaking on the call following third-quarter results, NatWest chief financial officer Katie Murray said: “Our current expectations of the mix of balance sheet growth across loans, deposits and wholesale funding does mean that margin continues to be broadly stable through 2027.”
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margin → speak → 2027
NatWest reported broadly in-line third-quarter results, with lower-than-expected costs offsetting higher impairments and a slight miss on net interest income.
asserted
costs → report → income
The Edinburgh-based lender said operating pretax profit rose 1.9% to £2.23 billion in the third quarter ended September 30 from £2.18 billion a year earlier, just ahead of £2.20 billion consensus.
asserted
profit → base → consensus
AstraZeneca added 7.0%.
asserted
AstraZeneca → add → %
The pharmaceutical company said pretax profit rose 22% to 3.96 billion dollars from 3.24 billion dollars a year earlier, while revenue increased 6.7% to 16.21 billion dollars from 15.19 billion dollars.
asserted
revenue → say → dollars
AstraZeneca maintained its full-year guidance for revenue growth of a mid-to-high single-digit percentage and core earnings per share growth of a low double-digit percentage at constant exchange rates.
asserted
AstraZeneca → maintain → rates
…and 12 more, not listed.
The Aporia
