Early market roundup: Stocks softly lower amid tech concerns

Stock prices were a touch lower on Friday morning in London, as technology concerns persisted while Microsoft reported a global outage impacting Teams and Outlook; meanwhile China warned the US against introducing additional semiconductor export controls.

The FTSE 100 index opened down 5.07 points, 0.1%, at 10,858.72. The FTSE 250 was down 112.95 points, 0.5%, at 24,800.60, and the AIM all-share was marginally higher, up 0.09 points at 756.35.

The Cboe UK 100 was down 0.1% at 1,076.76, the Cboe UK 250 fell 0.6% to 21,839.88, and the Cboe small companies was down 0.1% at 18,749.09.

Sterling was quoted at USD1.3233 early Friday, unchanged from Thursday's London equities close. Against the euro, sterling edged down to EUR1.1966 from EUR1.1968.

The euro traded at USD1.1059 early Friday, slightly lower than USD1.1061 late Thursday. Against the yen, the dollar fell to JPY159.90 from JPY159.97.

In London, Aviva led the FTSE 100, rising 2.2%, after the insurer reported strong growth across its general insurance and wealth businesses and reiterated confidence in meeting its three-year group targets.

Aviva said it expects earnings per share growth broadly in line with its 11% target for 2026, as it remains confident about trading for the remainder of the year.

General insurance premiums rose to £11.8 billion in the nine months to September 30 from £10.0 billion a year earlier, while wealth net flows increased to £10.9 billion from £8.3 billion.

Wealth assets under management climbed to £267 billion at September 30 from £224 billion a year earlier, while its solvency II cover ratio improved to 179% from 176% at the end of June.

Chief Executive Officer Amanda Blanc said: "Aviva is in great shape. Our performance has been excellent in the first nine months of 2026, demonstrating once again the benefits of scale across our diversified business."

She added that the insurer continues to deliver strong, profitable growth, particularly in the capital-light areas of general insurance and wealth.

At the other end of the FTSE 100, 3i Group fell 3.0% after Citigroup lowered its price target to 3,700 pence from 4,040p, while maintaining its 'buy' rating.

On the FTSE 250, Asos rose 2.0% after Peel Hunt upgraded the online fashion retailer to 'buy' from 'add', raising its price target to 560p from 475p.

Meanwhile, WH Smith fell 6.0%, QinetiQ Group declined 4.8%, and Wizz Air Holdings lost 4.2%.

Overnight, Wall Street ended lower, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite all falling 0.4%.

Technology stocks remained in focus after a global Microsoft outage disrupted access to Outlook, Teams and other Microsoft 365 services for hundreds of thousands of users worldwide.

The disruption began late Thursday afternoon, with Microsoft acknowledging that efforts to restore services were not progressing as expected.

Monitoring website Downdetector recorded nearly 130,000 reports of Outlook problems at the peak of the disruption, while users also reported difficulties accessing Teams and the company's Copilot artificial intelligence assistant.

Meanwhile, China warned the US against introducing additional semiconductor export controls after a scandal involving Nvidia and its former chief executive, Jensen Huang.

Huang resigned on Thursday after admitting to an affair with a former senior executive at Singapore-based data centre company Megaspeed, amid allegations that the company helped reroute restricted Nvidia technology to China.

US lawmakers have called for tighter restrictions on semiconductor exports following reports that US authorities failed to act on suspicions surrounding the company.

China's foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said Beijing opposed the "abuse of export control measures", warning that further restrictions would disrupt global industrial and supply chains.

She urged Washington and Beijing to maintain stable economic and trade relations ahead of an expected meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at next week's APEC gathering in Shenzhen.

Elsewhere, uncertainty over the prospects of a diplomatic agreement between Washington and Tehran increased after Trump said he had instructed Vice President JD Vance to focus exclusively on domestic anti-fraud efforts rather than negotiations with Iran.

"We don't need a deal with Iran. Those days have long since passed. We've got their money, Hundreds of Billions of Dollars, and we've got their Strait!" Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Oil prices rose amid the renewed uncertainty, with Brent crude trading at USD96.41 a barrel early Friday, up from USD93.53 late Thursday.

Gold was quoted at USD3,891.86 an ounce, higher than USD3,865.83 on Thursday.

Still to come on Friday's economic calendar are eurozone gross domestic product and trade balance figures, while the US releases producer price inflation data.

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