Lunchtime market roundup: FTSE 100 falls amid French unrest

London stocks remained under pressure at midday on Monday as political unrest in France rattled European markets, but equities in New York are largely set for a more favourable open, after being sold off at the end of last week.

"European markets faced a tricky start on Monday as the political unrest in France shows little sign of letting up and as AI and geopolitical concerns continue to weigh," AJ Bell analyst Russ Mould commented.

"The sell-off in US tech seen late Friday on concerns about the big debt being built up as companies spend heavily on AI has cast a shadow over the start of the week for financial markets."

The FTSE 100 index declined 102.75 points, 0.9%, at 10,779.15. The FTSE 250 in London was 72.39 points lower, 0.3%, at 24,461.51, and the AIM All-Share lost 2.65 points, 0.3%, at 770.47.

The Cboe UK 100 fell 0.9% at 1,070.36, the Cboe UK 250 fell 0.2% at 21,542.35, but the Cboe Small Companies was 0.4% higher at 18,977.66.

In Paris, the CAC 40 slumped 1.4%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt fell 1.2%.

Brown Brothers Harriman analysts commented: "Public anger over the high cost of living and conditions in schools is compounding France’s budget crisis, worsening the already fragile fiscal backdrop."

The yield on the French 10-year government bond surged to 4.89% on Monday, from around 4.79% late Friday.

France's Yellow Vest movement, which organised massive cost-of-living protests marred by violence over the weekend, announced plans on Monday for a second round of demonstrations on Saturday, dubbed "Act II".

The group published a map of demonstrations planned for October 24 on its website, with the site's editor, Benjamin Ball, telling AFP: "There is clearly a huge push for there to be an Act II."

French police "lost control" during nationwide protests marred by violence over the weekend, the interior minister admitted Monday, with President Emmanuel Macron calling for a security review.

Macron also refused Interior Minister Laurent Nunez's resignation even as he acknowledged security and intelligence failures in the government response.

The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was at 5.08% midday Monday, where it stood at the time of the London equities close Friday, while the yield on the 30-year Treasury was steady at 5.42%.

Stocks in New York are largely set to open higher on Monday, but a slump on Friday offered a weak handover at the start of the new week.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average is called down 0.1%, but the S&P 500 is called 0.5% higher and the Nasdaq Composite 1.0% higher. The Nasdaq Composite had slumped 2.1% on Friday on the back of AI worries.

Concerns centred on AI spend also kept a lid on the dollar, analysts at Barclays commented. The greenback moved higher on Monday, however.

"Last week's dollar wobble was mainly positioning driven but also a demonstration that AI supports the greenback. In our view, inflation and AI remain key underlying dollar tailwinds," Barclays analysts said.

Sterling traded at USD1.3329 early Monday afternoon, down from USD1.3339 at the time of the London equities close on Friday. Against the euro, it rose to EUR1.1885 from EUR1.1860.

The euro fell to USD1.1210 from USD1.1248. Versus the yen, the dollar bought JPY158.23, up from JPY157.88.

Gold was quoted at USD4,165.45 an ounce on Monday afternoon, falling from USD4,176.55 late Friday afternoon. Brent oil was quoted at USD108.60 a barrel, up from USD106.06. Brent had hit USD110 a barrel on Friday but has cooled since then.

In London, miners were among the worst performers as China data left much to be desired, despite growth coming in hotter than expected.

Gross domestic product expanded 4.5% year-on-year in the third quarter of 2026, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Monday, picking up speed from 4.3% in the second quarter and beating the FXStreet-cited consensus of 4.4%.

SPI Asset Management analyst Stephen Innes believes the GDP number is one that "looks reassuring from across the room", but begins to lose its shine the "closer you walk toward the numbers".

"Industrial production rose 5.5% in September, right on expectations, while retail sales managed only 1.1%, admittedly better than feared but hardly the sort of domestic-demand surge that would make anyone forget the broader imbalance. Fixed-asset investment was still down 7.2% over the first nine months, property investment had collapsed 20.6%, and infrastructure spending remained weak," Innes commented.

Anglo American shares fell 3.8%, Glencore lost 2.1%, while Rio Tinto fell 1.6%.

Barclays declined 3.1%. The Bank of England is examining whether Barclays traders misrepresented illiquid private credit loans to understate their risk after an insider raised concerns, the Financial Times reported on Monday.

The BoE's Prudential Regulation Authority received a complaint earlier this year about how the London-based bank was recording derivatives used to finance private credit loans, the FT said, citing people familiar with the matter. The complaint alleged that the bank's handling of the deals breached PRA rules, FT sources said.

Elsewhere in London, City of London Investment Group sank 9.1%, after its first quarter was hurt by net outflows.

"Net outflows were primarily driven by client rebalancing and portfolio allocation decisions across the City of London Investment Management business following periods of strong relative and absolute investment performance. These withdrawals were concentrated in Emerging Markets, International Equity and Other," the asset management company noted.

Net outflows during the quarter totalled USD667 million, while the market and investment performance hit assets under management by a further USD127 million, "reflecting volatile market conditions during the period".

Funds under management totalled USD11.52 billion at the end of September, down from USD12.31 billion in June.

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