Business live: FTSE 100 avoids global stock market sell-off

Updated 4:30 AM EDT November 5th, 2025

London’s leading index trading flat this morning, with Marks & Spencer optimistic on recovery after this year’s cyberattack left profits down 99 per cent

Martin Strydom & Jon Rees

Wednesday November 05 2025, 8.52am GMT, The Times

Key moments

Marks and Spencer reveals hit to profits after cyberattack

Nikkei down 2.5 per cent as AI tech stocks continue to suffer

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FTSE 100 bucks the trend

London’s leading share index has avoided joining a global stock market sell-off this morning.

The FTSE 100 edged 1 point lower, or 0.01 per cent, at 9,713.75 with a slide in shares of technology investors, miners and retailers partly offset by rises in housebuilders on hopes of lower interest rates.

The global stock market sell-off has been fuelled by concerns about AI-related technology stocks after the Big Short investor Michael Burry placed bearish bets on Nvidia and Palantir and Wall Street executives cautioned about overstretched valuations.

Wall Street indices closed lower yesterday, with Nvidia and Palantir sliding after Burry shorted the stocks. In Asia overnight, technology stocks were hit, dragging the Nikkei 225 down 2.5 per cent and South Korea’s Kospi 2.85 per cent.

Germany’s Dax slid 0.6 per cent and France’s Cac 40 fell 0.3 per cent this morning.

In London, investors in big tech shares fell, with Polar Capital Technology Trust and Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust down 1.69 per cent and 1.34 per cent respectively.

The biggest faller was the engineer Weir, which noted in a trading update that its clients faced a number of challenges, “not least continued uncertainty on the outcome of tariff negotiations”.

Coca-Cola Europacific gained on upbeat trading updates, as did the housebuilder Barratt Redrow.

Marks & Spencer rose as it said its recovery was on track after reporting a 99 per cent drop in first-half profits as a result of this year’s cyberattack.

7.54am GMT

Drax extends government subsidy deal

ALAMY

Drax, the owner of Britain’s biggest single power station near Selby, North Yorkshire, said it has extended a controversial subsidy deal with the government until 2031.

The energy company has signed a contract with the government for a “low-carbon dispatchable” contract for difference (CfD) to cover its four biomass units.

Will Gardiner, Drax chief executive, said: “We are pleased to have agreed this new contract with the UK government, which will support UK energy security into the 2030s and deliver a net saving for consumers compared to alternative sources of dispatchable generation.”

Drax burns wood pellets in its biomass units, which has raised questions about carbon savings.

7.42am GMT

Chairman cautious as JD Wetherspoon sales rise

VICTORIA JONES/PA

The pub chain JD Wetherspoon has reported that like-for-like sales rose 3.7 per cent in the first 14 weeks of its new financial year, compared with the same period last year.

Sir Tim Martin, chairman, said: “The company is pleased with the continued sales momentum but is mindful of the chancellor’s budget statement later this month and, as a result, is slightly more cautious in its outlook for the remainder of the year.”

7.40am GMT

Rossi upbeat despite economic uncertainty

Andrea Rossi

M&G

Andrea Rossi, M&G chief executive, said the company was seeing “growing momentum” despite a “volatile macroeconomic environment”.

The savings and investments business reported a 3 per cent rise in total assets under management and administration to £365 billion in the third quarter.

The asset management division saw £1.5 billion of net inflows from external clients, bringing total inflows this year to £4.1 billion. Assets in the division climbed to £335 billion, including £176 billion from external clients, up 6 per cent in the year to date.

Assets under management and administration at the life business rose 2 per cent to £188 billion. Its PruFund franchise, now managing £68 billion, swung back to positive territory with £200 million of net inflows after outflows in the first half.

7.20am GMT

Barratt Redrow on track to build over 17,000 homes

CHRIS RATCLIFFE/GETTY IMAGES

Barratt Redrow has maintained its full-year guidance as home completions rose despite a soft housing market and uncertainty ahead of the budget.

The housebuilder said total completions in the 17 weeks to October 26 rose 7.9 per cent to 3,665 homes, even as private reservation rates eased to 0.57 per site per week from 0.59 a year earlier.

It still expects completions of between 17,200 and 17,800 homes for the full year, with about 40 per cent expected in the first half.

7.16am GMT

Cyberattack leaves Marks profits down 99 per cent

ALAMY

The high street stalwart Marks & Spencer has revealed the hit from the Easter cyberattack which crippled the retailer, closing its website and forcing store managers to resort to manual ordering.

Pre-tax profits fell 99 per cent to £3.4 million in the six months to the end of September, from £391.9 million over the same period last year. Adjusted pre-tax profit fell 55.4 per cent to £184.1 million, down from £413.1 million.

Revenue over the period rose 22.1 per cent to £7.96 billion. Food sales rose 7.8 per cent compared with the same period last year. Clothing and home sales fell 16.4 per cent.

Stuart Machin, chief executive, said: “The first half of this year was an extraordinary moment in time for M&S. However, the underlying strength of our business and robust financial foundations gave us the resilience to face into the challenge and deal with it. We are now getting back on track.”

6.59am GMT

Why Michael Burry is wary

Here’s what Michael Burry, the hedge fund manager portrayed by Christian Bale in the film The Big Short, thinks about the AI bubble.

He has bought put options that profit from share price declines in Nvidia and Palantir Technologies.

Big Short investor places $1.1bn bet against leading AI stocks

The bets, disclosed in regulatory filings by Scion Asset Management, Burry’s California-based investment firm, come after the investor made his first post on X, the social media platform, in more than two years, warning of an AI bubble.

X (Twitter) content blocked

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6.46am GMT

Nervous investors sell AI-related shares

A global market sell-off has continued on concerns about AI-related technology stocks after the Big Short investor Michael Burry placed bearish bets on Nvidia and Palantir and Wall Street executives cautioned about overstretched valuations.

The S&P 500 finished 1.17 per cent lower and the Nasdaq dropped 2 per cent. The AI chip maker Nvidia fell 4 per cent and Palantir, the software company that builds data analytics and AI platforms for governments and large enterprises, lost 8 per cent.

In Asia technology stocks were hit, with Softbank down 10 per cent, Samsung Electronics losing 6.6 per cent and SK Hynix sliding 1.9 per cent after sharp falls in early trading. The Nikkei 225 lost almost 7 per cent before easing back to trade down 2.5 per cent in later trading. South Korea’s Kospi lost 6.2 per cent at one point before clawing back losses to trade down 2.9 per cent.

European shares looked set to join the sell-off in early trading but are forecast to be less volatile. The FTSE 100 expected to open down 0.18 per cent and Germany’s Dax forecast to drop 0.4 per cent.

Bitcoin rebounded 1.8 per cent to $102,104 after falling below the $100,000 mark for the first time since June, while gold edged 1 per cent higher but was still below $4,000 an ounce.

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