FTSE 100 LIVE: Stocks rise and pound at six-month low as budget uncertainty hits UK retail sales

Milder October weather may have also caused Brits to hold off buying more warm winter clothing.

Jacqui Baker, head of retail at RSM UK, said it was a “concerning start to the Golden Quarter” in the run-up to Christmas when retailers typically make most of their annual sales.

She said:

Meanwhile, Asif Aziz, retail director at EE, said:

The pound dropped to a six-month low against the US dollar on Friday on the back of the weak retail sales data.

Sterling fell as low as $1.255, its weakest level since 14 May, extending recent losses as economic worries have risen.

It comes as the dollar has also been strengthening since Donald Trump won the US election.

Traders believe his policies impose trade tariffs and deport undocumented immigrants andwould be inflationary, leading to higher US interest rates.

UK retail sales fell more sharply than expected last month as budget uncertainty took its toll on shoppers.

According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), sales volumes declined 0.7% in October compared to a downwardly-revised rise of 0.1% in September. This was worse than analyst estimates for a fall of 0.3%.

The strongest fall was within clothing stores, which fell by 3.1% over the month.

Hannah Finselbach, ONS senior statistician, said:

Asian equities were mixed overnight with the Nikkei (^N225) up 0.7% on the day in Japan, while the Hang Seng (^HSI) fell 1.9% in Hong Kong. The yen fluctuated after edging higher early Friday following inflation data that held above the central bank’s target as expected.

The Shanghai Composite (000001.SS) slumped 3.1% by the end of the session, extending losses after an index of US-listed Chinese stocks dropped 1% Thursday.

Meanwhile, shares in Australia and South Korea rose.

Technology stocks and semiconductor companies in the region rebounded from Thursday’s selloff, encouraged by Nvidia’s (NVDA) gain in the US.

It comes as Asian equities are on pace for their first back-to-back monthly losses this year amid strength in the dollar and lingering concerns over the Chinese economy.

Elsewhere in Asia, investors will be monitoring the fallout from a US indictment against Gautam Adani over allegations of bribery. Shares of Adani Group units tumbled and the conglomerate scrapped a $600m dollar bond sale. The company denied the allegations.

Across the pond on Wall Street, the S&P 500 (^GSPC) rose 0.5% during the session, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq (^IXIC) was just 0.03% higher. The Dow Jones (^DJI) also gained almost 1.1%.

Good morning, and welcome to our markets live blog. Thanks for joining us for our last one of the week!

As usual we will be taking a deep dive into what’s moving markets, and all that’s happening across the global economy.

Here’s a quick snapshot of what’s on the agenda for today:

• 7am: Energy regulator Ofgem to set price cap for January-March 2025

• 7am: UK retail sales report for October

• 9am: Eurozone ‘flash’ PMI report for November

• 9.30pm: UK ‘flash’ PMI report for November

• 2.45pm: US ‘flash’ PMI report for November