London close: FTSE falls amid rising bond yields; banks slump

(Sharecast News) - London stocks fell on Wednesday amid rising bond yields and as Brent crude remained above $100 a barrel, with banks pacing the decline.

The FTSE 100 closed down 0.8% at 10,458.50, while Brent crude was up 0.3% at $100.92 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate was 0.4% lower at $89.09.

Patrick Munnelly at Tickmill Group said: "The UK's stock market's benchmark FTSE 100 slipped into negative territory on Wednesday, weighed down by climbing crude oil prices and surging benchmark bond yields.

"Heavy selling across major banking, financial, and utility counters offset localised strength in retail and energy majors, as geopolitical escalation in the Middle East kept broad risk appetite strictly constrained ahead of key Federal Reserve policy minutes."

Investors were mulling the latest house price index from Lloyds, which showed that prices were steady in September despite the impact of higher interest rates.

House prices were unchanged on the month following a 0.3% decline in August. On the year, prices were flat in September, having fallen 0.4% a month earlier.

The average price of a property was £298,441, versus £298,395 in August.

Northern Ireland continued to lead the UK, with annual house price growth rising to 7.4% from 6.8% a month earlier. Meanwhile, Greater London recorded the biggest annual fall, with prices down 2.2% year-on-year.

Andrew Asaam, mortgages director at Lloyds, said: "While the market overall has been fairly subdued, property prices have so far proved resilient during a period of higher mortgage rates, which has been driven by changing expectations around the future path of Base Rate. That's mirrored in wider economic data, with household spending holding up better than many expected despite energy and other cost pressures arising from the Middle East conflict.

"Whether that picture continues is likely to depend on how confident consumers feel that the latest costofliving pressures will prove temporary. Confidence has long been a key driver of housing market activity, and will play an important role in shaping demand over the remainder of this year and into 2027.

"For now, the housing market appears to be balancing buyer caution with continued underlying demand. While higher mortgage rates and wider economic uncertainty are encouraging some people to take a more measured approach, new enquiries from prospective buyers are now at their highest since February. That should help sustain activity in the near term, with any movement in house prices likely to remain modest."

In equity markets, financials were under the cosh, with Asia-focused names Prudential, HSBC and Standard Chartered the worst hit, while Barclays, NatWest and Lloyds also fell.

HSBC was in focus following a report the bank is planning sweeping job cuts in its UK wealth management business, drastically reducing its ranks of financial advisers and other specialists as part of a push to use AI to help serve wealthy clients.

According to the Financial Times, which cited people familiar with the plans, the bank will cut roles across its UK wealth business. About half of the business's management and specialist roles are expected to go, while the reduction in the ranks of financial advisers will be closer to 70%.

Pennon Group tumbled after launching a fully underwritten £550m rights issue at a 35.5% discount and saying it would be rebasing its dividend by around 30% to help fund a significant increase in investment across the company's regulated water businesses. Severn Trent also lost ground.

Shares in Rank Group slid after the Gambling Commission said three of its casino businesses would pay £5m over anti-money laundering and social responsibility failings.

On the upside, defensives were on the rise, with consumer goods giant Reckitt, consumer healthcare company Haleon, British American Tobacco and AstraZeneca all up.

Ocado surged following a report that Coles is exploring the use of robots in its supermarkets to pick and pack grocery orders and is in early stage talks with the London-listed company about trialling the technology in one of its Melbourne supermarkets.

Avon Technologies rallied as it upgraded its full-year earnings outlook, while Bridgepoint gained as it lifted its 2026 earnings guidance, citing an "exceptional" performance from one of its funds.

Oil giant Shell was little changed despite lifting its third-quarter integrated gas production forecast.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 10,458.50 -0.79%

FTSE 250 (MCX) 24,036.75 -0.74%

techMARK (TASX) 6,157.38 0.34%

FTSE 100 - Risers

JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 83.50p 3.93%

Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT) 5,106.00p 2.82%

Haleon (HLN) 342.40p 2.70%

Vodafone Group (VOD) 127.75p 2.28%

British American Tobacco (BATS) 4,084.00p 2.13%

Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 393.80p 2.07%

WPP (WPP) 385.00p 1.88%

AstraZeneca (AZN) 12,180.00p 1.86%

The Sage Group (SGE) 1,022.00p 1.69%

Compass Group 11 (CPG) 30.50p 1.67%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Prudential (PRU) 881.00p -4.67%

Standard Chartered (STAN) 2,151.00p -4.65%

HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 1,408.00p -4.36%

Weir (WEIR) 2,560.00p -3.83%

Investec (INVP) 595.00p -3.72%

Lion Finance Group (BGEO) 12,830.00p -3.68%

Antofagasta (ANTO) 3,692.00p -3.58%

Barclays (BARC) 432.05p -3.41%

Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 102.30p -3.31%

Spirax Group (SPX) 7,140.00p -3.19%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Avon Technologies (AVON) 2,190.00p 14.78%

Ocado Group (OCDO) 286.60p 9.22%

Baltic Classifieds Group (BCG) 2.16p 6.93%

Bridgepoint Group (Reg S) (BPT) 365.40p 5.36%

Genus (GNS) 2,208.00p 4.45%

B&M European Value Retail (BME) 255.60p 3.90%

Frasers Group (FRAS) 849.00p 3.54%

Moonpig Group (MOON) 278.20p 2.88%

Wetherspoon (J.D.) (JDW) 989.50p 2.81%

NCC Group (NCC) 149.20p 2.75%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Pennon Group (PNN) 361.20p -20.05%

Inchcape (INCH) 644.00p -6.12%

Playtech (PTEC) 358.80p -6.02%

Ceres Power Holdings (CWR) 384.00p -5.97%

Vistry Group (VTY) 224.60p -5.07%

Hill and Smith (HILS) 3,100.00p -4.76%

Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) 220.60p -4.42%

Rank Group (RNK) 70.00p -4.24%

Pan African Resources (PAF) 114.30p -3.87%

Renishaw (RSW) 5,765.00p -3.76%