London midday: Stocks edge lower; UK services reading in focus
By Michele Maatouk
Date: Wednesday 03 Dec 2025
(Sharecast News) - London stocks had edged lower by midday on Wednesday as investors mulled a reading on the UK services sector and eyed the latest US ADP employment numbers amid expectations of a rate cut from the Federal Reserve next week.
The FTSE 100 was down 0.2% at 9,686.21.
Joshua Mahony at Scope Markets, said: "Today brings the release of the ADP non-farm payrolls figure, which takes on increased importance in the absence of Fridays official jobs report. The justification for a rate cut next week centres around weakness in the jobs market and therefore markets are likely to take a 'bad news is good news' approach.
"The CME are currently pricing an 87% chance of a rate cut on Wednesday, and the 5K job creation figure anticipated today would likely embolden calls for the Fed to take action."
On home shores, a survey showed growth in the services sector slowed in November amid weakening conditions and fragile client confidence.
The S&P Global services PMI business activity index fell to 51.3 from 52.3 in October. Still, this was above the 50.0 mark that separates contraction from expansion and higher than the flash estimate of 50.5.
A number of firms noted that uncertainty ahead of the Budget had resulted in delayed investment decisions and cautious spending patterns.
Tim Moore, economics director at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said: "November data revealed an abrupt end to the steady improvement in order books seen since the summer. Unfavourable demand conditions were signalled in both domestic and export markets. Lower workloads led to a renewed slowdown in business activity growth across the UK service economy, with the latest expansion much softer than the post-pandemic trend. Moreover, staffing numbers were trimmed to the greatest extent since February.
"Survey respondents widely commented on business challenges linked to fragile client confidence, heightened risk aversion and elevated policy uncertainty in the run up to the Budget. Many firms noted that major spending decisions had been delayed, while some also cited long-term growth headwinds from subdued investment spending.
"Intensifying price competition at home and abroad, combined with weal sales pipelines, contributed to an erosion of margins across the service economy. Input cost inflation accelerated during November, mostly driven by higher salary payments, but prices charged by service sector firms increased at the slowest pace for nearly five years."
In equity markets, Sainsbury's slumped after JPMorgan Securities said after the close on Tuesday that the Qatar Investment Authority was planning to sell up to 97.5m shares in the supermarket chain. QIA had been Sainsbury's largest shareholder, with a stake of 10.5%.
HSBC was in the red as it named former KPMG partner Brendan Nelson chair. Nelson, 76, has served as interim chair since 1 October. HSBC said the accountant had been appointed following a "robust" process, with both internal and external candidates considered. However, some City watchers had expected a more-high profile figure to fill the role.
Private hospital operator Spire Healthcare tumbled as it warned full-year earnings would come in at the bottom end of guidance, pointing to a slowdown in NHS commissioning.
Paragon Banking fell as the specialist lender reported lower-than-expected annual earnings amid what it called "stop-start" customer demand due to political uncertainties, and increased its potential liability for the car financing scandal to £25.5m.
Trainline slid after a downgrade to 'underweight' from 'neutral' at JPMorgan, while Travis Perkins was knocked lower by a downgrade to 'underperform' at Jefferies.
On the upside, miners Antofagasta, Anglo American, Glencore and Rio Tinto all gained as copper prices rose.
Smiths Group shot higher after saying it has agreed to sell its Detection business to CVC Capital Partners for an enterprise value of £2bn as it looks to focus on premium industrial engineering. Smiths said it plans to return a large portion of the proceeds to shareholders.
Zigup surged as it said full-year profit would be "at least" at the top of the current range of expectations after a strong first half.
Engineer Senior rose after saying it has won a multi-year contract by Airbus to design and make parts to transport fluids on dual and single aisle commercial aircraft.
Berkeley Group was boosted by an upgrade to 'buy' at Jefferies, while Drax powered ahead after an upgrade to 'buy' from 'neutral' at Citi.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 9,686.21 -0.16%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 21,942.15 -0.18%
techMARK (TASX) 5,528.21 -0.09%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Antofagasta (ANTO) 2,895.00p 4.47%
Fresnillo (FRES) 2,798.00p 2.57%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 3,660.00p 1.95%
Anglo American (AAL) 2,910.00p 1.89%
Glencore (GLEN) 366.70p 1.76%
Informa (INF) 953.20p 1.71%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 1,132.00p 1.52%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 78.98p 1.49%
Smiths Group (SMIN) 2,466.00p 1.48%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 5,492.00p 1.38%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 313.40p -3.87%
Metlen Energy & Metals (MTLN) 43.38p -2.09%
ICG (ICG) 2,008.00p -1.86%
3i Group (III) 2,957.00p -1.70%
Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 15,705.00p -1.60%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 334.70p -1.59%
Beazley (BEZ) 772.00p -1.47%
Schroders (SDR) 381.60p -1.45%
easyJet (EZJ) 485.70p -1.40%
Barratt Redrow (BTRW) 376.60p -1.36%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Zigup (ZIG) 387.00p 13.66%
Drax Group (DRX) 763.00p 4.81%
Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) 131.10p 3.23%
Ceres Power Holdings (CWR) 357.20p 2.64%
Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 2,020.00p 2.64%
Raspberry PI Holdings (RPI) 333.40p 2.46%
Wickes Group (WIX) 236.50p 2.16%
Renishaw (RSW) 3,505.00p 1.89%
Senior (SNR) 186.00p 1.86%
Rank Group (RNK) 104.40p 1.75%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Spire Healthcare Group (SPI) 190.80p -14.63%
Paragon Banking Group (PAG) 791.00p -6.34%
Trainline (TRN) 214.60p -5.30%
Discoverie Group (DSCV) 571.00p -4.03%
Frasers Group (FRAS) 722.50p -3.79%
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 1,117.00p -2.95%
TP Icap Group (TCAP) 245.50p -2.58%
TBC Bank Group (TBCG) 4,005.00p -2.55%
Victrex plc (VCT) 655.00p -2.53%
Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 275.50p -2.48%
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