London open: FTSE nudges lower as investors consider potential US govt shutdown, mull GDP
By Michele Maatouk
Date: Tuesday 30 Sep 2025
(Sharecast News) - London stocks nudged lower in early trade on Tuesday as investors considered the implications of a potential US government shutdown and digested the latest UK GDP data.
At 0845 BST, the FTSE 100 was down 0.1% at 9,290.24.
Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "The FTSE 100 opened on the back foot this morning, slipping slightly as the month draws to a close, but it's still on course to finish September in positive territory. With little in the way of fresh catalysts this morning, attention is likely to stay on global macro themes and the upcoming US data slate later this week.
"The September slump is nowhere to be seen as US stock markets edged higher last night, setting up for what could be the best September in over a decade. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq posted modest gains yesterday, with breadth improving as equal-weight indices outperformed and momentum led the charge. Futures point to a positive open today, with attention turning to a heavy slate of economic data this week - most notably Friday's nonfarm payrolls, which could prove pivotal for the Fed's next move.
"But there won't be any data at all if the US government shuts down. The current funding plan expires at midnight tonight, meaning a complete shutdown across a host of government services from tomorrow if no agreement is reached. We've been here before, so markets won't take it as a major shock, but it's certainly a recipe for volatility - and that's helping to fuel the fire beneath gold's unwavering bull run."
On home shores, figures from the Office for National Statistics showed that UK economic growth ticked higher in the second quarter, in line with expectations.
GDP was estimated to have grown by 0.3% in the three months to June, following an unrevised 0.7% uplift in the first quarter.
Within that, the dominant services sector rose by 0.4% and construction by 1%, helping to offset ongoing weakness in the manufacturing sector.
Production softened 0.8%.
Year-on-year, GDP rose by 1.4%, marginally ahead of forecasts for a 1.2% increase.
Liz McKeown, director of economic statistics at the ONS, said: "In the latest quarter, we saw an increase in the household saving ratio, very little growth in consumer spending and a slight fall in output for consumer-facing services, despite growth in services overall."
McKeown also addressed recent changes to the methodologies used by the ONS.
She said: "Today's figures include a suit of improvements to our measurement of the economy, including better information on research and development and the activities of complex multinational companies, alongside the usual inclusion of updated and improved data sources.
"Growth for 2024 as a whole was unrevised, though these new figures show the economy grew a little less strongly at the start of the year than our initial estimates suggested, but performed better in the later quarters."
The ONS has come under sustained criticism in recent months after issues in its data gathering emerged, weighing on the veracity of a number of its statistical bulletins.
Elsewhere, the British Retail Consortium warned of more pain ahead for shoppers as price pressures for consumers picked up this month, with food prices continuing to climb and non-food price deflation easing.
The BRC-NIQ Shop Price Monitor released earlier showed that the annual rate of shop price inflation increased to 1.4% in September from 0.9% in August.
In equity markets, Close Brothers tumbled even as its full-year adjusted operating profit of £144.3m beat analysts' expectations. The merchant bank also said it had decided to exit its vehicle hire business, which has been loss making "in a challenging market environment".
Legal & General lost ground as it said its chief financial officer of eight years has handed in his resignation. Jeff Davies, the former EY partner who has been CFO of L&G since 2017, will be leaving the company in December to "pursue a new opportunity", with the head of its Institutional Retirement division, Andrew Kail, named as his replacement.
Real estate investment trust Assura gained after saying it had delivered a "strong" trading performance over the first six months of the year, despite it being a period of uncertainty for the firm.
PayPoint rallied as it announced a strategic investment by Royal Mail owner International Distribution Services in Collect+.
Outside the FTSE 350, online fashion retailer Asos slid as it warned that full-year adjusted EBITDA was set to be towards the lower end of the £130m to £150m guided range.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 9,290.24 -0.10%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 21,863.47 -0.01%
techMARK (TASX) 5,433.73 -0.01%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Airtel Africa (AAF) 237.20p 2.42%
3i Group (III) 4,094.00p 1.71%
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 371.50p 1.34%
Beazley (BEZ) 898.00p 1.18%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 1,177.00p 1.16%
Fresnillo (FRES) 2,338.00p 0.86%
GSK (GSK) 1,530.00p 0.79%
Admiral Group (ADM) 3,340.00p 0.78%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,333.50p 0.72%
CRH (CDI) (CRH) 8,434.00p 0.72%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 3,428.00p -1.49%
Croda International (CRDA) 2,664.00p -1.33%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,014.50p -1.22%
BT Group (BT.A) 191.15p -1.14%
Diageo (DGE) 1,749.50p -1.05%
Smurfit Westrock (DI) (SWR) 3,111.00p -1.02%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,428.50p -0.90%
Bunzl (BNZL) 2,312.00p -0.86%
Legal & General Group (LGEN) 236.80p -0.84%
Spirax Group (SPX) 6,705.00p -0.81%
FTSE 250 - Risers
PayPoint (PAY) 715.00p 6.08%
Senior (SNR) 202.50p 3.00%
Raspberry PI Holdings (RPI) 407.10p 1.47%
W.A.G Payment Solutions (EWG) 99.00p 1.43%
Me Group International (MEGP) 188.00p 1.29%
Genuit Group (GEN) 361.00p 1.26%
Plus500 Ltd (DI) (PLUS) 3,230.00p 1.25%
Edinburgh Worldwide Inv Trust (EWI) 205.50p 1.23%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 365.00p 1.22%
Carnival (CCL) 1,983.50p 1.10%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Close Brothers Group (CBG) 474.00p -4.44%
Pets at Home Group (PETS) 197.60p -1.89%
SDCL Efficiency Income Trust (SEIT) 56.00p -1.58%
HGCapital Trust (HGT) 491.00p -1.21%
THG (THG) 36.80p -1.18%
Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 247.50p -1.00%
JPMorgan Indian Investment Trust (JII) 1,002.00p -0.99%
Investec (INVP) 563.50p -0.97%
Playtech (PTEC) 367.50p -0.94%
Safestore Holdings (SAFE) 648.50p -0.92%
Email this article to a friend
or share it with one of these popular networks:
You are here: news
10 Lower Thames St,
London EC3R 6EN