London open: FTSE edges down as Rightmove, IAG tumble
By Michele Maatouk
Date: Friday 07 Nov 2025
(Sharecast News) - London stocks edged lower in early trade on Friday following a downbeat session on Wall Street, with Rightmove and BA owner IAG pacing the decline.
At 0830 GMT, the FTSE 100 was down 0.2% at 9,716.56.
Investors were mulling the latest figures from Halifax, which showed the biggest increase in house prices in October since the start of the year.
Prices rose by 0.6% last month, reversing a 0.3% decline in September and comfortably ahead of forecasts for a 0.1% rise. The average property price now stands at £299,862, up from £298,215.
On the year, house prices were up 1.9% in October following a 1.3% increase in September.
Amanda Bryden, head of mortgages at Halifax, said: "Demand from buyers has held up well coming into autumn, despite a degree of uncertainty in the market, with the number of new mortgages being approved recently hitting its highest level so far this year.
"There is no doubt that affordability remains a challenge for many. Average fixed mortgage rates are currently around 4% and likely to ease down further, but with property prices at record levels, moving home can feel like a stretch.
"Rising costs for everyday essentials are also squeezing disposable incomes, which affects how much people are willing or able to spend on a new property.
"Even so, while there has been some volatility, the market has proven resilient over recent months, as many buyers opt for smaller deposits and longer terms to help make the numbers work. With house prices rising more slowly than incomes for almost three years now, we expect the trend of gradually improving affordability to continue."
In equity markets, Rightmove tumbled as the property portal said investments, mainly in AI, would lead to underlying operating growth slowing to 3% to 5% in 2026.
British Airways and Iberia owner IAG also fell sharply as it posted weaker-than-expected third-quarter operating profit and revenues and highlighted "some softness" in the North American market, despite saying that demand for travel "remains strong".
Operating profit rose to €2.05bn from €2.01bn in the same period a year earlier, although this was weaker than the €2.19bn forecasts by analysts, while pre-tax profit was down 2.1% to €1.87bn.
Total revenue was flat in the third quarter at €9.33bn, missing forecasts for an increase to €9.43bn, while passenger revenue per available seat kilometre was down 2.4%. North Atlantic passenger revenue per ASK fell 7.1%.
On the upside, ITV surged as it confirmed it was in preliminary discussions regarding a possible sale of its broadcasting business to Sky for an enterprise value of £1.6bn.
It added that there could be no certainty on the terms of any potential sale of the business - which contains its TV channels and ITVX streaming service - or whether any transaction will take place.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 9,716.56 -0.20%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 21,979.51 0.34%
techMARK (TASX) 5,491.82 0.21%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Hiscox Limited (DI) (HSX) 1,377.00p 1.70%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 1,542.00p 1.31%
Convatec Group (CTEC) 236.40p 1.20%
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 84.70p 1.12%
Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (DI) (CCEP) 6,780.00p 1.04%
ICG (ICG) 1,967.00p 0.98%
Games Workshop Group (GAW) 15,700.00p 0.90%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 392.40p 0.85%
St James's Place (STJ) 1,330.50p 0.83%
Diploma (DPLM) 5,405.00p 0.75%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Rightmove (RMV) 478.20p -27.04%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 381.80p -7.80%
Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 765.60p -4.13%
Airtel Africa (AAF) 287.80p -1.91%
easyJet (EZJ) 474.20p -0.90%
Glencore (GLEN) 356.90p -0.79%
Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 16,230.00p -0.73%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 5,222.00p -0.70%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 1,081.60p -0.66%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 1,213.50p -0.61%
FTSE 250 - Risers
ITV (ITV) 80.20p 18.46%
Bridgepoint Group (Reg S) (BPT) 302.60p 4.49%
Zigup (ZIG) 359.00p 3.46%
Oxford Biomedica (OXB) 656.00p 2.98%
Watches of Switzerland Group (WOSG) 414.20p 2.83%
Coats Group (COA) 81.40p 2.78%
Hays (HAS) 60.00p 2.21%
Softcat (SCT) 1,518.00p 2.02%
TBC Bank Group (TBCG) 3,860.00p 1.98%
Greggs (GRG) 1,599.00p 1.46%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Vietnam Enterprise Investments (DI) (VEIL) 734.00p -2.52%
Patria Private Equity Trust (PPET) 590.00p -2.48%
Baltic Classifieds Group (BCG) 281.00p -2.26%
Me Group International (MEGP) 185.40p -2.22%
Helios Towers (HTWS) 168.20p -2.10%
Ceres Power Holdings (CWR) 369.20p -2.07%
Marshalls (MSLH) 166.20p -1.89%
Derwent London (DLN) 1,762.00p -1.51%
Energean (ENOG) 1,009.00p -1.37%
BioPharma Credit (BPCR) 0.89p -1.32%
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