London pre-open: Stocks to fall after US tech selloff
By Michele Maatouk
Date: Tuesday 03 Nov 2026
(Sharecast News) - London stocks were set to fall at the open on Tuesday following a US tech selloff and as investors eyed the US midterm elections.
On Wall Street, the Nasdaq closed 1.1% lower on Monday as tech stocks were hit once again by worries about AI spending.
As far as the midterms are concerned, tentative results will be available by Wednesday morning, but final results could take weeks or even longer.
Danske Bank said: "Prediction markets and opinion polls favour the democrats to win a safe victory in the House of Representatives, while the Senate race is closer.
"Prediction markets price in around 76% probability that Democrats will gain enough seats to win a majority in the Senate."
On the UK corporate front, Associated British Foods posted a sharp fall in annual profits, as challenging conditions hit both its grocery and retail businesses.
The owner of fast fashion retailer Primark as well as a host of grocery brands, including Twinings, Ovaltine and Silver Spoon, saw group revenues soften 1% in the year to 12 September, to £19.6bn. Adjusted operating profits on a constant currency basis were 14% lower at £1.5bn.
Like-for-like sales at Primark were 2.6% weaker over the year, after modest 0.5% uplifts in the UK and Ireland were offset by a 4.7% slide in mainland Europe.
In the grocery business, sales improved 2%, after a strong performance by a number of brands and the acquisition of Hovis was partially offset by lower sales of US oils. But the sugar business continued to face a number of headwinds, including lower average selling prices, and saw revenues fall 9%.
Specialist insurer Hiscox reported a 9.5% increase in group insurance contract written premiums (ICWP) for the first nine months of the year, driven by accelerating retail growth.
Hiscox said that ICWP rose to $4.44bn from $4.05bn a year earlier, with retail premiums up 9.1% in constant currency to $2.25bn as growth strengthened across its UK, European and US operations.
The company also reiterated guidance for 9% constant-currency retail growth for the full year and said its change programme remained on track to deliver a $75m profit and loss benefit in 2026.
TP Icap said it remained comfortable with full-year market expectations as it reported an 11% rise in third-quarter group revenues.
Revenues in the global broking division were up 16%, while Energy & Commodities saw a 9% increase. Revenues in Liquidnet and Parameta Solutions dipped 1% and 2%, respectively.
Market consensus is for 2026 adjusted EBIT of £367m, with a range of £357m to £378m.
Elsewhere, Wizz Air said it carried 7.62m passengers in October, up 19.8% year-on-year, as capacity increased 22.1% to 8.36m seats. The load factor slipped 1.7 percentage points to 91.2%.
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