Volatility across the bond market pushed the yield on 30-year gilts to 6% — a reading last seen in early 1998 — as the FTSE 100 opened 183.54 points lower, touching 10,422.46 before stabilising. Brent crude futures edged up by 1.53 percent, bringing the contract price to USD 99.19 a barrel. Crude prices for West Texas Intermediate nudged higher by 1.50%, with each barrel trading at USD 91.78.
By early Thursday, the pound had slipped to USD 1.3249, pulling back from the USD 1.3276 level recorded the previous Wednesday afternoon. Measured against the euro, the rate reached EUR 1.1698, edging up from the previous level of EUR 1.1688.
Rolls-Royce Holdings edged up 0.82% to close at 1,473.60p, with DCC posting a smaller uptick of 0.16% to reach 6,440p. Shares in Polar Capital Technology Trust nudged up by 0.14 percentage points, settling at 700p, while easyJet's stock added a fraction to close at 677.80p, a gain of 0.03 percentage points. Shares in Intertek Group held their ground, with the price staying fixed at 5,870p.
Shares in Games Workshop Group retreated 6.45% to close at 16,830p, with British American Tobacco also posting a loss of 3.83%, ending the session at 3,971p. Shares in Lion Finance Group shed 3.20 per cent, bringing the price to 13,910p, while Rio Tinto's stock fell 2.14 per cent to settle at 6,947p. Shares in AstraZeneca eased by 1.86 per cent to close at 12,052p, with Next also retreating 1.42 per cent to settle at 14,585p. Shares in both Fresnillo and Smiths Group dipped on the day, with Fresnillo easing 0.40 per cent to settle at 2,717p and Smiths Group slipping 0.39 per cent to close at 2,814p.
Filtronic, the UK-based components manufacturer, has agreed to supply equipment to SpaceX under a deal valued at USD 68.1 million (GBP 51.3 million) — a contract that stands as the largest single order the company has taken on in its operating history. Hardware destined for high-frequency satellite communications will move from the tech company to SpaceX under the terms of the arrangement. At USD 97 million, the arrangement tops the USD 62.5 million SpaceX procurement from August 2025, with the bulk of fulfilment anticipated to fall within Filtronic's 2028 financial year.
Nat Edington, the company's chief executive, described the order as giving the business a clearer picture of its income stream over the coming two years.
On Thursday, yields on 30-year UK government bonds climbed to their loftiest level since early 1998, pulled upward by a concurrent move in US Treasury yields as crude oil prices advanced on renewed expectations that the conflict involving Iran could be drawing closer to a resolution. LSEG data placed thirty-year gilt yields at a peak of 6.029% during the session — a level not seen since early 1998 — with the day's net movement standing at six basis points above the prior close. Borrowing levels in the ten-year gilt market pushed borrowing costs to a peak not recorded since July 2007, with the rate settling eight basis points higher at 5.509%, while the five-year equivalent touched its own multi-year ceiling last seen in July 2008.
House price growth across the UK dropped by half during September, with elevated borrowing costs and an uncertain economic backdrop weighing on buyer activity. Nationwide's data put the annual rate of house-price growth at 0.8% for the latest month, a drop from 1.6% in August that left the pace of gains at its most subdued since December 2025. A 0.2% monthly drop brought the typical UK home's value to £274,251.
Nationwide's chief economist, Robert Gardner, described the property market as having stayed quiet, with climbing energy costs stoking inflation worries and sustaining the upward pressure on borrowing rates that lenders use to set mortgage pricing.
Overnight trading in the United States left Wall Street divided, with the S&P 500 retreating 0.3% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average shedding 0.9%, though a rally in technology shares pushed the Nasdaq Composite 0.2% higher. Thursday's Asian session saw Tokyo's Nikkei 225 close at 68,958.72 after posting a 3.3% uptick, with the Shanghai Composite adding 0.31% on the mainland. Gains of 0.37% on Hong Kong's Hang Seng and 1.95% on South Korea's Kospi marked the session for both indexes. Trading losses hit both major Indian benchmarks, with the Nifty 50 shedding roughly 1.27% and the Sensex posting a decline of around 1.16%.
