The FTSE 100 fell on Tuesday, weighed down by falls in defence and oil stocks, and after mixed economic data in the UK and US.

“A sell-off in the oil market served to pull down the FTSE 100, exacerbated by profit taking in defence contractors,” said Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell.

“Driving the declines was speculation that the Russia-Ukraine war could be near to a resolution. While that would be positive after nearly four years of fighting, it has negative consequences for the oil and defence sectors.”

The FTSE 100 index closed down 66.52 points, 0.7%, at 9,684.79. The FTSE 250 ended just 8.18 points lower at 22,040.98, and the AIM All-Share ended up by just 0.18 of a point at 749.41.

In Europe on Tuesday, the CAC 40 in Paris closed down 0.2%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt ended 0.6% lower.

In London, economic data pointed to a pick-up in business activity post the Budget, and a cooling in wage growth, plus a further softening in the labour market.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics on Tuesday showed the unemployment rate rose to 5.1% in the three months to October, up from 5.0% in the three months to September.

The jobless figure came in line with the FXStreet-cited market consensus and is the highest level since 2021, as the country emerged from the Covid-19 pandemic.

The increase in people out of work in the UK came alongside a decline in employment and a moderation in earnings growth.

Analysts at ING said the UK labour market is now cooling quickly enough to make it less of an inflation outlier.

ING’s James Smith said: “Wage growth is losing steam as the broader job market continues to cool.”

He noted that private sector pay is now rising by 3.9% annually, slowing from close to 6% at the start of the year.

“Those annual growth rates should steadily move lower over the coming months,” Mr Smith said, adding that “a rate cut on Thursday is highly likely, and we expect two further moves in the first half of 2026.”

A separate report showed the UK’s private sector performed better than anticipated in December.

The flash UK purchasing managers’ composite output index rose to 52.1 points in December from 51.2 in November, outperforming FXStreet-cited expectations of a milder increase to 51.4 in December.

The flash services business activity index climbed to 52.1 in December from 51.3 in November, beating the consensus of 51.5 for December.

Rob Wood, at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said the improvement came as businesses finally put a “chaotic few months of Budget speculation behind them” and looked towards the year ahead with greater policy certainty.

The pound was quoted higher at 1.3429 dollars at the time of the London equities close on Tuesday, compared with 1.3390 dollars on Monday.

The euro stood at 1.1775 dollars, up against 1.1764 dollars. Against the yen, the dollar was trading lower at 154.79 yen compared with 155.24 yen.

Stocks in New York were lower at the time of the London equity close on Tuesday.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.5%, as was the S&P 500 index, while the Nasdaq Composite was down 0.4%.

The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was quoted at 4.17%, unchanged from Monday. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury was at 4.83%, also flat compared with Monday.

Data from the Bureau of Labour Statistics (BLS) showed US nonfarm payroll employment rose 64,000 in November, beating the FXStreet-cited consensus of 50,000.

However, in October, nonfarm payrolls dropped by 105,000, compared with expectations for a 25,000 decline, while September and August’s totals were revised down by a combined 33,000.

Federal government employment declined by 6,000 in November, following a loss of 162,000 in October.

The BLS data showed the unemployment rate climbed to 4.6% in November, the highest level since September 2021, above FXStreet-cited expectations of 4.4% and up from 4.2% a year earlier.

Wells Fargo said the US labour market remains in “a precarious position”.

The three-month average pace of job growth is now just 22,000 through November, compared with 62,000 heading into the report, the broker noted, while the unemployment rate rose to 4.6%, marking a new high since the end of the pandemic.

Back in London, oil majors BP and Shell fell by 3.4% and 2.7% respectively, while defence stocks Babcock International and BAE Systems declined by 3.6% and 1.7% respectively.

Brent oil was quoted at 59.01 dollars a barrel at the time of the London equities close on Tuesday, down from 60.39 dollars late Monday as hopes grow of a peace deal between Ukraine and Russia.

“The prospect of an end to the war in Ukraine and continued strong production from Opec+ is also weighing on prices. Even though US growth has been upgraded for 2026, this is not filtering through to a stronger oil price,” said Kathleen Brooks at XTB.

“Until we get a clearer demand picture or supply restraint from Opec+, it is hard to see how the oil price will recover.”

On the FTSE 250, trading platform IG rose 8.5% after extending its share buyback amid encouraging trading. Goodwin, meanwhile, slumped 11% despite reporting pre-tax profit more than doubled in the half-year to the end of October.

Elsewhere, four large London-listed growth stock investment trusts said their net asset values got a boost from a raised valuation for Elon Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies.

Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust, a FTSE 100 index constituent, together with FTSE 250 constituents Edinburgh Worldwide Investment Trust and Baillie Gifford US Growth Trust, as well as Schiehallion Fund, said a trigger event has required an upwards adjustment in the valuation of their holdings in SpaceX.

SpaceX is moving ahead with plans for an initial public offering that would seek to raise significantly more than 30 billion dollars, in a transaction that would make it the biggest listing of all time, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday last week.

Scottish Mortgage said the new valuation for SpaceX raised its NAV per share to 1,297.23 pence on Monday from the 1,205.12p it had reported for Friday last week. SpaceX now makes up 15.3% of its portfolio by value, up from 8.2% at the end of November.

Scottish Mortgage shares were up 0.9%, Edinburgh Worldwide was up 2.6%, Baillie Gifford US Growth was up 1.2% and Schiehallion Fund was up 1.5%.

Gold was quoted at 4,304.60 dollars an ounce on Tuesday, higher against 4,296.68 dollars.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were easyJet, up 15.90 pence at 512.80p, Endeavour Mining, up 106.00p at 3,708.00p, JD Sports Fashion, up 2.14p at 83.18p, Fresnillo, up 68.00p at 2,924.00p and Convatec, up 4.80p at 234.80p.

The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Babcock International, down 45.00p at 1,214.00p, BP, down 14.95p at 422.50p, Informa, down 27.00p at 864.00p, Shell, down 72.00p at 2,626.50p and Polar Capital Technology Trust, down 11.00p at 450.50p.

Wednesday’s economic calendar has UK inflation data and producer price inflation figures.

Wednesday’s UK corporate calendar has a trading statement from Serco.

– Contributed by Alliance News