Business
Mixed markets in London as Donald Trump and Xi Jinping talk
Stock prices in London closed mixed on Friday, following a week of interest rate decisions that mostly went as expected, and after a much-anticipated phone conversation between US President Donald Trump and China’s President Xi Jinping.
“Markets continued to digest the (US) Federal Reserve’s 25-basis-point rate cut this week,” Naga’s Frank Walbaum commented.
“Chair Jerome Powell described the move as a measured response to a cooling labour market, while stressing that the central bank would proceed cautiously with any further easing.
“However, a fall in jobless claims to 231,000 in last week’s data eased fears of a rapid labour market deterioration.
“Meanwhile, global policy developments added to the backdrop, with both the Bank of England and Bank of Japan holding interest rates steady this week.”
The FTSE 100 index closed down 11.44 points, 0.1%, at 9,216.67.
The FTSE 250 ended down 136.02 points, 0.6%, at 21,589.93, and the AIM All-Share closed up 1.26 points, 0.2%, at 773.60.
On the FTSE 100, NatWest was down 1.7%.
The Edinburgh-based bank is working with advisers on a sale of Cushon two years after paying £144 million for a controlling 85% stake in the workplace pensions provider, Sky News reported.
The disposal would reflect the priorities of chief executive Paul Thwaite, which includes a simplification programme and more active balance sheet and risk management.
However, a NatWest spokesperson declined to comment on the “speculation”.
Kainos on the FTSE 250 was down 1.4%.
The London-based Workday partner and provider of IT services to public sector, commercial, and healthcare customers announced the acquisition of Davis Pier, growing its Digital Services division workforce in Canada.
Davis Pier is a Nova Scotia-based consultancy specialising in addressing complex challenges for Canadian public sector and community organisations.
On AIM, Gelion ended up 11%.
The London-based battery energy storage systems firm’s UK subsidiary Oxlid has secured £533,000 in government grant funding to advance its lithium-sulphur battery technology, in collaboration with FTSE 250-listed defence and aerospace firm Qinetiq.
Chief executive John Wood said the funding will allow Gelion to demonstrate “ultra-high energy density” cells while meeting performance needs for strategic applications, and that Qinetiq’s expertise in defence certification and cell manufacturing would support the pathway to commercialisation.
Small-cap Predator Oil & Gas dropped 13%.
The Morocco and Trinidad-focused oil and gas company’s pretax loss widened to £1.9 million in the first half of 2025, from £1.0 million a year prior, although revenue was £66,815 compared to none the year before.
Chief executive Paul Griffiths, meanwhile, said: “The outlook for the next 12 months is positive and filled with operational activity…Substantive progress has been achieved by our team against the background of volatility in the financial and public markets caused by global events. We see this as an opportunity and not an excuse.”
In European equities on Friday, the CAC 40 in Paris closed up 0.1%, while the Dax 40 in Frankfurt ended down 0.1%.
The pound was quoted lower at 1.3475 US dollars at the time of the London equities close on Friday, compared to 1.3556 on Thursday.
The euro stood at 1.1746 US dollars, lower against 1.1786.
Against the yen, the dollar was trading at 147.89 yen, slightly lower compared to 147.94.
Stocks in New York were higher.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 13.47 points, the S&P 500 index up 0.1%, and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.2%.
The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was quoted at 4.14%, widening from 4.11%.
The yield on the US 30-year Treasury was quoted at 4.75%, widening from 4.73%.
Mr Trump and China’s leader Mr Xi spoke by phone on Friday.
Chinese state broadcaster CCTV and the Xinhua news agency said the call had started.
The pair could settle disputes over TikTok, after Mr Trump repeatedly put off a ban under a US law designed to force Beijing-based parent ByteDance to sell its US operations for national security reasons.
Mr Trump told reporters on Thursday that he hoped to “finalise something on TikTok”, whose US business would be “owned by all American investors, and very rich people and companies”, as he put it.
The world’s two biggest economies also seek to find a compromise on tariffs.
Both sides dramatically hiked levies against each other during a months-long dispute earlier this year, disrupting global supply chains.
Brent oil was quoted lower at 66.56 US dollars a barrel at the time of the London equities close on Friday, from 67.09 late on Thursday.
Gold was quoted at 3,670.59 US dollars an ounce, up against 3,654.51 US dollars.
“Gold prices were relatively steady and remained above the 3,640 US dollars level on Friday, leaving the metal on track for a flat or marginally positive weekly close after four weeks of strong gains,” Mr Walbaum commented.
“Profit-taking after hitting record highs on Wednesday and a rise in US Treasury yields weighed on sentiment, but safe-haven demand helped limit losses.”
He added that “global policy developments added to the backdrop, with both the Bank of England and Bank of Japan holding interest rates steady this week.
“However, geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and Eastern Europe continued to be a key support for bullion.”
The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Fresnillo, up 112.0p at 2,276.0p, Endeavour Mining, up 136.0p at 2,828.0p, Next, up 295.0p at 11,870.0p, Coca-Cola HBC, up 74.0p at 3,644.0p, and Glencore, up 5.60p at 312.9p.
The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were London Stock Exchange Group, down 498.0p at 8,138.0p, WPP, down 19.70p at 360.7p, JD Sports Fashion, down 3.2p at 88.7p, Airtel Africa, down 5.2p at 221.2p, and Lloyds, down 1.67p at 82.1p.
On Monday’s economic calendar, China has its interest rate decision.
On Monday’s UK corporate calendar, Wilmington reports full-year and BioPharma Credit reports half-year results.
Contributed by Alliance News.
Liv McMahon and
Chris Vallance,Technology reporters
Getty ImagesGrand Theft Auto (GTA) maker Rockstar Games has been accused by a trade union of sacking staff in the UK to stop them from unionising.
The Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB), which represents people working in the gaming sector, said 31 workers were fired from Rockstar’s UK studios on 30 October.
The union led rallies outside the company’s offices in Edinburgh and London on Thursday to protest what it described as “the most blatant and ruthless act of union busting in the history of the games industry”.
The BBC has approached Rockstar’s parent company, Take-Two Interactive, for comment, which has reportedly claimed staff were sacked for sharing confidential information.
IWGB“Last week, we took action against a small number of individuals who were found to be distributing and discussing confidential information in a public forum, a violation of our company policies,” a Rockstar spokesperson told Bloomberg in a statement.
“This was in no way related to people’s right to join a union or engage in union activities.”
At large video game studios, information about game development is tightly controlled – with employees often signing agreements not to share confidential information.
Rockstar’s upcoming GTA 6 is expected to be one of the best-selling games of all time, with fans clamouring for any news ahead of its May 2026 release date – meaning security around any information will be heightened at the studio.
But union president Alex Marshall accused Rockstar of deflecting from the “real reason” for firing staff – which the IWGB believes is their union involvement.
“They are afraid of hard working staff privately discussing exercising their rights for a fairer workplace and a collective voice,” he said.
“Management are showing they don’t care about delays to GTA 6, and that they’re prioritising union busting by targeting the very people who make the game.”
According to the IWGB, the UK workers fired at the end of October were part of a group discussing forming a union at the company.
Mr Marshall said its only non-Rockstar employees were union organisers.
“We refute that confidential information was shared publicly,” IWGB said in a statement.
Dr Paolo Ruffino, senior lecturer in digital curation and computational creativity at Kings College London, said it was a “textbook” case of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) being used by gaming firms.
“They’re used at every level in gaming, creating a culture of secrecy that makes investigating working conditions nearly impossible,” he said.
“The real question is whether these dismissals were about leaked information or protected union activity – a distinction UK employment law requires but which NDA allegations make difficult to prove.”
‘Equalising the scales’
Speaking to the BBC at a picket outside the Rockstar North office in Edinburgh, organiser Fred Carter said he was standing alongside staff who had been sacked “without warning” and “without reason”.
“They’ve been fired, we believe, because they’re union members – which is a protected activity in the UK,” he said.
“We’re asking people to come out and support us, to demand their jobs back and demand accountability from Rockstar.”
A former employee speaking at the Edinburgh rally said there was a “power imbalance” at play in conversations with management.
“Not everyone is comfortable speaking up, and even when you do you can get shut down because you’re just one person,” they said.
Workers at BAE Systems in Lancashire have been cleared to proceed with planned industrial action after the High Court dismissed the company’s last-minute bid to block strikes.
The aerospace giant had sought an injunction against Unite the Union members at its Warton and Samlesbury sites, arguing their planned walkout was unlawful.
However, Mr Justice Soole refused to grant the injunction on Thursday, stating: “Having considered the evidence, the application is dismissed. I will give my reasons later.”
The ruling paves the way for strikes, which the union said were due to begin on Wednesday and continue until 25 November, following the rejection of a 2025 pay offer.
In written submissions, Bruce Carr KC, representing BAE, contended that Unite had invalidated the strike’s lawfulness by instructing members not to train managers in aircraft testing after giving notice to ballot on 24 September.
The barrister added: “It is the claimant’s case that the evidence clearly demonstrates that at that meeting and thereafter, Unite called on its members employed as quality professionals, to take industrial action in the form of refusing to undertake the training of managers employed by the claimant.”
Mr Carr said that in mid-September BAE wanted the training after “a number of absences” and while it was “considering business continuity plans in the event of possible industrial action”.
This training occurred between 22 September and 10 October, after which the quality professionals refused to continue following instructions from the union, Mr Carr said.
These workers breached their duty to BAE because they are “required to act in the best interests of the company to carry out such duties in respect of their appointment as they may reasonably be called upon to undertake”, the barrister added.
Oliver Segal KC, for Unite, said the training was a “request”, not an “instruction” and therefore workers who refused were not in breach of their contract.
He described managers being trained for the testing role as “unprecedented” and that union representatives had asked workers to get the “request” in writing while they seek legal advice.
In written submissions, he said: “The evidence in this case is that the defendant never even suggested, let alone ‘called’ on, its members who are quality professionals to refuse to comply with a management instruction to provide training to management executives.”
Mr Segal said BAE was “ludicrously interpreting” emails between union representatives discussing the training as instructions for union members not to comply.
The barrister also said there was no refusal to train the managers after 10 October and that one of the quality professionals gave a statement saying his team never stopped providing training.
He continued: “The reality is that this application is a last-minute, desperate attempt by the claimant to neuter the industrial action, which is both factually mis-premised and legally misconceived.”
Mr Carr said on Thursday that BAE is considering an appeal.
A BAE spokesperson said: “We note the ruling by the High Court. We believe we had good grounds for the legal challenge and will consider the court’s judgment.
“We respect the right of employees to engage in industrial action and remain committed to a partnership approach with all our trade union groups.”
The PA news agency understands that less than 70 employees out of 12,000 are involved in the strike action while production lines are continuing to operate.
Speaking after the decision, Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “This unsuccessful attempt by BAE to prevent a lawful strike will have severely damaged the goodwill it has with its workforce.
“BAE is a multibillion-pound company making record profits.
“It now needs to come back to the negotiating table with an acceptable offer for striking workers in its Air division, rather than wasting money on pointless legal threats.
“Otherwise, our members will be taking strike action throughout November in their fight for fair pay.”
Rachel Halliday of Thompsons Solicitors, which represented Unite, added: “This is a clear win for Unite and for workers everywhere.
“The High Court has confirmed that the union acted lawfully at every stage, and that BAE’s attempt to block strike action had no basis.
“Today’s decision will send a strong message to employers that the courts cannot be used to silence workers standing up for fair pay and respect.
“Unite acted responsibly throughout, adhering to all statutory requirements, and this important decision reinforces the union’s members’ right to strike.
“Thompsons is proud to have stood with Unite in defending this principle. Working people have the right to be heard – and to take lawful industrial action when negotiations fail.”
Workers at BAE Systems in Lancashire can continue to strike following the dismissal of a bid for a High Court injunction aimed at blocking industrial action.
The company asked a judge to order Unite the Union members at the Warton and Samlesbury sites to cease their planned action in a last-minute hearing on Tuesday.
Strikes were due to start on Wednesday and last until November 25, according to the union.
But Mr Justice Soole refused to grant the injunction on Thursday.
He said: “Having considered the evidence, the application is dismissed. I will give my reasons later.”
Bruce Carr KC, for BAE, said in written submissions for the hearing on Tuesday that Unite had given notice to ballot on September 24 after rejecting the 2025 pay offer.
He said that following this, union representatives told members not to train managers in aircraft testing and that this amounted to a call to industrial action, therefore invalidating the lawfulness of the upcoming strike.
The barrister added: “It is the claimant’s case that the evidence clearly demonstrates that at that meeting and thereafter, Unite called on its members employed as quality professionals, to take industrial action in the form of refusing to undertake the training of managers employed by the claimant.”
Mr Carr said that in mid-September BAE wanted the training after “a number of absences” and while it was “considering business continuity plans in the event of possible industrial action”.
This training occurred between September 22 and October 10, after which the quality professionals refused to continue following instructions from the union, Mr Carr said.
These workers breached their duty to BAE because they are “required to act in the best interests of the company to carry out such duties in respect of their appointment as they may reasonably be called upon to undertake”, the barrister added.
Oliver Segal KC, for Unite, said the training was a “request”, not an “instruction” and therefore workers who refused were not in breach of their contract.
He described managers being trained for the testing role as “unprecedented” and that union representatives had asked workers to get the “request” in writing while they seek legal advice.
In written submissions, he said: “The evidence in this case is that the defendant never even suggested, let alone ‘called’ on, its members who are quality professionals to refuse to comply with a management instruction to provide training to management executives.”
Mr Segal said BAE was “ludicrously interpreting” emails between union representatives discussing the training as instructions for union members not to comply.
The barrister also said there was no refusal to train the managers after October 10 and that one of the quality professionals gave a statement saying his team never stopped providing training.
He continued: “The reality is that this application is a last-minute, desperate attempt by the claimant to neuter the industrial action, which is both factually mis-premised and legally misconceived.”
Mr Carr said on Thursday that BAE is considering an appeal.
A BAE spokesperson said: “We note the ruling by the High Court. We believe we had good grounds for the legal challenge and will consider the court’s judgment.
“We respect the right of employees to engage in industrial action and remain committed to a partnership approach with all our trade union groups.”
The PA news agency understands that less than 70 employees out of 12,000 are involved in the strike action while production lines are continuing to operate.
Speaking after the decision, Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “This unsuccessful attempt by BAE to prevent a lawful strike will have severely damaged the goodwill it has with its workforce.
“BAE is a multibillion-pound company making record profits.
“It now needs to come back to the negotiating table with an acceptable offer for striking workers in its Air division, rather than wasting money on pointless legal threats.
“Otherwise, our members will be taking strike action throughout November in their fight for fair pay.”
Rachel Halliday of Thompsons Solicitors, which represented Unite, added: “This is a clear win for Unite and for workers everywhere.
“The High Court has confirmed that the union acted lawfully at every stage, and that BAE’s attempt to block strike action had no basis.
“Today’s decision will send a strong message to employers that the courts cannot be used to silence workers standing up for fair pay and respect.
“Unite acted responsibly throughout, adhering to all statutory requirements, and this important decision reinforces the union’s members’ right to strike.
“Thompsons is proud to have stood with Unite in defending this principle. Working people have the right to be heard – and to take lawful industrial action when negotiations fail.”
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