The FTSE 100 ended a losing week on a sour note, knocked by further heavy selling of US technology names and double-digit losses for blue chips Rightmove and IAG.

The FTSE 100 index closed down 53.21 points, or 0.6%, at 9,682.57.

The FTSE 250 ended 131.64 points lower, or 0.6%, at 21,773.39, and the AIM All-Share fell 3.66 points, 0.5%, at 749.47.

For the week, the FTSE 100 fell 0.4%, the FTSE 250 shed 1.8% and the AIM All-Share slid 2.7%.

London’s falls were reflected elsewhere in Europe and across the pond on Wall Street.

In European equities on Friday, the CAC 40 in Paris closed down 0.2%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt ended 0.7% lower.

In New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.6% at around the time of the London close.

The S&P 500 index was 1.1% lower, while the Nasdaq Composite declined 1.9%.

Joshua Mahony at Scope Markets said the broader market has been led lower by a pullback in “mega-cap tech, with semiconductors particularly under pressure”.

But “with earnings continuing to support the AI narrative and corporate profitability holding firm, many will question whether this week’s weakness represents a dip-buying opportunity rather than the start of a broader reversal”, he suggested.

Mark Haefele, chief investment officer at UBS Global Wealth Management, said that “bouts of volatility should not come as a surprise,” especially “after a strong run over the past several months”.

“While political uncertainty and shifting investor sentiment could inject further volatility into the market, we continue to believe that the fundamentals supporting the rally remain intact,” he added.

Mr Haefele argued that high stock valuations “do not necessarily signal an imminent correction”, and that the tech sector’s core metrics remain “robust”.

Goldman Sachs on Friday raised its 12-month prediction for the FTSE 100 and other European stock indices, to reflect increased earnings growth forecasts for 2025 and 2026.

Goldman now expects the London’s blue-chip index to surpass 10,000 within the next six months and hit 10,200 in 12 months, up from a prior target of 9,600.

In London, Rightmove plunged 12% as it warned operating profit growth could slow as it announced plans to ramp up investment on artificial intelligence capabilities.

The Milton Keynes-based online property portal said that between 2026 and 2028 it will accelerate investment in consumer innovation, AI-powered operations and research and development for new growth.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: “Investing for future growth is not a bad thing but the scale of the market’s negative reaction implies real scepticism about its decision to put so much money into AI.”

Rightmove introduced guidance for 2026 of revenue growth of 8% to 10% and underlying operating profit growth of 3% to 5%, reflecting the increased investment.

Analysts at Citi said: “The updated guidance for FY26 onwards infers low/mid single digit downgrades to consensus underlying operating profit.”

Meanwhile, British Airways owner IAG nosed 12% as it reported “softness” in US travel and weaker prices in the European market.

“As expected the North Atlantic market saw some softness in US point-of-sale economy leisure and unit prices across our airlines were lower in the European market due to a combination of high growth by British Airways and more competitive markets elsewhere,” the airline said in a statement.

Sterling was quoted at 1.3166 dollars at the time of the London equities close on Friday, higher compared with 1.3106 dollars on Thursday.

The euro stood at 1.1582 dollars, up against 1.1536 dollars. Against the yen, the dollar was trading slightly lower at 153.07 yen, compared with 153.12 yen.

The yield on the US 10-year Treasury was at 4.07%, narrowed from 4.09% on Thursday. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury was quoted flat at 4.68%.

Ahead of the budget, Chancellor Rachel Reeves has submitted her likely tax-raising plans to the UK’s Office for Budget Responsibility, so that the independent fiscal watchdog can tell her how they may impact economic forecasts.

The Times reported the Government is considering increasing the basic, higher and additional rates of income tax by two percentage points, to 22%, 42% and 47%, while cutting the rate of national insurance paid by basic-rate taxpayers from 8% to 6%.

On the FTSE 250, ITV jumped 17% after confirming it is in the early stages of talks to sell its media and entertainment arm to Comcast Corp-owned Sky in a deal worth £1.6 billion.

The London-based television broadcaster and content producer said there can be no certainty that a deal will be struck.

Oxford Nanopore firmed 4.7% as it set out upbeat guidance for the full-year.

The Oxford-based specialist in DNA and RNA sequencing technologies said 2025 constant currency revenue growth is to be at the top end of its stated 20% to 23% range.

“All other financial metrics tracking in line with expectations,” it added, in a brief update.

Brent oil was quoted higher at 63.51 dollars a barrel at the time of the London equities close on Friday, from 63.25 dollars late on Thursday.

Gold traded higher at 4,012.24 dollars an ounce against 3,977.52 dollars.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Hikma Pharmaceuticals, up 60.0 pence at 1,582.0p, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, up 240.0p at 6,950.0p, WPP, up 8.8p at 279.1p, Diageo, up 46.5p at 1,726.5p and Intercontinental Hotels Group, up 220.0p at 9,738.0p.

The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Rightmove, down 81.8p at 573.6p, IAG, down 47.9p at 366.2p, Auto Trader, down 47.4p at 751.2p, Relx, down 122.0p at 3,194.0p and Experian, down 111.0p at 3,405.0p.

Next week’s global economic calendar sees UK jobs, earnings and GDP data, a slew of data in China, including retail sales and industrial production, and eurozone industrial production figures.

Monday’s UK corporate calendar has full-year results from sports nutrition brand Applied Nutrition. Later in the week trading updates are due from insurer Aviva and aerospace and defence firm Rolls-Royce.

Contributed by Alliance News