The FTSE 100 pulled back from record highs on Friday as precious metals miners and banks weighed on the index.

London’s leading index was fairly stable, and losses were minor compared to the recent run-up in stocks. The FTSE 100 was trading down 0.15% at the time of writing.

“The FTSE 100 was stuck in the mud as the rest of Europe ploughed ahead at the end of the trading week,” said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell. 

“Strength in consumer stocks and utilities was offset by weakness in miners and healthcare.”

A slow session in London followed a fairly uninspiring close for US stocks that closed marginally lower overnight.

“Hardly major moves – the S&P 500 slipped nearly a third of a percent, while the Nasdaq was barely lower at –0.08% with Nvidia holding up the index with a gain of 1.83% after the US government gave approval to ship chips to the UAE, while Meta gained as it is considering creating a dedicated TV app,” said Saxo UK Investor Strategist, Neil Wilson.

Precious metals miners Fresnillo and Endeavour Mining suffered a rare bout of profit-taking as gold pulled back from record highs overnight.

“Gold steadied on Friday, consolidating after breaking above the USD 4,000 threshold for the first time earlier in the week,” said Joseph Dahrieh, Managing Principal at Tickmill.

“The metal remains on track for an eighth consecutive weekly gain, underpinned by expectations of further Federal Reserve rate cuts and lingering global uncertainties.

“Profit-taking and easing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East contributed to a pause in momentum. Israel ratified the first phase of a ceasefire deal with Hamas, which includes a partial military withdrawal from Gaza and the release of hostages within days, although sporadic airstrikes continued.”

Fresnillo lost 3.7%, and Endeavour was the FTSE 100 top faller, down 3.8%.

The housebuilders were marginally positive despite a dire warning from brickmaker Ibstock about slowing demand amid economic uncertainty. Barratt Redrow and Persimmon were both higher by around 0.3%.

The Ibstock CEO said, “headwinds are impacting momentum in our markets in the latter part of the year”. Ibstock shares were 8% weaker.

Sage Group was the top FTSE 100 riser as the stock broke out of a tight range held since early August.

Majestic Corporation is taking steps to expand its investor base. The UK-listed e-waste and precious metals recycling firm has filed for a cross-listing on America’s OTCQB Market—a move that could unlock fresh capital from investors across the Atlantic and beyond.

The application is in its final stages. Pending approval, Majestic’s shares will become accessible to North American and Asia-Pacific investors, markets where the sustainable metals specialist already operates and has a network of suppliers and customers.

Majestic said more details will follow once the listing receives the green light.

“We are delighted to be in the process of joining the OTCQB Market and allowing US Investors the chance to become shareholders in Majestic and in the future of the Circular Economy,” said Peter Lai, Founder, CEO and Chairman of Majestic.

“We anticipate this will also enable potential investors in the Asia-Pacific region to invest. We remain confident that our strategic focus will continue to drive profitability, create long-term shareholder value and continue to secure the supply of critical and precious metals for economies worldwide and for future generations.”

The news of the OTC listing comes as Majestic ramps up its UK growth strategy with plans to launch a new 50,000 sq. ft. facility in Wrexham.

Majestic has set itself a target of processing 100,000 tonnes of material by 2030, representing a sharp increase from the 30,000 tonnes processed last year.

GenIP Plc has unveiled Invention Validator, a new product that tests whether breakthrough technologies are ready for market adoption.

The premium service commands fees exceeding $12,000 – much higher than the firm’s existing offering.

Investors will hope that the new offering will help drive GenIP’s growth and will be pleased to see the first sale of the product to a South African research university. They’re using it to evaluate an agricultural biotechnology innovation—testing real farmer reactions before commercialisation.

The two-step process combines technical assessment with hard market data. First, GenIP evaluates IP strength and market potential. Then comes the crucial part: structured questionnaires distributed to actual end-users. In this case, farmers answer questions about pricing, barriers, and whether they’d actually buy the technology.

GenIP analyses the responses alongside technical evaluations to deliver strategic recommendations on commercialisation approach, pricing strategy, and partnership priorities.

The methodology isn’t limited to agriculture. Medical devices, renewable energy systems, advanced materials, environmental monitoring tools, and digital health platforms could all benefit from the validation framework.

Interest is already building. Three Chilean universities have expressed interest, with one reviewing a proposal. GenIP plans broader outreach to corporations and research organisations.

The service leverages AI-powered automation to keep consulting overheads low while maintaining strategic depth—designed as a high-margin, replicable offering built on GenIP’s proprietary technology ranking system.

“This new product marks an important milestone in GenIP’s evolution from delivering standalone reports to becoming an embedded partner in our clients’ commercialization decisions,” said Melissa Cruz, CEO of GenIP.

“Many technologies fail because research teams have to choose between slow, expensive market studies or risky assumptions about user adoption. Invention Validator bridges that gap by delivering fast, actionable insights by pairing AI driven analysis with real user feedback.

“Invention Validator is strategically significant because it builds directly on our Invention Evaluator foundation. Organizations start with our core report, then progress naturally to Invention Validator to test real-world adoption. This progression from evaluation to validation and through to execution, creates the opportunity for recurring revenues to drive our growth strategy.

“Universities have been asking for this capability and we have demonstrated this demand through its inaugural engagement. As we scale Invention Validator, we are building the high-value, repeatable client journeys that unlock sustained revenue growth.”

Invention Validator’s launch follows GenIP’s recently announced commercial strategy to deliver a suite of AI-powered products for organisations commercialising innovations.

Ibstock Plc has reported a challenging third quarter as economic and political uncertainty dampened demand across its core construction markets, forcing the building products manufacturer to revise its full-year profit expectations.

Shares were down by more than 10% at the open on Friday.

Like many UK companies, Ibstock is being hit hard by the Labour government’s inept economic policies and tax increases.

Ibstock, which produces clay bricks and concrete products, said customers became increasingly cautious as the quarter progressed. This weaker-than-expected demand affected revenues in both its Clay and Concrete divisions over the three months, and subdued conditions are now anticipated to persist through the remainder of 2025.

“Demand in the Clay and Concrete division has been weaker than expected, reflecting the near-term ‘economic and political’ environment,” explained Derren Nathan, head of equity research, Hargreaves Lansdown.

“Uncertainty around property taxes in the later-than-usual Autumn Budget, due 26 November, could mean construction starts hit a brick wall, so keep one eye on the ripple effect for housebuilders later today.”

Despite maintaining market share ahead of the prior year period and in line with the first half of 2025, Ibstock now expects second-half sales volumes to match those of the first six months. The Group had previously anticipated stronger performance.

In response to the deteriorating market conditions, Ibstock’s board now expects adjusted EBITDA in the second half of 2025 to be similar to first-half levels—a significant downgrade from earlier expectations of improvement.

In interim results released in August, Ibstock said it expected adjusted EBITDA for the year to be between £77 million and £82 million. If they have a similar second half of 2025 to the first, adjusted EBITDA will be closer to the £70 million mark.

“With clear, long term structural imperatives for residential construction growth, it is disappointing that additional near term headwinds are impacting momentum in our markets in the latter part of the year,” said Joe Hudson, CEO of Ibstock PLC.

“In spite of this difficult and uncertain market backdrop, the Group has continued to make good operational progress and maintain share.

“Whilst it remains difficult to predict the pace and timing of market recovery, we will continue to focus on strong execution and progressing our long term strategic growth projects. These initiatives, combined with the increasing contribution from our recent investments, leave us well positioned to benefit as the market returns.” 

The FTSE 100 fell on Thursday as losses for Lloyds and HSBC meant London’s leading index missed out on an AI-inspired global equity rally.

A 5% decline for HSBC and a number of stocks trading ex-dividend meant the FTSE 100 had little chance of a positive session, and the index fell 0.4% despite the S&P 500 achieving another record high overnight.

“Another day, another record closing level for both AI chip giant Nvidia and the tech-heavy Nasdaq index in the US,” said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.

“Investors who have held their nerve are cleaning up, yet the drums of worry are banging louder each day.

“Concerns around excessive valuations, elevated levels of government borrowing, uncertain economic growth, and political turbulence are omnipresent. There are a multitude of factors that could trigger a market pullback, but for now it is another day where there are more bulls than bears.”

A land grab is underway for the hottest AI start-ups and the infrastructure that supports them, sending some companies to eyewatering valuations.

Although there are growing concerns about valuations, especially for AI shares, bulls will argue that valuations are justified by the sector’s future earnings potential. Bears will point to the Dot Com boom and bust. Many say this time is different. Only time will tell.

While US markets are being whipped into a frenzy about AI, UK markets suffered declines from Lloyds and HSBC.

“The FTSE 100 was an outlier, weighed down by a double dose of bad medicine from the banking sector,” Russ Mould said.

“HSBC removed the share buyback carrot that has been keeping investors excited. It is using cash that might otherwise have funded buybacks to pay for the buy-out of Hang Seng Bank.”

HSBC shares were down over 5% at the time of writing.

Just a day after an FCA announcement was deemed as favourable for the banks involved in the motor finance scandal, Lloyds disappointed investors with news that they will need to set aside more cash for redress.

“Lloyds Banking Group has announced that it is likely to have to make a further provision, potentially a material one, against the costs of Motor Finance customer redress,” said Steve Clayton, head of equity funds, Hargreaves Lansdown.

“This comes just a day after the FCA announced an industry-wide scheme that saw compensation levels set at what were thought to be the lower end of expectation for industry costs. The statement from Lloyds was not in the market’s playbook and the shares have reacted badly, erasing yesterday’s gains, with Close Brothers similarly impacted.”

Lloyds shares were down 2.5% at the time of writing.

Canadian oil and gas explorer Sintana Energy is acquiring AIM-listed Challenger Energy Group in an all-share transaction worth approximately £45 million.

Under the terms of the takeover, Challenger shareholders will receive 0.4705 new Sintana shares for each Challenger share they hold. That values each Challenger share at 16.61 pence – an attractive 44% premium to the closing price of 11.50p on 8 October and a 97% uplift on Challenger’s three-month volume-weighted average price.

Once the deal completes, former Challenger shareholders will own roughly 25% of the combined group. They’ll receive about 126.7 million new Sintana shares in total.

The deal has backing from major shareholders. Investors holding 34.2% of Challenger’s issued share capital – including independent directors – will vote in favour.

Although recent buyers of Challenger Energy shares will be pleased with the deal, there is an argument that the firm could be worth a lot more in the future, given the strength of its assets.

Challenger’s crown jewels are two offshore blocks in Uruguay, which are estimated to hold up to 980 million barrels of recoverable oil.

The company holds a 40% working interest in AREA OFF-1, where oil major Chevron operates with a 60% stake. In AREA OFF-3, Challenger is both operator and 100% owner.

It was the only junior explorer with significant offshore acreage in Uruguay, which is dominated by the world’s largest oil firms.

The all-share nature of the transaction means Challenger shareholders will still have exposure to any further upside, if they continue to hold Sintana shares.

Petro Matad has announced that well testing at its Gazelle-1 site has exceeded expectations, with the company now fast-tracking the well for production before month-end.

At long last, some good news from Petro Matad.

The AIM-quoted Mongolian oil company revealed on Wednesday that the well flowed oil and gas to surface without artificial lift after perforating an eight-metre zone in the Tsagaantsav Formation.

Initial flow rates reached 160 barrels of oil per day on a 1/8 inch choke. This jumped to 300 bopd on a larger choke, ultimately achieving approximately 460 bopd on a 1/4 inch choke.

Crucially, no formation water appeared during testing. The oil quality measured 43° API, matching crude from the company’s Heron-1 well.

‘The performance of Gazelle-1 on test has exceeded expectations’, Petro Matad said in an RNS released on Wednesday, adding that production is targeted to begin before the end of October. Neighbouring operator PetroChina has provided equipment from its inventory to expedite completion and start-up.

Petro Matad shares were 30% higher at the time of writing.

The flow rates mean the rig will remain at Gazelle-1 rather than moving to test the Gobi Bear-1 well as planned. That operation has been postponed until April 2026. Investors shouldn’t be too upset that development at Gobi will take a while longer.

Elsewhere, Petro Matad reported progress at Heron-2, where beam pump installation began this month, and confirmed completion of Heron-1’s connection to Mongolia’s national electricity grid.

“We are delighted that the results from the Gazelle-1 well test have exceeded our expectations and we are now prioritising getting the well onstream as it shows the potential to significantly increase our daily production and revenue,” said Mike Buck, CEO of Petro Matad.

“We are also glad to see the start of an efficient down hole clean up at Heron-2 which should give us the definitive results on flowing fluid and well rate that we seek.

“We are disappointed that we will not be able to test Gobi Bear-1 during this operational season but there is minimal additional cost to remobilise for this activity in 2026 and right now, given the enthusiasm with which Gazelle-1 has tested, the production addition must be our first priority.”

Petro Matad was included in UK Investor Magazine’s ‘Top 20 Stock Picks for 2025’ and is currently one of the worst performers, losing 27% year-to-date.