On Thursday, London’s FTSE 100 saw a drop after a three-day run of record highs, mainly driven by the performance of financial and energy shares, as investors assessed the underwhelming economic growth data for the third quarter. The blue-chip index was down 0.6% as of 12:11, yet it remained close to the important 10,000 points milestone. The mid-cap FTSE 250 saw a decrease of 0.3%. Investment banks & brokerages experienced a decline of 6.3%, while investment firm 3i Group faced a significant drop of 14.6%, marking its worst day since May 2022, following the company’s announcement of a cautious approach to capital deployment for new investments.

The energy sector experienced a decline of 1.1% following a report that indicated increasing crude inventories in the U.S., which heightened concerns over oversupply and subsequently led to a decrease in oil prices. Britain’s economic performance showed minimal progress in the third quarter, with growth hindered by a cyber attack on Jaguar Land Rover in September. This disappointing performance reinforced expectations for a cut in interest rates by the Bank of England in December, with the budget announcement from Finance Minister Rachel Reeves scheduled for November 26. Sterling saw a short decline to a session low following the data release, then bounced back to trade 0.2% higher.

Global markets remained focused on the stream of economic data emerging from the U.S. after President Donald Trump signed legislation that ended the country’s longest government shutdown. The 43-day data blackout led to a situation where both the Federal Reserve and traders encountered ambiguity concerning labor market conditions and inflation trends. Life insurers experienced a decline of 1.3% on Thursday, with Aviva seeing a drop of 4.3% following the announcement of the insurer’s new financial targets, which did not meet investor expectations. However, precious metal miners experienced an increase of 8.2% as gold prices reached a peak not seen in over three weeks.

Homebuilder Persimmon saw an increase of 2.3% following the announcement of a rise in its forward sales, even amidst consumer uncertainty. Burberry saw shares increase by 2.4%, reaching their peak since July 29, following the luxury brand’s first quarter of growth in two years. An advertisement is currently being shown on the video player, and the ad can be skipped in 5 seconds with a mouse or keyboard. Wizz Air’s shares increased by 8.7% following the airline’s announcement of robust operating profit for the first half of the year.