London stocks drop as markets shaken by global IT outage

London’s markets finished lower on Friday as a major global IT shortage knocked equity markets.

Main markets in the UK, continental Europe and the US were all knocked by the Microsoft outage, linked to a cybersecurity update, which resulted in delays to flights, payment issues and disruption to GPs.

Sentiment in London was also impacted by a weak set of retail sales data from the Office for National Statistics, with sales volumes contracting by 1.2% last month amid uncertainty around the General Election.

The FTSE 100 finished 49.17 points, or 0.6% lower, to end the day at 8,155.72.

Stateside, the main markets were in the red on the opening bell, with CrowdStrike losing around 10 billion dollars (£7.8 billion) off its market value amid concerns among investors.

Elsewhere in Europe, the outage kept the downward pressure on the other main markets which, have steadily dropped throughout the week.

The Cac 40 in France ended 0.84% lower and the Dax index was down 1.03% at the close.

Axel Rudolph, senior market analyst at IG, said: “Worse-than-expected UK retail sales and a global Microsoft Windows outage, allegedly caused by an update from CrowdStrike, led to another negative session in global stock markets.

“The FTSE 100 saw a second straight day of losses and the German Dax 40 index its fifth, both ending the week in the red as the European central bank kept rates on hold.”

Meanwhile, sterling took a step backwards after striking a year-high against the dollar earlier in the week, with the larger-than-expected fall in monthly retail sales also indicating Bank of England policymakers could look to reduce rates next month.

The pound was down 0.2% at 1.292 US dollars and was down 0.08% at 1.186 euros.

In company news, Hargreaves Lansdown finished marginally higher after it extended the deadline for its potential £5.4 billion takeover offer by a private equity consortium.

The investment platform pushed back the deadline for a deal until August 5 and said that negotiations “remain ongoing” following the takeover move by a consortium led by CVC last month.

Shares in Hargreaves Lansdown were up 0.18% at 1,110p at the close of trading,

Listed investment group Bridgepoint was firmly higher after its upgraded its full-year profit expectations following a strong first half.

The company also benefited from reports in Bloomberg that private equity firm Cinven is in talks to snap up its stake in Swedish drinks maker Vitamin Well.

Shares in Bridgepoint were up 6.1% at 274.8p.

Burberry was once again among the notable fallers after investors were knocked by its chief’s departure earlier this week, with shares down 7.2% to 697.6p on Friday.

The price of oil dropped during the session, losing most of its minor gains from Thursday’s trading.

A barrel of Brent crude oil was down by 1.1% to 81.45 US dollars as markets were closing in London.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Marks & Spencer, up 9.3p to 319.8p, Rolls-Royce, up 11.5p to 446.1p, Antofagasta, up 22.5p to 1922p, Howden Joinery, up 10.5p to 934p, and Diploma, up 46p to 4270p.

The biggest fallers on the index were Burberry, down 54.4p at 697.6p, Spirax Group, down 515p at 8,450p, Beazley, down 22.5p at 651.5p, JD Sports, down 3.75p at 117.15p, and Entain, down 20.4p at 644.2p.