UK Markets Daily: FTSE 100 Closes Down 0.3% on Thursday 22 October 2026

TL;DR: The FTSE 100 closed down 0.26% at 10,725.03 on Thursday, while the FTSE 250 fell 0.93%, gold fell 2.36% to $4,052.20 an ounce, and Brent crude rose 2.95% to $112.03 a barrel.

Market snapshot

Closing levels on 22 October 2026 (data as of 2026-10-22 16:35 London time):

What moved markets

• UK shares fell, with the FTSE 100 down 0.26% and the FTSE 250 down 0.93%, so the fall was wider among mid-sized UK companies than among the biggest internationals. The data and headlines fetched today show no single clear driver for the share moves, so we are not going to invent one.
• Brent crude rose 2.95% to $112.03 a barrel, keeping oil at a high level. Higher oil usually puts pressure on fuel and energy costs, which is why this move matters beyond the markets themselves.
• Gold fell 2.36% to $4,052.20 an ounce and silver fell 4.56% to $54.80 an ounce, while the pound rose 0.21% against the dollar to 1.34 and the euro fell 0.23% against the pound to 0.84.
• Bitcoin fell 3.84% over 24 hours to $81,171, while Ethereum fell 5.11% to $2,376.77. In today’s headlines, the BBC reports that Barclays is cutting 5,000 jobs as it increases its reliance on AI, and that tank barrel production is returning to the UK after 20 years.

Top UK business headlines

• ‘I wasn’t thinking straight’ says five jobs civil servant (BBC News)
• Barclays cutting 5,000 jobs as it increases reliance on AI (BBC News)
• Tank barrel production returns to UK after 20 years (BBC News)
• The ‘trillion pound’ oil fund the government believes Britain could have built (BBC News)
• What is PHP and why did it spark a global cyber-security scramble? (BBC News)

Tomorrow to Watch

The scheduled economic news that can move markets on Friday 23 October 2026, in UK times. It is a busy day for survey and spending data, led by UK retail sales in the morning and the flash PMI surveys:

• 07:00: Retail Sales (MoM) (Sep), United Kingdom. This Office for National Statistics report shows how much shoppers spent in shops and online in September, compared with the month before. Markets expect a fall of 0.2%, after a rise of 0.5% in August. It is the clearest monthly read on household spending, so it usually moves the pound and shop shares, and it feeds into expectations for Bank of England interest rates.
• 09:30: S&P Global Manufacturing PMI Flash and S&P Global Services PMI Flash (Oct), United Kingdom. These flash surveys ask purchasing managers whether business activity is growing or shrinking; a reading above 50 means growth. Markets expect about 51.8 for both surveys, after 51.9 for manufacturing and 52.1 for services last time. As the first survey read on October, they usually move the pound and UK shares, especially if they differ a lot from expectations so close to the Budget on 28 October.
• 14:45: S&P Global Manufacturing PMI Flash and S&P Global Services PMI Flash (Oct), United States. The US versions of the same flash surveys. Markets expect 55.4 for manufacturing, after 55.9 last time, and 57.9 for services, after 58.8. They are an early read on the world’s largest economy, so they usually move the dollar and US shares, because they shape what people expect the Federal Reserve to do with interest rates.
• 15:00: Michigan Consumer Sentiment Final (Oct), United States. This University of Michigan survey measures how confident US households feel about the economy and their own finances. Markets expect a final reading of 46.3. It usually moves the dollar only modestly on its own, but a big surprise can shift expectations for US household spending.

Times and expectations are taken from the published economic calendar and can change. We explain what each release is and what it usually moves; we do not predict which way markets will go.

See the full UK Markets Daily hub, updated every weekday evening.

Figures are indicative closing levels and can be delayed. Nothing here is financial advice.