17.11.202516:57:24UTC+00FTSE 100 Falls for 3rd Session

On Monday, the FTSE 100 experienced a 0.2% decline, marking its third consecutive session of losses. This cautious sentiment among investors comes ahead of the upcoming UK budget announcement on November 26, particularly following last Friday's significant market selloff prompted by Chancellor Rachel Reeves's abrupt reversal on income tax policies. Key blue-chip stocks such as HSBC, Rolls-Royce, and Relx observed declines of approximately 1% each, while Barclays and Lloyds both decreased by around 0.8%, and BAE Systems slipped by 0.4%. In a contrasting trend, WPP saw a remarkable increase of nearly 11%, buoyed by reports of high-level interest from the Dutch communications group Havas in a potential deal, garnering investor interest despite WPP's significant 65% drop this year due to client spending reductions and challenges related to AI disruptions. Other significant gainers helping to counterbalance market weaknesses included British American Tobacco, which gained 1.7%, and AstraZeneca, which saw an uptick of 0.8%.