FTSE 100 LIVE: European markets down and US stocks stage recovery after bumper AI earnings

For more market moving news head over to our US site. Happy Friday!

Here's Axel Rudolph, Senior Market Analyst at online trading platform IG with the latest on oil prices:

"In the course of this week the price of oil dropped by over 3% to a near three-month low amid demand concerns but managed to heave itself into the green ahead of next week's OPEC+'s cancelled in-person ministerial gathering in Vienna as it switches to an online meeting. US natural gas prices fall by around 2.5% from their five-month peak while the price of gold remains little changed and that of silver rises by around a percentage point ahead of the weekend. Next week the focus will remain on inflation with the Fed's preferred PCE inflation gauge."

Looking to the big events of next week we have on the calendar:

• Monday — UK spring bank holiday (markets closed)

• Monday — Germany's IFO business climate survey

• Monday — US memorial day (markets closed)

• Tuesday — UK BRC shop price index

• Tuesday — Eurogroup meeting

• Wednesday — US mortgage applications data

• Friday — Nationwide UK house price index

• Friday — Euro business climate data

• Friday — Bank of England mortgage approvals data

We have this from earlier in the week: What does the UK general election mean for your finances?

Boeing (BA) stock fell 7.5% in Thursday's trading session as CFO Brian West warned that the airline manufacturer anticipates slowing fleet deliveries and negative free cash flow in 2024.

In an interview with Yahoo Finance on Wednesday, US Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg said Boeing still has "a long way to go" as the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) continues its review on Boeing production concerns.

Boeing currently has a BBB- rating from S&P. It also has a a negative credit rating outlook. The rating agency changed that outlook in April to "negative" from "stable" due to the increased chance that it will take more time for cash flow to recover.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has confirmed that several firms have been permitted to recommence their sales of Guaranteed Asset Protection (GAP) insurance, following action by the regulator to improve fair value.

To restart sales, firms need to demonstrate that their GAP products provide fair value to customers, in line with FCA rules.

Firms that have resumed sales of GAP insurance have done so with materially lower levels of commission being paid out to those selling GAP, improving value for customers.

Following this action, customers purchasing GAP insurance can expect to receive better value cover which is suited to their needs, and receive better outcomes.

Abrdn's shares fell in morning trade in London following news that its CEO Stephen bird will step down with immediate effect.

During his four-year run at the helm, the company's funds underperformed their benchmarks and its share price decreased around 50% since February 2021. Assets under management fell by 8% in 2022 and another 1.2% in 2023.

Among Bird's best-known move in charge was the company's rebrand, where the name was changed from Standard Life Aberdeen after the Standard Life business was sold off, to Abrdn, removing all the vowels except the one at the start.

The National Grid was the biggest faller in the FTSE on Friday morning, following news of a heavily discounted rights issue. The £7bn fundraise would be the largest from a company in Europe outside the banking sector in 15 years.

Stock was 9.5% lower by 10.10am in London.

The fundraise is set to finance a £60bn investment programme over the next five years which will be directed towards its British electricity distribution and transmission businesses as well as funding the company’s networks business in New York and New England.

New shares are to be issued at 645p each, a discount of almost 35% to Thursday’s closing price.

National Grid expects the investment to help it to expand its asset base at an average compound rate of 10% over the five years to 2029 and to increase earnings at a rate of between 6% and 8% from 2025.

Energy regulator Ofgem's new energy price cap will see a typical household energy bill fall by £122 from July, making bills the lowest for two years.

The UK has faced high energy bills as global conflicts like the war in Ukraine and trouble in the middle east have increased supply worries.

Under the new cap a household using a typical amount of gas and electricity will pay £1,568 a year.

Despite the fall, bills remain well above pre-pandemic levels and are about £400 higher than three years ago.

Nvidia was the stock to watch yesterday with the all-important chip company's Q1 earnings.

The shares popped more than 9% to top $1,000 for the first time after the AI bellwether blew past Wall Street's sky-high forecasts. The chip giant also raised its guidance, easing fears that AI demand might be losing steam.

Other chipmakers and AI-related stocks rode higher on the coattails of the results, with server maker Dell (DELL) up about 4%.

Stocks across Asia were mostly in the red on Friday, with a selloff sparked by a bad day in the US, among other things.

The Nikkei in Japan (^N225) fell 1.2%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng (^HSI) was 1.7% lower and the SSE Composite (000001.SS) waned 0.9%.

The moves in Hong Kong represent the biggest weekly fall since January, as bets of a June rate cut from the Federal Reserve in the US hit rock bottom.

From our colleagues in the States:

Stocks slid from record levels on Thursday as interest rate worries dominated investor sentiment after Nvidia's (NVDA) blockbuster earnings failed to spur a broader market rally.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) fell about 0.4%, while the S&P 500 (^GSPC) dropped more nearly 0.8%.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) dipped more than 1.5%, or 600 points, for its worst day since March 2023. A 7% drop in Boeing (BA) shares following an announcement of delayed plane deliveries weighed on the Dow.

Stocks had slipped on Wednesday after Federal Reserve minutes reignited concerns over the path of interest rates. Economic data on Thursday furthered that narrative. The S&P Global Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) for May came in at 54.4 versus 51.3 last month. The flash reading, which came in higher than economists had expected, showed business activity accelerated at the fastest pace in two years despite the Fed's efforts to quell price pressures.

Hello from London. It had promised to be a quiet-ish week for financial data and other events but we've ended up in the midst of an election campaign. The pound will likely be sensitive to promises made by parties and chancellors.

On the slate today:

• UK retail sales

• Germany GDP

• Speech by US Federal Reserve's Waller