The FTSE 100 retreated 0.5%, mirroring declines in France’s CAC 40 and Germany’s DAX, which both slipped 0.3%. Individual stock performances provided sharp contrasts: Rotork surged 66.6% and Indutrade climbed 8%, while Telenor and Ocado Group faced heavy selling pressure, dropping 9.4% and 7.2% respectively. Commodity markets saw Brent crude slide 0.6% to $84.45 a barrel, and WTI crude fell 0.4% to $79.26. Meanwhile, natural gas prices in Europe edged up slightly to 54.64 euros per megawatt hour.

Debt markets reflected persistent caution as yields climbed globally. The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield rose 2 basis points to 4.57%, and the German 10-year Bund yield added 1 basis point to reach 3.163%. In Asia, the divergence was stark: Japan’s Nikkei 225 plummeted 2.8% and the Shanghai Composite fell 1.8%, even as Hong Kong's Hang Seng bucked the regional trend with a 1.3% gain. The Wall Street Journal Dollar Index remained unmoved at 96.86.