European markets end lower amid AI valuation concerns; UK’s Rightmove plummets 12.5%

LONDON — European markets ended Friday’s session in negative territory, extending the previous day’s losses amid AI bubble concerns.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 finished trading 0.6% lower, with all major bourses in the red.

The U.K.’s FTSE 100 was 0.6% lower, France’s CAC index was down 0.2% and Germany’s DAX shed almost 0.8%. Italy’s FTSE MIB dipped 0.4%.

Rightmove‘s stock price plummeted on Friday, falling as much as 28% before closing the day down 12.5%, after the company forecasted weaker operating profits due to heavy investment in AI. UBS analysts said the “strategic pivot poses important questions that the market will not yet have answers to” and moved its price target and rating for Rightmove to under review.

In contrast, U.K. television company ITV soared 16.6% after confirming it was in discussions with Comcast over a potential sale of its television business, in a deal worth £1.6 billion ($2.1 billion).

Shares in Novo Nordisk, which lowered its growth estimations earlier this week, finished 5.1% lower on Friday following a deal with U.S. President Donald Trump to lower prices of weight loss drugs.

As earnings season continued, among those reporting on Friday were Richemont, International Consolidated Airlines Group SA, Daimler Truck Holding AG, Amadeus IT Group SA, Cellnex Telecom SA and OTP Bank NYRT.

Investors were also paying attention to a swathe of data, including import and export data in Germany and French trade figures. In the U.K., the Halifax House Price Index showed the average house price increased by 0.6% during October, the largest monthly rise since the start of this year.

The releases follow central bank decisions that saw the Bank of England and Norway’s central bank hold rates steady.

BOE Governor Andrew Bailey signaled to CNBC that rate cuts are coming, with economists now pricing in a pre-Christmas rate cut.

“We’re past peak-restrictiveness, which is what you’d expect given that we’ve cut interest rates five times [since Aug. 2024]. For my part, I feel policy is still restrictive, but it’s past peak restriction,” Bailey told CNBC’s Ritika Gupta.

Asian markets fell overnight, tracking Wall Street’s tech-led sell-off. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index, which has made gains recently, tumbled 2.03%, with shares of AI-related stocks leading losses. Softbank, which is due to report next week, was down over 8%.

In the U.S., stocks moved lower on Friday as the tech rally appeared to lose momentum. The biggest U.S. declines on Thursday were from Nvidia, Microsoft, Palantir Technologies, Broadcom and Advanced Micro Devices, signaling that investors are cooling on AI-related stocks. CNBC’s Jim Cramer put it down to bubble fears and the length of the government shutdown.

Elsewhere, billionaire Elon Musk won approval for an up to $1 trillion pay package from Tesla shareholders, with 75% support among voting shares.