European stocks rise as China’s economic growth hits one-year low

The average price of property coming to market rose by 0.3% or £1,165 this month, hitting £371,422, according to Rightmove (RMV.L).

Despite the uptick, that is well below the ten-year October average of a 1.1% rise, with sellers having limited pricing power in a market that remains cautious.

The national average asking price is down 0.1% over the past 12 months. However, this figure masks a regional split. The south of England, particularly London, continues to underperform the national average, weighed down by high stamp duty, soft international demand, and a wait-and-see approach among buyers, according to the property site.

Prices in the UK capital are down 1.4% year-on-year, with all four southern regions of England recording drops. By contrast, Wales, Scotland, and the Midlands have all posted gains of at least 1%.

Higher stamp duty charges introduced in April hit more expensive markets in the south, where sellers are also facing increased competition from a larger pool of available homes, the data suggests.

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French borrowing costs rose on Monday after the country’s debt rating was unexpectedly downgraded on Friday night.

10-year yields rose from 3.36 to 3.384 at the start of trading in Paris, while the spread over German bond yields widened.

It came as Standard & Poors cut France’s credit rating from AA- to A+ on Friday, adding to the turmoil inas Emmanuel Macron attempts to keep his government afloat.

Sebastian Lecornu, the recently reappointed prime minister, had appeared to momentarily steady the ship by winning a confidence vote, but S&P said France’s deficit reduction would be slower than expected and debt would hit 121pc of GDP in 2028.

UK consumer sentiment dipped slightly in October, down from a recent high of 47.8 in September to 47.4. It comes as consumers tighten their belts ahead of the autumn budget.

Maryam Baluch, economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said:

Overall incomes rose in October but spending declined during the month as households monitored their spending ahead of the budget on 26 November.

Gold prices were higher in early European trading on Monday, recovering some ground after a steep drop last week from record highs above $4,300 an ounce. The rebound came as HSBC (HSBC) predicts that the precious metal will hit $5,000 next year.

Gold futures rose 1.3% to $4,270 per ounce at the time of writing, while spot gold rose by 0.1% to $4,257.15 an ounce.

HSBC is forecasting that gold’s bull run could push prices as high as $5,000 an ounce by 2026, citing persistent geopolitical risks and growing participation from new classes of investor.

Earlier in the month, Goldman Sachs raised its December 2026 gold price forecast to $4,900 per ounce from $4,300, citing strong Western exchange-traded fund (ETF) inflows and likely central bank buying.

The precious metal had slumped sharply on Friday after Donald Trump signalled a softer stance towards Beijing. The president said that his proposed 100% tariff on Chinese goods would not be sustainable and that he would meet with president Xi Jinping in South Korea in two weeks’ time, saying he thought “things would be fine with China”.

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Inflation is expected to increase to its highest level for 21 months as more pressure piles on the Chancellor and the Bank of England.

Economists have predicted that Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation will have hit 4% in September, when the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reveals its latest data on Wednesday. It would mark the highest level since January 2024.

Inflation struck 3.8% in July and August amid pressure from rising food prices, as firms highlighted increased tax and labour costs.

Economists at Pantheon Macroeconomics predicted that higher motor fuel and air fare prices would help drive inflation to 4% in September.

It also pointed towards “strong clothes prices” for the month, but indicated this could be offset by “slightly softer” services price inflation.

Economists have also suggested there could be a contribution from increased private school fees.

Some schools were expected to increase fees from the start of the new school year as they staggered higher costs for parents after the Government introduced a 20% VAT rate for private school fees at the start of the year.

September’s predicted jump in inflation could represent a peak in the rising cost of living for UK households.

The Bank of England previously forecast that inflation would peak at around 4% in September before steadily falling.

Pantheon Macroeconomics’ Rob Wood has said he expects inflation to “slow only slightly” in the following months, dipping to 3.8% by the end of the year.

Other economists have been more optimistic, with Investec suggesting it expects the rate to have peaked at 3.9% in September before falling.

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Here are the FTSE risers and fallers today:

China’s new home prices fell at the fastest pace in 11 months in September, worsening the housing sector’s drag on the economy, which is being dragged by a large glut of unsold property.

New home prices fell 0.4% month-on-month, after a 0.3% fall in August, according to calculations by Reuters based on National Bureau of Statistics data.

Year-on-year, prices fell 2.2% during the month, compared to a 2.5% drop in August.

It comes as September and October are traditionally the peak season for property buying as developers launch sales campaigns to attract consumers during national holidays.

Our markets live blog has been a bit delayed today as a major internet outage has hit dozens of popular websites, online games and apps.

Users reported problems accessing sites such as Amazon, Halifax, Roblox, Fortnite and Snapchat.

The outage was related to a glitch at Amazon Web Services (AWS), the e-commerce giant’s on-demand cloud computing platform which underpins many online operations.

Downdetector, the platform outage monitor owned by Ookla, said it has seen more than 4 million reports of issues globally just this morning – more than double the 1.8 million reports it sees on a full weekday normally.

It released a statement saying:

China’s economic growth has slowed to its lowest level in a year, as the trade war with the US has dampened activity.

Gross domestic product (GDP) in the country expanded 4.8% year-on-year in the July to September quarter, according to the latest data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

The reading matched expectations and was a slowdown from the second quarter of the year, when GDP rose 5.2%. It also came in weaker than the 5.4% growth recorded in the three months to March.

However, on a quarterly basis, GDP grew 1.1% in the third quarter, compared with a forecast 0.8% increase and a revised 1.0% gain in the previous quarter.

It comes ahead of China’s latest four-day “fourth plenum” meeting which starts today, where Communist party leaders are gathering to decide the country’s next five-year plan.

Today’s data also showed that China’s retail sales remained weak while factory output strengthened, a blow to hopes that its economy can rebalance away from exports and towards domestic consumption.

Growth in industrial production rose to 6.5% year-on-year in September, up from 5.2%, while retail sales growth slowed to 3% from 3.4%

The NSB said:

Stocks were higher in Asia overnight, amid signs that trade tensions between the US and China are likely to ease, with the Nikkei (^N225) rising 3.4% on the day in Japan, on reports that Sanae Takaichi, who is expected to become the country’s first female prime minister, will boost stimulus.

Meanwhile the Hang Seng (^HSI) advanced 2.4% in Hong Kong and the Shanghai Composite (000001.SS) was 0.6% up by the end of the session. In South Korea, the Kospi (^KS11) added 1.8% on the day.

Across the pond on Wall Street, stocks rose on Friday despite concerns in the US regional banking sector. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) rose 0.5%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq (^IXIC) was also 0.5% higher. The Dow Jones (^DJI) likewise gained 0.5%.

Futures are also rallying as Donald Trump over the weekend called the current trade stand-off with China “not sustainable”.

Good morning, and welcome back to our markets live blog. As usual we will be taking a deep dive into what’s moving markets and happening across the global economy.

To the day ahead we have Germany’s September PPI, Italy August current account balance, Eurozone August construction output, Canada September industrial and raw materials price index. And from central banks we have ECB’s Schnabel, Nagel and Vujcic speak, BoC Q3 business outlook survey

In turns of earnings is Zions Bancorp and elsewhere is China’s Fourth Plenum through to 23 October.

Here’s a snapshot of what’s on the agenda: