UK Shares Decline; BoE Delivers First Rate Hike Since 2023

11:47 AM EST, 11/05/2026 (MT Newswires) -- London's FTSE 100 ended 0.53% lower on Thursday's close as the Bank of England raised interest rates for the first time since 2023, as widely expected. In an 8-1 vote, the UK's central bank lifted its key rate by 25 basis points to 4%, citing a higher risk of stronger inflationary pressure amid rising energy prices. "This reinforces our view that the Bank of England will hike rates again by February [2027], potentially as early as December [2026]," ING said in a quick take note. Meanwhile, the UK construction activity further slumped in October, with the S&P Global UK Construction PMI coming in at 43.6, lower than the previous month's 46.1 and the consensus estimate of 46.4. "October data indicated a setback for the UK construction sector after some signs of stabilisation in the previous month. Business activity decreased at the fastest pace since June amid the steepest reduction in residential work so far this year," S&P Global Market Intelligence Economics Director Tim Moore said. On the corporate front, specialty chemicals company Croda International (CRDA.L) was among the top risers on the FTSE 100, gaining 1.97%, as third-quarter sales grew 5.9% annually to 449.9 million pounds, beating the FactSet-compiled consensus sales estimate of 444.7 million pounds. Next plc (NXT.L) also rose 2.85% after reporting an 8.1% year-over-year growth in total full price sales for the 13 weeks ended Oct. 31. The retailer upgraded its guidance for total group sales to 7.54 billion pounds from 7.49 billion pounds. "Total product full price sales of +8.5% was ahead of (thin) consensus of +7.5%, albeit slowing sequentially from +9.7% at Q2," Bernstein said. "This was ahead of Next's guidance of +5.8% for the second half. All of the strength was driven by International, which was +32.2%, only slowing slightly from the +35% at Q2 and benefitting from higher, more efficient marketing spend." Meanwhile, BT Group (BT-A.L) edged down 0.47% after profit for the fiscal first half increased year over year to 809 million pounds sterling from 651 million pounds. The telecommunications services group's revenue rose to 8.75 billion pounds from 8.70 billion pounds. "BT reported a positive H1 with Consumer and Openreach outperformance, the latter running below its line loss runrate. Into H2 BT faces easier [comparables] and moderating content [operating expenditure], supporting reiterated guidance despite a tough consumer environment," BofA Global Research said.