The FTSE 100 (^FTSE) and European stocks slipped on Friday as leading banks, media outlets and airlines across the world suffered major IT outages. They were among a host of businesses taken offline after a major outage linked to Microsoft (MSFT).
The tech giant said it was taking “mitigation actions” to resolve the issue, which is impacting users’ ability to access apps and services and is believed to be related to an issue at global cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike.
Flights have been grounded at Sydney airport, whilst United Airlines has stopped flying. The London Stock Exchange group’s platform was also experiencing issues.
Rail companies were also affected, with Britain’s biggest train company warning passengers to expect disruption.
Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR), parent company of Southern, Thameslink, Gatwick Express and Great Northern, issued an alert on its social media channels.
The cyber outage is believed to be related to an issue at global cybersecurity firm Crowdstrike.
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Cooler weather chills UK retail sales
UK retail sales fell more than expected in June as cooler weather turned away shoppers.
According to official the Office for National Statistics on Friday, sales volumes declined 1.2% last month after a 2.9% jump in May,
A Reuters poll of economists had on average forecast sales volumes would drop by 0.4% on the month.
In the 12 months to June, volumes fell by 0.2% and were 1.3% below their pre-pandemic level in February 2020. Volumes fell across most sectors, except for automotive fuels, with the strongest drop seen in categories more sensitive to weather changes such as clothing.
Lisa Hooker, PWC’s leader of industry for consumer markets, said, shoppers were still reluctant to spend despite the fall in inflation, wage increases and lower social security contributions.
She said:
“It appears that the cooler, wetter weather over spring and early summer, combined with longer term uncertainty in the period prior to the general election, has discouraged shoppers from both buying seasonal goods and making longer-term big ticket purchases.”
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Sky News falls off air in outage
Sky News suffered a major blackout in the UK amid the global tech issues linked to Microsoft systems.
The Comcast-owned news channel was off air for a while, while other international channels have also suffered issues, including Sky News Australia, which is unconnected to the UK station.
Sky News viewers were greeted by the message: “We apologize for the interruption to this broadcast. We hope to restore the transmission of Sky News shortly.”
A spokesperson added:
“Sky News has not been able to broadcast live TV this morning, we apologise for the interruption. All the news is still available online, on the Sky News app, website, and across our social media accounts.
“We are working hard to restore all services.”
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