London stocks were set for a muted open on Friday following a downbeat session on Wall Street.
The FTSE 100 was called to open around five points lower.

Had it not been for the government shutdown in the US, the highlight of the day would have been the release of the latest non-farm payrolls report. However, due to the shutdown, this will be the second month in a row the report is not released.

On home shores, the latest figures from Halifax showed the biggest increase in house prices in October since the start of the year.

Prices rose by 0.6% last month, reversing a 0.3% decline in September and comfortably ahead of forecasts for a 0.1% rise. The average property price now stands at £299,862.

Amanda Bryden, head of mortgages at Halifax, said: "Demand from buyers has held up well coming into autumn, despite a degree of uncertainty in the market, with the number of new mortgages being approved recently hitting its highest level so far this year.

"There is no doubt that affordability remains a challenge for many. Average fixed mortgage rates are currently around 4% and likely to ease down further, but with property prices at record levels, moving home can feel like a stretch.

"Rising costs for everyday essentials are also squeezing disposable incomes, which affects how much people are willing or able to spend on a new property.

"Even so, while there has been some volatility, the market has proven resilient over recent months, as many buyers opt for smaller deposits and longer terms to help make the numbers work. With house prices rising more slowly than incomes for almost three years now, we expect the trend of gradually improving affordability to continue."

In corporate news, British Airways and Iberia owner IAG posted a 2% increase in third-quarter operating profit as it said demand for travel "remains strong".

Operating profit rose to €2.05bn from €2.01bn in the same period a year earlier and the company said it was "on track to on track to deliver another year of growth in revenues, profit and shareholder returns".

Elsewhere, ITV confirmed it was in preliminary discussions regarding a possible sale of its broadcasting business to Sky for an enterprise value of £1.6bn.

It added that there could be no certainty on the terms of any potential sale of the business - which contains its TV channels and ITVX streaming service - or whether any transaction will take place.