The software sell-off on AI fears hits global stock markets, but the FTSE 100 closes at a closing high after an £8bn insurance takeover – as it happened

And finally, the British blue chip stock index ended the day with a new closing high.

The FTSE 100 closed 87.75 points higher at 10,402 as investors continue to invest in old-economy stocks as AI fears hit the software sector.

Gambling companies Contain (+10.4%) was the front runner, followed by the service company DSS (+7.8%) and then pharmaceutical company GSK (+6.9%), which hit a 26-year high following the release of financial results this morning.

Beazley afterwards also closed almost 6.9% higher Zurich Insurance reached an agreement on the “material terms” of an £8bn takeover bid for the company.

However, the accounting software company was also among the losers sage (-2.9%) as Anthropic’s launch of an AI legal tool continued to rock data software companies across Europe, the US and Asia Pacific markets (see opening post).

James Reillysenior market economist Capital city Businesssays:

We don’t think the declines software stocks have suffered in recent days are a sign…