Britain's top share index snapped a six-day winning streak on Thursday, rattled by a steep loss in fund manager Amvescap as hopes of a bid faded and losses in Royal Bank of Scotland as concern over its investment in China persisted, despite the company's soothing comments.
The broader market showed a muted reaction to the Bank of England's decision to cut interest rates by 25 basis points to 4.50 percent, the first cut in two years and one fully anticipated and priced into markets.
"If the data continues to hold up then this could turn out to be an isolated cut rather than the start of a trend. Although markets have fully factored in this news, the big question mark is whether this will help flush private investors back into the equity market," said Paul Niven, Head of Strategy at fund manager F&C. "Equity yields look attractive combined with the potential for capital appreciation."
The FTSE 100 ended down 16.8 points, or 0.3 percent, at 5,315.5 - slipping from 43-month highs on Wednesday and putting an end to a 6-session winning streak that had added 1.4 percent to the benchmark index.
Gainers and losers were evenly matched, with 48 winners to 47 fallers in thin volume of 2.1 billion shares.
But the sheer weight of losses in the banking and oil sectors weighed on the market, accounting for all of the index's drop.
Shares in news and information group Reuters were lower for much of the session, falling to 364-1/4 pence - their lowest level since January, although they clawed back some losses to close down 0.6 percent at 370-1/2p.
One of the stock's largest holders, Threadneedle Asset Management, said it had reduced its stake in the company. "We held 4.8 percent of Reuters market capitalisation at the beginning of the week, we've since sold some shares," said a spokeswoman for the asset manager. "We've sold the shares as part of an exercise at looking at our larger positions with a view to reducing them."
The spokeswoman declined to comment on the number of shares sold.
Dealers who declined to be named said that selling by derivatives investors relating to the company's dividend payout on Wednesday had weighed on the stock on that day and that the downward pressure had followed through to this session's trading.
Fund manager Amvescap was the heaviest blue chip faller, down 11 percent, as CI Financial said it would no longer attempt a take-over of the group.
Brokerage Numis cut its rating on the stock to "reduce" in response.
Royal Bank of Scotland was the next biggest decliner, off 4.4 percent despite revealing first-half profits up 14 percent. A lack of information on RBS's strategy, which has been rumoured to include a $2.5 billion deal in China, was one reason for the drop, analysts said.
"Even if the stake in the Chinese bank is taken - with worries around the amount of management time needed, China's low credit quality and uncompleted governance reforms - the fact remains that this is probably the strongest growing economy in the world at present and will be so for the foreseeable future," said Richard Hunter, Head of UK Equities at Hargreaves Lansdown Stockbrokers.
In contrast, shares in chemicals group ICI surged after its forecast-beating figures pushed the shares up 9.7 percent to three-year highs. Unilever was next in line with a 3.8 percent jump on signs of a turnaround at the consumer goods giant. Elsewhere on the upside, British Airways added 2.2 percent as traders took an optimistic view ahead of first-quarter results on Friday.
"It's up ahead of the figures tomorrow. People who were shorting have been getting a bit nervous. And the company has been doing okay with its margins in business travel - where most of the money comes from - so it's in anticipation of that," one dealer said.
Pendragon was the standout mid-cap performer, jumping 11.2 percent after Britain's largest car dealership said first-half profits were up by a fifth and it planned more expansion through acquisitions.
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