By Shashwat Chauhan and Shristi Achar A
(Reuters) -London’s FTSE 100 fell for the third straight session on Wednesday, as energy and financial stocks declined after subdued data from China and the UK stoked concerns over slowing global demand.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 ended 1% lower, recording its worst day in a month, while the FTSE 250 midcap index lost 0.8%.
Oil stocks and base metal miners dropped 2.2% and 1%, respectively, as dour global economic data weighed on the demand outlook. [O/R] [MET/L]
A private-sector survey showed China’s services activity expanded at the slowest pace in five months in June.
China-exposed bank HSBC slipped 0.4%, and insurer Prudential shed 3.9%.
“There are fresh concerns about the global economy powering down as data from China’s service sector underlines how tepid the post-pandemic recovery has become,” said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets, Hargreaves Lansdown.
Additionally, a survey showed growth in Britain’s private sector slowed sharply last month, despite businesses facing lower inflation, as higher Bank of England interest rates weighed on demand.
The FTSE 100 is up less than 1% so far this year as concerns around economic slowdown and persistent inflation has snuffed risk appetite for equities.
Among other single stocks, Keller Group jumped 11.2% after the engineering contractor said it expected full-year underlying operating profit to be materially ahead of market expectations.
Legal & General Group fell 2.1% after the insurer forecast its IFRS 17 divisional operating profit for 2022 lower than its earlier outlook of 20%-25% decline.
SIG slumped 14.2% after the building materials supplier said it expected annual underlying operating profit at the lower end of current market expectations.
Pearson added 2.4% after UBS upgraded the education group to “buy”, stating it wasn’t convinced about the risk from generative AI.
Investors now look ahead to minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve’s last meeting due later in the day.
(Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan and Shristi Achar A in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Shailesh Kuber)
