London’s blue-chip FTSE 100 index fell on Friday as UK banks joined a decline in global lenders, while uncertainty regarding central banks’ moves heightened ahead of US payrolls data.
The FTSE 100 slipped 1.7%, with banks dropping 4.6% to an eight-week low, spooked by a brutal rout in US bank SVB Financial following a share sale.
HSBC, Barclays, Lloyds and Natwest Group dropped between 4.3% and 6%.
Data that showed the British economic output rose by a better-than-expected 0.3% month-on-month in January bolstered bets that the Bank of England will raise interest rates again this month.
Manufacturing and construction sectors contracted, the Office for National Statistics said.
UK’s FTSE 100 kicks off week on tepid note; miners fall
Across the Atlantic, US non-farm payrolls, due later in the day, will be watched for more clues on the likely size of interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve this month.
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