The UK’s FTSE 100 slipped on Thursday, dragged by financial and mining stocks, while shares of Virgin Money UK soared on a potential buyout offer.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 was down 0.3% as of 0825 GMT, while the midcap FTSE 250 edged up 0.1%.
Banks declined 2% and weighed the most on the index, dragged by HSBC Holdings and Standard Chartered, while base metal miners shed 0.6%, bogged down by a fall in Rio Tinto as they traded ex-dividend.
Aerospace supplier Melrose fell 4.7% to the bottom of the FTSE 100 despite beating annual profit view for 2023.
Meanwhile, Entain dropped 3.3% after the gambling group said that some regulatory measures in the UK and Netherlands would hurt its profit forecast for the current financial year.
Ashtead, commodity stocks drag FTSE 100 to near three-week lows
On the flip side, Virgin Money UK jumped 36.1% after Nationwide Building Society agreed to potentially buy the lender in a deal valued at about 2.9 billion pounds ($3.69 billion).
Rentokil Initial surged 12.2% after the pest control firm reported a 50% jump in annual profit.
Investors will also focus on the European Central Bank’s interest rate decision later in the day, where it is largely expected to keep its policy rates unchanged.
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