LONDON: UK equities fell on Wednesday, weighed down by a drop in Wolseley's shares after a disappointing set of results and also a fall in British housebuilders.
Britain's blue-chip FTSE 100 index was down 0.2 percent at 6,215.95 points by 0812 GMT, in line with the broader European market.
Shares in British heating and products supplier Wolseley were set for their biggest daily loss in 8 months, dropping 6.1 percent after the company reported a slowdown in revenue growth for the third quarter, reflecting subdued demand in some markets.
The firm said that, as a result, it would accelerate its restructuring in Britain and Europe.
"Investors here are focusing on the short term slowdown for demand that the company reported in this morning's update, rather than the overall progress that's being made despite the deflationary headwinds," Tony Cross, market analyst at Trustnet Direct, said in a note.
British housebuilders were also in negative territory, with analysts citing Tuesday's ICM poll which indicated that British voters were leaning towards a vote to leave the European Union in a June 23 referedum.
Shares in Persimmon, Berkeley Group, Barratt Developments and Taylor Wimpey fell between 2 percent to 2.5 percent.
"In the sense that there's this perceived risk that house prices could come down if Britain votes to leave...that's going to be putting pressure on the housebuilders for sure," Augustin Eden, research analyst at Accendo Markets, said.
Metals prices were hit by a strong dollar following raised prospects of a U.S. interest rate hike, with a lower copper price putting pressure on the mining sector, which was down 1.8 percent, the top sectoral faller on the blue-chip index.
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