LONDON: London's FTSE 100 snapped a three-day winning streak to inch lower on Thursday, as miners and B&M European Value Retail's downbeat earnings outlook weighed, while services sector activity hit a 24-year high last month.
The blue-chip index fell 0.6%, with miners, including Anglo American, BHP Group and Rio Tinto falling between 1.9% and 2.8%.
Discount retailer B&M European fell 3.9% after it said trading would likely remain volatile this year and organic growth would likely decline.
National Grid fell 4.1% to the bottom of the index, while home improvement retailer Kingfisher lost 2.0%, as they traded without entitlement to a dividend payout.
The domestically focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index declined 0.6%, easing from a record peak scaled in the previous session.
Among other stocks, Workspace Group dropped 3.2% after the office-space provider slipped into its first annual loss in 12 years.
BT Group fell 1.9% after Deutsche Bank downgraded the telecom group's stock to "sell," saying it is overvalued.
Chemicals maker Johnson Matthey rose 2.3% after it entered into a joint agreement with Nano One Materials to develop lithium-ion battery materials. After breaking above the 7,000-mark in mid-April, the FTSE 100 index has moved in a narrow range on worries that rapid economic growth could lead to higher inflation and faster tightening of ultra-loose monetary policies.
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