London's FTSE 100 fell on Thursday, tracking Asian shares lower after the US Federal Reserve's hawkish stance added to interest rate worries, while beverage maker Diageo was the top gainer on strong half-yearly sales.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 index declined 0.4% with miner Anglo American and energy firm BP among the top drags on the index as they tracked weak commodity prices.

UK's two-year yields jumped to their highest since 2011 and short-term US yields soared after the Fed signalled a March rate hike with investors pricing in another hike by the Bank of England next week.

The domestically focussed mid-cap index fell 1.0% with boot maker Dr. Martens falling the most, down 8.7%, even after it reported an 11% increase in revenue in the key Christmas quarter.

Commodity, bank stocks lead FTSE 100 higher; Playtech drops

Travel stocks also weighed on mid-caps with British airline easyJet down 1.3% after it said the Omicron variant was impacting its performance this quarter.

Diageo, the maker of Johnnie Walker whisky, gained 1.3% after its first-half sales rose 15.8%.

Comments

Comments are closed.