The UK’s FTSE 100 edged lower on Thursday after a four-day winning streak as a drop in consumer staples stocks countered gains in homebuilders, while data showed the domestic economy stagnated in February.
The commodity-heavy FTSE 100 edged 0.1% lower, while the mid-cap FTSE 250 was flat as of 0814 GMT.
The food and beverage sector was down 0.8%, dragged by a 1.7% fall in Imperial Brands after the tobacco group said its revenue for the first half of the year would be “slightly below” figures from a year earlier.
Homebuilders added 1.6% after the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) survey showed Britain’s housing market continued to feel the pinch of higher borrowing costs in March, but expected some improvement over the year ahead. Adding to gains was HSBC’s upgrade on UK’s homebuilders including Taylor Wimpey and Barratt Development.
“Gains in homebuilders is being counteracted by ex-dividend moves today,” said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG Group.
“The house prices down but not by much as expected is the main thing to look forward to. It looks like things are going better than expected in the UK economy generally, supporting risk appetite.”
Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed Britain’s economy failed to grow as expected in February but a bounce in January was stronger than thought earlier.
Even as concerns over a potential US recession have weighed on investor sentiment, defensive stocks such as pharmaceuticals as well as commodity-linked stocks have kept FTSE 100 afloat recently.
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Among other major movers, Tesco added 1.6% after Britain’s biggest retailer reported its full-year profit in line with its guidance.
Shares of Oxford Instruments rose 5.3% after the nanotechnology tools maker raised its profit outlook. Shares of Lloyds Group, Unite Group and Persimmon among others were down between 1.7%-3% as the stocks traded ex-dividend.
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