Britain’s FTSE 100 edged down on Tuesday, dragged by financials, with Barclays dipping after Qatar Holdings cut its stake in the lender, while China-exposed banks fell following a credit outlook cut by Moody’s.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 lost 0.2%, its second day in the red, while the more domestically-focussed FTSE 250 mid-cap index added 0.3%.
Barclays fell 2.5% after Qatar Holdings, one of the bank’s largest shareholders, moved to sell around 510 million pound ($644 million) of its stock, cutting back on its crisis-era investment.
Meanwhile, Moody’s cut its outlook on China’s government credit ratings to “negative” from “stable”, citing lower medium-term economic growth and an ongoing downsizing of the property sector.
China-exposed lenders HSBC and Standard Chartered fell 0.7% and 0.3%, while insurer Prudential lost 1.6%.
Daniela Sabin Hathorn, senior market analyst at Capital.com said the Moody’s downgrade is an influential factor in Tuesday’s fall.
“But we’re coming from a period where we’ve seen a ‘buy everything’ rally and we’re seeing that tested today,” added Hathorn.
On the data front, a survey showed activity in Britain’s services sector grew in November after three months of declines.
Energy, miners drag UK’s FTSE 100 lower
Investors are also awaiting US employment data this week, with the October JOLTS number due later in the day, along with the November ADP National Employment and November nonfarm payrolls reports due later in the week.
Back in the UK, financial markets increased bets on an earlier start to interest rate cuts by the Bank of England, after a European Central Bank policymaker said further interest rate hikes were “rather unlikely” for the euro zone.
Land Securities Group gained 1.5% after Goldman Sachs upgraded the commercial property landlord’s stock to “buy” from “neutral”.
SSP Group jumped 3.9% after the eateries operator resumed annual dividend payouts and forecast higher 2024 sales and profit.
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