LONDON: London’s FTSE 100 slipped on Thursday after rallying more than 7% this week as slower-than-expected domestic economic growth in September underscored concerns about a faltering recovery from the coronavirus-driven recession.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 index closed down 0.7%, with engineering company Rolls-Royce Holdings Plc tumbling 8.6% as it raised 2 billion pounds from a rights issue after shareholders signed up for 94% of the new shares and the rest were sold via a rump placing.

Bank and energy stocks were among the biggest draggers after having surged more than 14% and 17% respectively this week.

After rising as much as 0.5% in afternoon trade, the domestically focused mid-cap FTSE 250 ended 0.2% lower as official data showed Britain’s economy grew by a slower than expected 1.1% in September from August - even before the latest Covid-19 lockdown.

Luxury brand Burberry Group Plc reversed course to end 2.3% lower even after its sales returned to growth in October.

Insurer Legal & General Group Plc fell 1.9% after it kept its final dividend payment for 2020 flat.

Specialty chemicals maker Croda International slipped 2.8% after Barclays downgraded the stock to “underweight”.

“It’s going to continue to be a stuttered recovery until a vaccine is widely available and the next couple of months are going to be extremely challenging in managing the virus,” said Craig Erlam, senior market analyst at Oanda.—Reuters