UK shares slip as weak tech earnings weigh on mood

UK stocks slipped on Friday after disappointing earnings from Wall Street’s tech giants offset a bout of optimism...
03 Feb, 2023

UK stocks slipped on Friday after disappointing earnings from Wall Street’s tech giants offset a bout of optimism over major central banks nearing the end of their interest-rate hike cycle.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 index slipped 0.1% by 0810 GMT, while the midcap FTSE 250 index slid 0.5% after touching a nine-month high in the previous session.

Wall Street futures sank after tech titans Apple Inc , Amazon.com Inc and Alphabet Inc reported downbeat results.

Still, both the UK equity indexes were heading for weekly gains after dovish comments from the US Federal Reserve and the Bank of England raised hopes that the central banks could pause the rate-hike spree after a series of increases to bring inflation under control.

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Discount retailer B&M gained 2.2% and Marks & Spencer rose 3.2% after Deutsche Bank upgraded their stocks to “buy” from “hold”.

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