FTSE 100 ticks down in shortened Christmas Eve Session
The FTSE 100 dipped on Wednesday as gains in homebuilders were offset by losses in healthcare during a shortened Christmas Eve session.
The UK blue-chip FTSE 100 fell?0.1% to 0936 GMT. It has been trading in a sideways fashion since hitting a five-week-high?last Thursday following the Bank of England’s 25 basis-point rate cut.
The midcap FTSE 250 index, which is focused on domestic companies, was up 0.07% for its second straight week of gains.
As many markets will be closed or working with reduced hours on Christmas Eve, trading volumes are expected to remain low.
The London Stock Exchange will close at 1230 GMT, on Wednesday. It will also be closed on Christmas Day and Boxing Day on Friday.
Homebuilders TaylorWimpey and Persimmon each gained 0.5% while healthcare stocks dropped 0.5%. AstraZeneca, Genus, and AstraZeneca all fell by 0.7% or 0.1% respectively.
Oil major BP 'agreed' to sell a 65% share in its Castrol lubricants to a?U.S. Stonepeak, an investment firm, paid BP $6 billion for a stake in its Castrol lubricants business. This is a major step towards the oil giant's 20 billion dollar divestment plan aimed at reducing debt and increasing returns. Its shares were flat.
The FTSE 100 has gained 20.7% this year.
The STOXX 600 index, which measures the performance of all European countries, and Wall Street's S&P 500 benchmark have both gained around 16% so far. (Reporting by Tharuniyaa Lakshmi in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore)
(source: Reuters)
