London's FTSE 100 ends lower in a shortened Christmas Eve Session
Investors trimmed positions in pharma giants AstraZeneca & GSK in a shortened Christmas Eve session.
The UK's blue chip FTSE 100 'closed down' 0.2% and moved sideways after hitting a 5-week high last 'week, following the Bank of England rate cut of 25 basis points.
AstraZeneca dropped by about 0.5% and GSK fell by about 0.5%.
The FTSE 250 midcap index, which is primarily focused on domestic companies, was down 0.07% but still managed to notch up its second consecutive weekly gain.
As many markets were closed or operating with reduced hours on Christmas Eve, trading volumes were low.
London's stock exchange will be closed for the Christmas and Boxing Day holiday on Thursday, December 25th, and Friday, December 26th.
Oil major BP has agreed to sell a 65% share?in its Castrol lubricants to U.S. Investment firm Stonepeak for a price of?about 6 billion dollars. This is a major step in the $20 billion divestment program that BP plans to implement to?cut debt and boost returns. Its shares were down by 0.4%.
The FTSE 100 is on track to end a?fifth consecutive year of gains. With a 20.7% gain, it has outperformed European benchmarks and U.S. benchmarks. Fuelled by miners and financials shares, as well as defence stocks. (Reporting and editing by Vijay Kishore, Sahal Muhammed, and Tharuniyaa in Bengaluru)
(source: Reuters)
