London’s leading index declined for a third straight session as weaker-than-expected GDP figures pointed to stalling economic growth.
The FTSE 100 edged down 4.85 points, or 0.07 per cent, to 7,316.48 and the more UK-focused FTSE 250 declined 85.05 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 23,063.61. Thanks to a strong start to the week, however, the FTSE 100 is still on course to achieve its best weekly gain in eight months.
The housebuilder Berkeley Group was among the top gainers, the shares rising 69p, or 1.5 per cent, to £48.06 after analysts at UBS and JP Morgan increased their target prices following upbeat results earlier this week.
Associated British Foods, the owner of Primark, was another riser after it reported that trading at the fashion chain “has been ahead of expectations”. The company also said that there had not been much impact on shopping numbers so far from the emergence of the Omicron variant, which pushed the shares up 17p, or 0.9 per cent, to £19.51.
Dr Martens managed to recoup some of the losses it made yesterday after the bootmaker’s interim results, picking up 13¼p, or 3.4 per cent, to 403¼p. Cairn Energy followed suit, lifting 3¼p, or 1.7 per cent, to 187½p after JP Morgan raised their price target on the stock.
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It looked as though Harbour Energy was in for another tough session following its disappointing capital markets day yesterday as the company fell to the bottom of the mid-caps, down 13½p, or 3.5 per cent, to 366¼p.
Ashmore dropped 5¾p, or 1.9 per cent, to 288p after Goldman Sachs downgraded emerging markets fund manager from “buy” to “neutral”.