(Reuters) -London’s FTSE 100 closed lower on Thursday after a three-day run of record highs, weighed down by financial shares as investors assessed disappointing third-quarter economic growth data.
The blue-chip index ended 1% down, marking its worst performance since April 9, when global markets were rattled by U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff announcements.
The mid-cap FTSE 250 also dipped 0.6%.
The investment banks & brokerages sub index extended declines from the morning and fell 7.8%.
3i Group slumped 17.4% in its worst day on record after the investment firm expressed caution about deploying capital, saying that the transaction market and broader environment will likely remain challenging.
The energy sector dropped 1.3% as investors weighed concerns about global oversupply, even as oil prices ticked up.
On the data front, Britain’s economic performance showed minimal momentum in the third quarter, with growth hampered by a cyberattack on Jaguar Land Rover in September.
Sterling briefly touched a session low following the data release before recovering to trade 0.5% higher.
Global markets remained focused on the flow of economic data from the U.S. after President Trump signed legislation ending the country’s longest government shutdown. The 43-day data blackout left both the Federal Reserve and traders uncertain about labour market conditions and inflation trends.
Back in the UK, life insurers fell 2.4%, as Aviva dropped nearly 6.2% after the insurer’s new financial targets failed to impress investors.
Rolls-Royce dropped 2.8%, even as the aero-engineering firm said it was confident on its full-year forecasts despite supply chain disruption.
Burberry shares reversed course to end 2% lower after hitting their highest since July 29 on the news that the luxury brand had posted its first quarter of growth in two years.
Precious metal miners rose 4.5%, easing from an earlier 8.3% surge in the day, as gold retreated after touching its highest level in more than three weeks.
Wizz Air’s shares climbed 6.7% after the airline reported strong first-half operating profit.
(Reporting by Utkarsh Tushar Hathi; Editing by Sahal Muhammed and Andrew Heavens)
