(Reuters) – The UK’s FTSE 100 stalled on Thursday after touching a record high in the prior session as investors sought clarity on U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade policies, while shares in CMC Markets tumbled on a disappointing forecast.
The blue-chip index dipped 0.1% as of 1135 GMT, having touched an all-time high on Wednesday. The FTSE 250 midcap index dropped 0.2%.
Stock investors largely took comfort this week as Trump held off imposing hefty tariffs on his first day in the office and announced big investments in artificial intelligence infrastructure, sparking a rally in global tech shares.
Focus is now on economic data, corporate earnings and remarks from Trump later in the day.
In earnings-driven moves, CMC Markets dropped 14.2% after the trading platform’s muted forecast fell short of investors’ heightened expectations following upbeat projections from industry peers.
IG Group slipped 4.5% despite the online trading platform posting a 30% rise in its first-half profit.
Auto distributor Inchcape dropped 10.6%, with traders pointing a downgrade by J.P. Morgan.
The FTSE 100-listed Associated British Foods dropped 2.6% after it reported weak trading in its main UK market in the Christmas quarter and cut annual sales forecast for its Primark budget fashion retailer.
Investors meanwhile are awaiting a slew of monetary policy decisions including the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank next week and the Bank of England (BoE) in early February.
Data last week showed British inflation slowed unexpectedly last month and core measures of price growth – tracked by the BoE – fell more sharply, cementing bets of a rate cut next month.
Traders are putting an 82% chance of a first quarter-point reduction on Feb. 6 and see two rate cuts this year.
An industry survey on Thursday showed a sharp downturn in British factories eased only slightly in January and optimism among manufacturers sagged to its lowest level in over two years.
(Reporting by Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore)
