(Reuters) -UK’s blue-chip and midcap stocks fell for a third consecutive session on Thursday, with utilities and technology shares dragging on the indices, as investors assessed chip giant Nvidia’s results.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 and the domestically focussed midcap index both shed 0.5% by 1030 GMT.
Drax Group led declines on the midcap, falling 9.7% after Britain’s financial watchdog investigated the energy company’s biomass sourcing disclosures.
Other utility stocks were also under pressure, with Centrica, SSE and United Utilities down between 1.4% and 1.7%.
Technology index shed 1.5%, tracking global moves, after results of AI bellwether Nvidia fell short of some analysts’ expectations.
Precious metal mining stocks dipped 1.7%, with Hochschild and Endeavour Mining falling 3.2% and 2.3%, respectively.
Among other individual stocks, PPHE Hotel was the top decliner on the FTSE 250, slumping 13.8% after the hospitality group posted a half-yearly earnings decline.
Barclays slipped 1.1% after the British lender agreed to sell its stake in joint venture Entercard Group to partner Swedbank AB for approximately 2.6 billion crowns ($273.2 million).
On the flipside, IT firm Softcat was the top gainer on the midcap index, adding 3.8% after lifting its annual profit growth forecast for the third time in six months.
Meanwhile, the Confederation of British Industry said that services business reported a fall in confidence and activity this month; the leading employers group called on finance minister Rachel Reeves to defer from adding more corporate tax burden.
The UK’s blue-chip index had touched a record high last week when global markets got a lift after U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signalled a possible interest rate cut at the central bank’s September meeting.
(Reporting by Twesha Dikshit; Editing by Sahal Muhammed)
