FTSE 100 Down 0.75% In Cautious Trade; Sainsbury (J) Rises On Strong Earnings
(RTTNews) - U.K. stocks are down in negative territory on Thursday, turning weak after four successive days of gains, as investors focus on corporate earnings updates and continue to monitor the development on the trade front.
The market is also looking ahead to the European Central Bank's monetary policy announcement. The ECB is widely expected to lower interest rate by 25 basis points.
The benchmark FTSE 100 is down 61.70 points or 0.75% at 8,213.90, nearly half-an-hour before noon.
Unite Group, BAE Systems, Admiral Group, Fresnillo, Rolls-Royce Holdings, Spirax Group, Airtel Africa and Anglo American Plc are down 2 to 3%.
Melrose Industries and Weir Group are down nearly 2%.GSK, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, BT Group, IMI, AstraZeneca and Smiths Group are also notably lower.
Sainsbury (J) is up 2.5% after reporting profit before tax of 384 million pounds for the 52 weeks to 1 March 2025 compared to 277 million pounds, last year. Statutory EPS increased to 10.2 pence from 5.7 pence. The company's underlying profit before tax was 761 million pounds, up 8.6%. Underlying EPS increased to 22.7 pence from 21.6 pence.
The Sainsbury Board has recommended a final dividend of 9.7 pence per share.
Rentokil Initial is climbing up 4%, while Tesco, Prudential, JD Sports Fashion, Land Securities and Associated British Foods are gaining 1 to 1.6%.
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