FTSE 100 Slips For 4th Straight Session; Miners, Banks Lose Ground

(RTTNews) - U.K. stocks drifted lower on Thursday, extending losses to a fourth straight session, amid persisting concerns about tensions in the Middle East and higher oil prices. Miners and bank stocks shed ground, contributing significantly to market's decline.

The benchmark FTSE 100, which dropped to 10,360.60, was down 78.10 points or 0.75% at 10,398.36 a few minutes past noon.

Mining stock Fresnillo tumbled nearly 7%. Endeavour Mining drifted down 3.4%, while Antofagasta and Rio Tinto lost 2.2% and 2.1%, respectively. Glencore slid 1.6%, while Anglo American Plc bucked the trend and edged up marginally.

Legal & General and Entain shed 6.2% and 6%, respectively. Sainsbury (J) lost 5.2% after the grocer warned that profits could fall this year.

3i Group, RightMove, Tesco, Experian, Marks & Spencer, The Sage Group, BAE Systems, St. James's Place, Natwest Group, Barclays, Standard Chartered, Babcock International and Coca-Cola HBC lost 2%-3.5%.

WH Smith shares slumped 10%. The British travel retailer issued a profit warning after reporting a sharp fall in first-half profit and suspending dividend due to uncertainty in the Middle East.

Airtel Africa climbed 2.3%. LSEG gained 1.7%, while Reckitt & Benckiser and Haleon moved up 1.5% and 1.4%, respectively. Unilever, SSE, BT Group and Vodafone Group posted moderate gains.

In economic news, the UK budget deficit narrowed in March, reaching its lowest level for the month since 2022, the Office for National Statistics reported today.

Public sector net borrowing fell by GBP 1.4 billion to GBP 12.6 billion in March. This was the lowest March borrowing since 2022.

In the financial year to March, borrowing was estimated at GBP 132.0 billion, which was GBP 19.8 billion lower than in the financial year to March. Borrowing reached 4.3 percent of GDP, the lowest since financial year to March 2020.