FTSE 100 slips as Relx weighs; WPP, Persimmon gain after results
FTSE 100 slips as Relx weighs; WPP, Persimmon gain after results Updates prices
Aug 6 (Reuters) - The UK's FTSE 100 ended lower on Thursday, tracking losses on Wall Street, as investors weighed a fresh batch of corporate earnings including upbeat reports from housebuilder Persimmon and advertising group WPP.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 index .FTSE dipped 0.2% to end the session at 10,867.89 points. The midcap FTSE 250 .FTMC climbed 0.2% to 24,695.41 points, rising for the fourth consecutive day.
Information and analytics group Relx REL.L was among the biggest drags on the FTSE 100, falling 4.1% as software stocks retreated after AppLovin's APP.O revenue miss and Datadog's DDOG.O warning on revenue growth. Relx was also trading ex-dividend.
Persimmon PSN.L climbed 2.9% after the housebuilder forecast annual home deliveries at the top end of its range, while insurer Admiral ADML.L jumped 5.4% after its first-half results and share buyback announcement.
Among the midcap stocks, WPP WPP.L soared 28.6%, on track for its biggest single-day percentage gain in more than three decades, after the ad firm said the trajectory had improved in recent months, even as it reported a 4.7% drop in first-half adjusted revenue.
Investors are awaiting U.S. non-farm payrolls data on Friday for clues on the health of the labour market and interest rate trajectory.
The downturn in Britain's construction industry eased in July as commercial building and housebuilding weakened less sharply, with builder optimism hitting its highest level since before the Iran war, a survey by S&P Global showed.
Among other movers, real estate investment trust Tritax Big Box REIT BBOXT.L dropped 4.1%, becoming the top decliner in the FTSE 100, after it placed a £350 million share sale at £1.64 a share.
(Reporting by Anand Gopal and Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore and Andrew Heavens)
((anandgopal.r@thomsonreuters.com))