London stocks had extended losses by midday on Thursday as investors eyed the latest policy announcement from the European Central Bank.
The FTSE 100 was down 1.2% at 7,014.06.
Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG, said: “Pre-ECB nerves are firmly in evidence in European stock markets this morning, although it is the FTSE 100’s turn to be at the head of the declines after following in the wake of its continental brethren yesterday.
“The ECB has form in fumbling the ball mid-crisis, and memories of Lagarde’s miscommunication early in her tenure haven’t altogether dimmed, so there is a clear sense that it doesn’t make sense to be too bullish going into today’s meeting.
“Should the central bank opt not to taper asset purchases, it could provide the respite risk assets are looking for, and would certainly help reverse the negative sentiment of the past few days; comments from Fed speakers such as Kaplan about continuing with a US taper despite last week’s poor NFP print have also set the cat among the pigeons, and while US futures are edging up the note of caution in early European trading is likely to carry across into the afternoon.”
The ECB rate announcement is due at 1245 BST.
In equity markets, budget airline easyJet slid as it said it would raise £1.2bn from shareholders in a rights issue to strengthen its balance sheet after turning down a preliminary takeover approach.
Gambling company 888 Holdings was in the red after agreeing to buy the non-US international business of William Hill from Caesars Entertainment for £2.2bn.
Animal genetics company Genus tumbled after it reported a jump in full-year profit and revenue as it continued to win new customers, with growth in both of its business, but warned that recent volatility in the Chinese porcine market will dent growth.
Elsewhere, Melrose Industries and Oxford Instruments were both lower as they traded without entitlement to the dividend.
Computacenter rallied after it posted a jump in interim profit but cautioned that shortages of electric components are set to last until “well into” 2022.
Morrisons ticked a smidgen higher as it stuck to its full-year guidance as the supermarket chain reported a 37% drop in first-half profit before exceptional items.
ConvaTec was boosted by an upgrade to ‘overweight’ from ‘neutral’ at JPMorgan, while Hays was underpinned by an upgrade to ‘overweight’ at Barclays.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,014.06 -1.15%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 23,720.82 -0.54%
techMARK (TASX) 4,706.87 -1.08%
FTSE 100 – Risers
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 587.20p 1.59%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,412.00p 1.00%
Persimmon (PSN) 2,738.00p 0.77%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 170.25p 0.56%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 687.80p 0.53%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 4,540.00p 0.28%
Evraz (EVR) 592.40p 0.24%
Pearson (PSON) 762.00p 0.24%
BAE Systems (BA.) 555.20p 0.04%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 5,746.00p 0.03%
FTSE 100 – Fallers
DCC (CDI) (DCC) 6,154.00p -3.21%
Prudential (PRU) 1,486.00p -2.94%
Polymetal International (POLY) 1,393.50p -2.89%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 2,521.00p -2.85%
BT Group (BT.A) 160.15p -2.85%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 179.30p -2.71%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,442.00p -2.60%
Royal Mail (RMG) 471.90p -2.40%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 149.52p -2.34%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 5,188.00p -2.21%
FTSE 250 – Risers
Computacenter (CCC) 3,072.00p 3.02%
Hays (HAS) 168.50p 2.18%
Pagegroup (PAGE) 629.00p 2.11%
CLS Holdings (CLI) 239.50p 1.91%
IP Group (IPO) 149.80p 1.90%
Vistry Group (VTY) 1,181.00p 1.85%
Grainger (GRI) 325.80p 1.81%
Investec (INVP) 288.10p 1.69%
Convatec Group (CTEC) 226.00p 1.66%
FDM Group (Holdings) (FDM) 1,348.00p 1.51%
FTSE 250 – Fallers
Genus (GNS) 5,305.00p -10.08%
easyJet (EZJ) 719.00p -8.87%
Cineworld Group (CINE) 62.12p -5.65%
Oxford Biomedica (OXB) 1,418.00p -3.93%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 155.60p -3.29%
Virgin Money UK (VMUK) 192.60p -2.92%
Inchcape (INCH) 844.00p -2.76%
Moonpig Group (MOON) 370.40p -2.68%
888 Holdings (888) 391.60p -2.64%
Temple Bar Inv Trust (TMPL) 1,040.00p -2.62%
