London’s FTSE 100 was down 0.2% at 7,557.94 in afternoon trade on Thursday.
Educational publisher Pearson was under the cosh after a downgrade to ‘neutral’ at Exane.
Engine maker Rolls-Royce was also on the back foot, having rallied a day earlier after Barclays initiated coverage of the stock with an ‘overweight’ rating.
Oil giants BP and Shell gushed lower despite a rise in oil prices. CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said “the recent strength of the pound may be a factor here, acting as a drag on those big US dollar earners”.
HSBC and Standard Chartered also lost ground following strong gains in the last two sessions.
Going the other way, online supermarket Ocado surged after US digital partner Kroger lifted its annual sales forecast.
FTSE 100 – Risers
Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 1,270.00p 6.41%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 662.00p 6.33%
Schroders (SDR) 464.10p 4.91%
Prudential (PRU) 1,023.50p 4.50%
SEGRO (SGRO) 817.40p 3.36%
Dechra Pharmaceuticals (DPH) 2,806.00p 3.16%
Auto Trader Group (AUTO) 583.00p 3.04%
Croda International (CRDA) 6,998.00p 3.00%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 5,116.00p 2.83%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 408.60p 2.74%
FTSE 100 – Fallers
Pearson (PSON) 936.40p -5.91%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 86.66p -4.69%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 592.00p -4.11%
Anglo American (AAL) 3,299.00p -3.18%
Shell (SHEL) 2,386.50p -2.35%
3i Group (III) 1,317.00p -2.34%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 500.60p -1.79%
BP (BP.) 488.80p -1.75%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 2,097.00p -1.32%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 2,151.00p -1.19%
