U.K. stocks fell, diminishing the FTSE 100 Index second week of gains, as U.S. retail-sales growth missed estimates and as investors watched talks between the U.S. and Russia on Syria.
The FTSE 100 Index slid 18.63 points, or 0.3%, to 6,570.35 at 2:12 p.m. London time. The benchmark added 2.1% last week on bets that any reduction in Federal Reserve stimulus will be less steep than previously anticipated and as manufacturing growth beat estimates in the U.S. and China. The broader FTSE All-Share Index declined 0.2% today, while Ireland’s ISEQ Index slipped 0.3%.
“The figure is not too bad,” said to Bloomberg, Robert Carnell, chief international economist at ING Bank NV in London, wrote in a note. “It is not bad enough to shift the Fed from the course of action they seem destined to fulfil next week. The taper is on its way.”
In UK corporate news, Kentz, the engineering and construction business sank 0.9% to 484.4 pence for the longest losing streak since January 2012. M+W Group, a German engineering and construction company, said it doesnt intend to make another bid for Kentz after its indicative offer in July was rejected by the latter’s board. Kentz yesterday slumped the most in two years after Amec Plc said it won’t make an offer.
Imagination Technologies added 6.9% to 328.5 pence. The designer of chip technology for phones and tablets announced it expanded its partnership with Taiwan-based semiconductor maker MediaTek for wireless-communication and digital-multimedia products.
Fenner Plc jumped 3.7% to 401.6 pence, its highest price since March. UBS AG started coverage of the conveyor-belt maker with a buy rating, saying shares are cheap. The bank predicted the stock will climb to 460 pence in the next 12 months.
Reckitt Benckiser Group Plc advanced 2% to 4,543 pence. The film version of the company’s Suboxone opioid-dependency drug continues to gain market share six months after the entry of generic competition, Sanford Bernstein wrote in a note.
ITV Plc advanced 2.3% to 183.7 pence, its highest price since at least February 2004. Media buyers are indicating accelerating growth in U.K. and German advertising, according to Nomura Holdings Inc., which highlighted ITV, the owner of the U.K.’s most-watched commercial TV station, as still offering potential for price increases.
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