London’s top flight eased into the red after investors took profits following the market’s push to an all-time closing high on Wednesday.
The FTSE 100 Index was down 5.29 points to 7,100.76, after the traditional Santa Rally saw it close at a new record high of 7106.08 in the previous session.
It comes after the top flight hit a mid-session record of 7129.83 on October 11, boosted in part by the collapse in the value of the pound since the Brexit vote.
Sterling’s post-referendum slump has proved a boon for multinational companies listed on the FTSE 100, as many tend to benefit from earnings in currencies that are stronger than the pound.
The UK’s premier index was being held back on Thursday after a number of blue chip stocks went ex-dividend, whereby new buyers no longer qualify for the latest dividend payment.
Among the ex-dividend stocks were telecoms giant BT, down 2.1p to 365.95p, Dixons Carphone off 1.8p to 350.9p and data services company Experian dropping 8p to 1,565p.
Across Europe, Germany’s Dax was 0.3% lower while the Cac 40 in France fell 0.1%.
The price of oil was edging towards to the 57 US dollar mark, before sitting flat at 56.95 US dollars a barrel.
On the currency markets, the pound regained some strength against the US dollar, rising 0.3% to 1.225, but was down 0.3% against the euro at 1.170.
In UK stocks, housebuilder Taylor Wimpey was making some headway, rising 0.8p to 154.1p, with the latest survey from the Nationwide Building Society showing property values have increased by
4.5% across 2016.
The average UK house price stood at £205,898 in December, marking a 0.8% month-on-month increase, the report said.
The 4.5% annual increase in house prices across the UK recorded in December was the same as the uplift recorded in December 2015, indicating that the last year has seen “relative stability” in
the market, according to Nationwide.
Precious metals stocks remained at the top of the biggest risers, with Randgold Resources and Fresnillo climbing 130p to 6,250p and 35p to 1,205p respectively.
The rally has been spurred by the price of gold, which was 0.5% ahead at 1148.1 US dollars an ounce.
Elsewhere, the mining giants failed to maintain their momentum from the previous session, with Glencore slipping 2.5p to 274.5p and Antofagasta dropping 5p to 680.5p.
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