Stocks trading ex-dividend knock FTSE 100 lower; industrials rise

Reuters

Published Sep 05, 2019 09:31

By Shashwat Awasthi

(Reuters) - London's FTSE 100 slipped on Thursday due to several stocks trading ex-dividend, which counteracted gains in industrial shares after European peers posted bright forecasts and upbeat news on U.S.-China trade trade talks resuming next month.

Stocks trading without dividend entitlement such as BHP (L:BHPB), Glencore (L:GLEN) and Micro Focus (L:MCRO) fell between 2%-3%, pushing the FTSE 100 down 0.3% by 0745 GMT. Micro Focus is also set to be relegated from the index later this month.

The FTSE 250 (FTMC) dipped 0.1%, with CYBG (L:CYBGC) slumping nearly 20% to an all-time low after the Yorkshire Bank and Virgin Money (LON:VM) owner said it expected to increase its provision for legacy payment protection insurance costs.

Industrial giants such as BAE Systems (L:BAES) and Rolls-Royce (L:RR) advanced after French engine maker Safran (PA:SAF) raised its annual profit forecast and Rafale warplanes maker Dassault Aviation (PA:AVMD) affirmed its view of higher net sales in 2019.

Turnaround specialist Melrose (L:MRON) climbed 5.5% after its first-half profit beat estimates, but it did not help the blue-chip index, which underperformed the broader European index (STOXX).

Despite the indexes being lower, sentiment was expected to be broadly positive as China and the United States agreed to hold high-level trade talks in early October, once again spurring hopes that the bitter trade dispute between the countries would be resolved.

"It highlights the headline risk that traders must contend with and suggests there is very little by way of a strong trend in the markets right now, just a lot of short-termism and uncertainty," Markets.com analyst Neil Wilson said.

Some blue-chip exporter stocks such as drugmaker AstraZeneca (L:AZN) and spirits company Diageo (L:DGE) also fell as sterling remained steady after lawmakers voted to prevent Prime Minister Boris Johnson from taking Britain out of the European Union without a deal on Oct. 31.

Losses among mid-caps were contained by a 10% surge in Future Plc (L:FUTR) after the specialist media services firm forecast annual core profit to be "materially ahead" of its expectations.