By Kit Rees and Danilo Masoni
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's top share index dipped on Wednesday, depressed by a slide in Hargreaves Lansdown (L:HRGV) and oil stocks, though a jump in Bunzl's shares offered some relief.
The FTSE 100 (FTSE) index fell 0.6 percent. A brief recovery was brought to an end in afternoon trading when Bank of England governor Mark Carney said the bank would debate an interest rate increase in the coming months.
His remarks boosted sterling and sent the blue chip index back to the day's lows with big international companies such as drugmaker Shire (L:SHP) and drinks firm Diageo (L:DGE) - which benefit from a weaker pound - among the heaviest fallers.
The mid-cap index (FTMC), which is more domestically focused, did slightly better, ending down 0.3 percent.
Fund platform Hargreaves Lansdown fell 2.3 percent following an industry report by Britain's markets watchdog.
In a drive to improve funds transparency, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) proposed a number of changes to the asset management industry, adding it supported the disclosure of a single, all-in fee. It also said it would launch a market study into investment platforms.
"Rather than having the management fee and then also trading commission as well and then other sorts of fees on top of that, I think the regulator would rather that wealth managers charged just one fixed percentage that encompassed everything, so consumers would know exactly what they were paying," Rachel Winter, senior investment manager at Killik & Co, said.
Winter added that, because performance reporting has been a big part of Europe's upcoming Markets in Financial Instruments Directive, or MiFID II regulation, wealth managers had already been looking at their fee structures and considering one fee.
A weaker oil price was also a drag on UK blue chips, with shares in majors Royal Dutch Shell (L:RDSa) and BP (L:BP) dropping 0.6 and 1 percent respectively. [O/R]
Shares in Bunzl (L:BNZL), a provider of distribution and outsourcing services, bounced 1.5 percent.
Bunzl issued an upbeat trading statement in which it said it saw a 7 percent rise in first-half revenue at constant currency, as well as a boost from recent acquisitions.
Outside of the large caps, results dragged down shares in Stagecoach (L:SGC), which slumped 6.2 percent after its full-year earnings missed expectations. Stagecoach's full-year pretax profit dropped 15.3 percent as economic conditions hit its domestic bus business.