The FTSE 100 index closed 0.3% lower, weighed by weakness in miners and insurance firms
The UK’s blue-chip share index dropped on Wednesday and midcap stocks gained after British finance minister Rishi Sunak forecast faster growth and lower borrowing as the economy bounces back from the Covid-19 crisis.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 index closed 0.3% lower, weighed by weakness in miners and insurance firms. The domestically-orientated FTSE 250 index inched up 0.1%, led by pub operators.
U.K. equities were lower at the close on Wednesday, as losses in the Fixed Line Telecommunications, Industrial Metals & Mining and Insurance sectors propelled shares lower.
The biggest gainers of the session were Taylor Wimpey PLC, which added 2.66% or 4.05 points to trade at 156.20 at the close, SSE PLC which gained 2.15% or 35.00 points to close at 1662.00 and Compass Group PLC which was up 1.97% or 29.50 points to 1524.00 in late trade.
Biggest losers included Admiral Group PLC, which declined 5.51% or 168.0 points to trade at 2879.0 in late trade, Fresnillo PLC which shed 3.50% or 31.00 points to close at 855.00 and AVEVA Group PLC which shed 2.91% or 106.0 points to 3534.0.
Declining stocks outnumbered rising ones by 1147 to 855 and 451 ended unchanged on the London Stock Exchange.
In commodities trading, Gold Futures for December delivery was up 0.23% or 4.15 to $1797.55 a troy ounce.
Meanwhile, Crude oil for delivery in December dropped 2.27% or 1.92 to $82.73 a barrel, while the January Brent oil contract shed 2.12% or 1.82 to trade at $83.83 a barrel.
GBP/USD was down 0.16% to 1.3744, while EUR/GBP added 0.25% to 0.8440.
The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.12% at 93.825.
