The UK’s FTSE 100 has ended its record run of gains, sinking lower on Wednesday ahead of key interest rate decisions at home and across the pond.
The index had been on a winning streak for more than two weeks – having seen its longest ever run of consecutive gains on Friday.
This continued into the new week, but fortunes reversed on Wednesday with it losing 38.09 points, or 0.44%, to close at 8,559.33.
It signals an end to the period of recovery for the index which experienced a heavy sell-off in the aftermath of US president Donald Trump’s tariff announcements last month.
Traders were in a cautious mood ahead of important monetary policy decisions – with the US’s Federal Reserve expected to keep interest rates unchanged when it announces its decision on Wednesday night.
This would mean the central bank does not bow to pressure from Mr Trump, who has been calling for rates to be cut to ease pressure on the nation’s borrowers.
On the other hand, the Bank of England is widely expected to cut interest rates by 0.25 percentage points on Thursday, in the face of falling inflation and the threat of tariffs slowing economic growth.
Danni Hewson, head of financial analysis at AJ Bell, said: “The Bank of England is widely expected to cut rates tomorrow and the US Federal Reserve is expected to hold, but it’s what central bankers on both sides of the Atlantic say about the decisions that has the power to shift sentiment.
“Donald Trump’s tariffs have created inflation uncertainty and that has made the central banks’ balancing act even more precarious than normal.”
Over in New York, stocks were climbing in early trading. The S&P 500 was up about 0.2%, and the Dow Jones was about 0.6% higher by the time European markets closed.
In Frankfurt, the Dax closed 0.64% lower, and in Paris, the Cac 40 fell 0.91%.
The pound was down about 0.15% against the US dollar, at 1.335, and the pound was more or less flat against the euro, at 1.176.
The price of Brent crude oil dropped about 1% to 61.50 US dollars per barrel.
In company news, JD Wetherspoon shares were given a boost after the pub group reported a 5.6% jump in sales in recent months, compared like-for-like with last year.
Trading had been helped by sunnier weather, chairman Tim Martin said adding that the company expects a “reasonable” full-year result. Shares in Wetherspoon closed 6.1% higher.
Trainline said growing use of digital train tickets and fewer rail strikes helped drive a 56% surge in operating profits for the year to the end of February.
The travel platform also made 12% more from selling tickets than it did the prior year, largely due to sales growth in the UK and expansion in European cities. Nevertheless, its share price fell 4% on Thursday.
The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Entain, up 16p to 703.8p, JD Sports, up 1.8p to 82.96p, Intercontinental Hotels Group, up 178p to 8,608p, Glencore, up 4.25p to 252p, and Prudential, up 13.6p to 828.6p.
The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were GSK, down 71p to 1,379p, Rentokil, down 11.8p to 349.7p, AB Foods, down 48.5p to 1,971.5p, BAE Systems, down 41.5p to 1,729p, and Segro, down 15.6p to 672.8p.
