London close: 3i, Aviva, Flutter lead blue chips lower

(Sharecast News) - Heavy falls from 3i Group, Aviva and Flutter and a host of stocks going ex-dividend weighed heavily on the FTSE 100 on Thursday, which pulled back 1.1% from a record high. The blue chip benchmark index finished 103.74 points lower at 9,807.68, after setting a fresh closing high of 9,911.42 on Wednesday.

Figures showing the UK economy unexpectedly shrank in September also dampened market sentiment.

"Unfortunately, the data will be of little comfort to anyone, least of all the Chancellor of the Exchequer ahead of her budget in less than a fortnight's time. GDP growth was tepid, and trending in the wrong direction," said David Morrison, senior market analyst at Trade Nation.

The Office for National Statistics reported that GDP declined by 0.1% on the month following no growth in August (revised down from 0.1% growth initially) and a fall of 0.1% in July. Economists had been expecting GDP to be unchanged in September.

Production fell by 2.0%, while services grew by 0.2% and construction rose 0.2%. The drop in production was attributed largely to a fall in the manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers, which slumped 28.6%. This was due partly to the fact that production at Jaguar Land Rover was halted following a cyber attack.

Sentiment was also dampened by a weak start on Wall Street despite an end to the US government shutdown, with a potential lack of crucial economic data releases clouding the outlook for monetary policy. Both the US inflation and payrolls reports for October are now unlikely to ever be published, meaning that the Federal Reserve will be flying blind into its next policy meeting at the start of December.

Convatec surges on results; Aviva slumps

3i Group tumbled 17% as the private equity and infrastructure investment firm warned of an uncertain backdrop, saying that market conditions "are likely to remain challenging into the second half of our financial year".

Insurer Aviva was 6% weaker, pulling back after a surge so far this year, as new medium-term profit and return targets underwhelmed investors, despite the company delivering on financial targets a year earlier than planned.

Flutter Entertainment sank 13% after cutting its full-year guidance as customer-friendly sports results, increased US investment and regulatory changes in India weighed on profitability.

A host of heavyweight stocks going ex-dividend also weighed heavily on the FTSE 100, with blue chips Sainsbury's, Bunzl, BP, GSK and Coca-Cola Europacific Partners all in the red.

On the upside, Convatec surged 5% as it hailed strong sales growth over the year to date and said it was on track to deliver FY25 and medium-term financial targets.

Persimmon rose 3% as the housebuilder reiterated is full-year outlook despite "challenging" market conditions, after a jump in sales and prices.

On the FTSE 250, Endeavour Mining jumped 6% after strong third-quarter results, saying it remained on track to meet its 2025 production and cost guidance, supported by higher grades and the recent surge in gold prices.

Meanwhile, Wizz Air rose 7% despite a warning that full-year revenues would fall, as a forecast-busting increase in interim profits and cost-cutting measures were well received by investors.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 9,807.68 -1.05% FTSE 250 (MCX) 21,995.51 -0.63% techMARK (TASX) 5,585.05 -0.95%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Convatec Group (CTEC) 248.60p 5.07% Metlen Energy & Metals (MTLN) 45.20p 3.55% Persimmon (PSN) 1,274.00p 3.33% Fresnillo (FRES) 2,410.00p 2.82% DCC (CDI) (DCC) 4,940.00p 2.07% Croda International (CRDA) 2,856.00p 1.17% Spirax Group (SPX) 7,160.00p 1.06% Experian (EXPN) 3,357.00p 1.02% Land Securities Group (LAND) 647.00p 0.94% International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 395.80p 0.84%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

3i Group (III) 3,360.00p -17.42% Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 15,540.00p -12.75% Aviva (AV.) 652.40p -5.80% WPP (WPP) 286.50p -4.08% Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 327.80p -3.81% Weir Group (WEIR) 2,812.00p -3.23% Entain (ENT) 728.80p -3.01% Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,217.50p -2.87% Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (DI) (CCEP) 6,930.00p -2.81% Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 1,120.50p -2.78%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 1,082.00p 6.71% Endeavour Mining (EDV) 3,402.00p 5.85% QinetiQ Group (QQ.) 466.40p 5.57% Keller Group (KLR) 1,544.00p 3.90% Hochschild Mining (HOC) 384.60p 3.83% International Workplace Group (IWG) 223.40p 2.57% Genus (GNS) 2,435.00p 2.10% Investec (INVP) 596.00p 1.88% W.A.G Payment Solutions (EWG) 95.00p 1.71% Diversified Energy Company (DEC) 1,130.00p 1.71%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Lancashire Holdings Limited (LRE) 593.00p -9.33% C&C Group (CDI) (CCR) 132.60p -4.88% Foresight Environmental Infrastructure Limited (FGEN) 63.20p -4.10% Greencoat UK Wind (UKW) 99.80p -4.04% The Renewables Infrastructure Group Limited (TRIG) 71.40p -3.77% Barr (A.G.) (BAG) 652.00p -3.69% Ceres Power Holdings (CWR) 371.00p -3.49% PayPoint (PAY) 665.00p -3.48% GCP Infrastructure Investments Ltd (GCP) 70.90p -3.41% Partners Group Private Equity Limited. (EUR) (PEY) 10.45p -3.24%