Thursday Morning Markets: FTSE 100 Down as Fed Weighs on London

The FTSE 100 is nursing a 1% loss so far this morning, after a hawkish message from the Federal Reserve and the latest UK unemployment data.

The FTSE 250 is trading around 0.4% lower, while on the continent, the DAX is down 0.2%, and the CAC 40 and Stoxx 50 have both lost 0.1%.

The Fed held rates at 3.5%–3.75% as expected, but stripped out its easing bias and indicated that a hike is possible. New Chair Kevin Warsh then announced a policy review.

Meanwhile, UK jobs data was released today. The unemployment rate nudged lower to 4.9% from 5%.

The data comes ahead of the Bank of England’s rate decision at midday. A hold is all but certain, but traders will be watching the vote split and statement tone closely.

What’s Moving

Informa is the morning’s standout, up +2.59% after a trading update showed 6.4% underlying revenue growth in the five months to 31 May, with full-year guidance left intact.

Melrose (+2.91%) is outperforming on industrial and aerospace sector tailwinds, while Polar Capital Tech (+2.24%) is catching a mild tech bid in an otherwise cautious session.

On the flip side, Persimmon is the session’s biggest casualty, down -6.08%.

Land Securities (LAND, -4.13%) is also being squeezed. 3i Group (-3.86%) goes ex-dividend today, explaining much of the mechanical drop.

Updates

Elsewhere, today, Tesco’s Q1 update flagged a 3.2% like-for-like sales decline at its Booker wholesale arm .

Whitbread told a mixed story, with Premier Inn hotels in the UK and Germany rising, but food and drink revenues fell in the UK. Shares dropped despite the hotel strength.