FTSE 100 close: London dips as Standard Chartered share price drops sharply
London’s FTSE indices dropped on Thursday as the market was dragged down by declines in Standard Chartered and Unilever over weak third-quarter results.
The capital’s premier blue-chip index traded 0.81 per cent lower at 7,354.57, while the mid-cap FTSE 250 slipped 0.59 per cent to 16,770.98, having briefly spiked into the green.
On the FTSE 100, Standard Chartered was the biggest loser, as the bank fell 12 per cent after reporting its third-quarter results this morning, with China’s growing real estate crisis dragging on performance.
Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, said: “China remains both a blessing and a curse for Standard, with the country’s faltering economic recovery weighing heavily on these results.
“The currently parlous state of developments in China are an inevitable concern, although Standard is adequately capitalised to withstand such challenges.
“Indeed, in the medium and longer-term the Chinese economy should provide some significant opportunities, and in a region where the bank has a well-established and trusted presence. Despite any disappointment which this latest update has delivered, the market consensus of the shares as a cautious buy encapsulates both current challenges and future prospects.”
Consumer goods maker Unilever fell 2.6 per cent after its chief admitted the business was “underperforming” and had not “reached its potential”.
Ocado was the FTSE 100’s top riser, climbing 5.9 per cent.
The big global economic news of the day failed to shape markets much. The ECB left rates on hold its latest decision, saying that the current level of interest rates was enough to bring inflation down to target.
“The key ECB interest rates are at levels that, maintained for a sufficiently long duration, will make a substantial contribution” to returning inflation to the two per cent target, it said in a statement.
Meanwhile growth in the US came in ahead of expectations at an annualised rate of 4.9 per cent. This was the fastest rate of growth since late 2021 and demonstrates the resilience of the US economy to the Fed’s rate hikes.