FX.co ★ FTSE 100 Trades Lower Ahead BoE

On Thursday, the FTSE 100 experienced a slight decline, influenced by mixed corporate earnings and the anticipation of the Bank of England's policy announcement, where interest rates are expected to remain unchanged, thus concluding a series of quarterly rate cuts. Leading the index, IMI surged approximately 6% following the confirmation of its full-year guidance. Auto Trader also saw an increase of about 4% after reporting strong first-half revenue and profit figures. AstraZeneca recorded a modest rise of 0.4% after achieving record quarterly revenue and maintaining its full-year outlook. Conversely, Hikma Pharmaceuticals suffered a significant drop of over 12% after revising its medium-term guidance downward due to supply chain disruptions. Smith & Nephew's stock declined more than 9.5% following a minor revenue shortfall. Diageo's shares fell by 2.7% after the company revised its outlook downward, citing challenges in China and the US. Despite this, the market reaction was subdued since its shares had already decreased nearly 30% this year. Citigroup noted that despite a better-than-expected quarterly sales performance, concerns about near-term growth and a softer forecast overshadowed investor sentiment.