FX.co ★ FTSE 100 Falls on Thursday

On Thursday, the FTSE 100 experienced a decline, lagging behind other European markets due to disappointing earnings reports and subdued oil prices. Energy behemoths BP and Shell saw their shares drop by over 1%, driven by renewed fears of a global oversupply affecting crude markets. The index's performance was further hampered by stocks going ex-dividend, such as GSK, which declined by 0.7%, and Sainsbury’s, which fell by 4%. A significant loss was seen by private equity firm 3i, plummeting 10% due to slower like-for-like sales growth at its retail chain, Action. Despite Aviva announcing upgraded targets and reporting stronger profits, its shares decreased by more than 3.5%, as investor attention turned to the fragility of its UK general insurance sector and indications of softening rates. Rolls-Royce also saw a dip of about 1%, reiterating its guidance but pointing to ongoing supply chain challenges, even though demand remained strong in its Civil Aerospace and Defence sectors. On another note, recent GDP figures revealed that the UK economy nearly stagnated in the third quarter, with a mere 0.1% growth, and with a 0.1% contraction in September, primarily due to weaknesses in manufacturing and fiscal ambiguity.