UK blue-chips slip as MGM drops takeover plan for Entain

The mid-cap index lost 0.1%, with real estate and consumer stocks being the biggest drag on the index. In other company news, shopping centre operator Hammerson Plc fell 2.1% after receiving less than half of the rents due for the first quarter as stricter COVID-19 restrictions aggravated conditions in Britain's high streets and rest of Europe.

London's FTSE 100 reversed early gains on Tuesday, as Ladbrokes owner Entain slumped after U.S. casino operator MGM opted out of a $11 billion takeover plan, while miners also dragged. The FTSE 100 index closed down 0.1%, declining for the third consecutive session.

Entain plunged 11.9% to the bottom of the blue-chip index after MGM said it would not submit a revised proposal or make a firm offer for Entain, which had said the approach announced two weeks ago significantly undervalued its business. Miners dragged even as Rio Tinto - the world's biggest iron ore producer - reported a 2.4% rise in fourth-quarter iron ore shipments, helped by industrial activity in China.

Rio's shares fell 1.0%, while Anglo American and Glencore dropped more than 1%. "Today is an example of a period which we are in right now - which is very much a consolidatory phase," said Craig Erlam, an analyst at OANDA.

"In the coming days, we will learn a lot about how impactful the new U.S. administration will be, with the slimmest of majority in the Senate." The FTSE 100 tumbled 14.3% in 2020, its worst performance since the 2008 financial crisis and underperforming its European peers by a wide margin, as pandemic-driven lockdowns battered the economy and led to mass layoffs.

Britain reported a record number of deaths from COVID-19 today with 1,610 people dying within 28 days of positive coronavirus test, exceeding the previous peak set last week. The mid-cap index lost 0.1%, with real estate and consumer stocks being the biggest drag on the index.

In other company news, shopping centre operator Hammerson Plc fell 2.1% after receiving less than half of the rents due for the first quarter as stricter COVID-19 restrictions aggravated conditions in Britain's high streets and rest of Europe. OXO cube maker Premier Foods fell 4.8% despite a 90% jump in the third-quarter online sales, while British fashion group Superdry lost 16.3% after reporting a big drop in sales in the Christmas quarter.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)