FTSE 100 falls as inflation rises to three-month high

London's FTSE 100 fell on Wednesday as inflation picked up by a little more than expected in January, while British American Tobacco slumped despite stronger annual profit. The commodity-heavy FTSE 100 was down 0.5% by 0819 GMT, with British American Tobacco the biggest drag.

British inflation rose a little more than expected last month as the country went back into a coronavirus lockdown, pushed up by higher food prices and less discounting of household goods such as sofas, official data showed The mid-cap FTSE 250 index fell 0.3%.

British fund supermarket Hargreaves Lansdown slid 7.6% to the bottom of the blue-chip index after Peter Hargreaves, the largest shareholder and co-founder, sold $416 million worth of shares.