Hawkish Powell and Admiral's drop weigh on FTSE 100

UK's FTSE 100 tumbled on Wednesday, with Admiral among the main losers after the motor insurer slashed its full-year dividend, while Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's warning of a higher and faster pace of monetary tightening weighed on sentiment.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 shed 0.2%, while the mid-cap FTSE 250 fell 0.5% by 0821 GMT. Admiral Group Plc slumped 6.6% and hit a four-month low after cutting its full-year dividend and as its full-year profit missed the consensus due to increased claim costs amid higher prices of car repairs.

The FTSE 350 non-life insurance sector, which includes Admiral, dropped 2.2%. Markets globally took a beating after Powell said on Tuesday that the central bank will likely need to raise rates more than expected in response to recent strong U.S. economic data.

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