FTSE 100 muted at open; 888 Holdings tumbles on downbeat profit view

UK's FTSE 100 was muted at open on Thursday as higher-for-longer interest rates weighed on investor sentiment pulling down homebuilder stocks that outweighed gains in energy stocks. The FTSE 100 was flat by 0718 GMT. Homebuilder stocks fell more than 1%. Further weighing on the FTSE 100 was a 4.8% drop in Phoenix Group shares after the life insurer posted a marginal rise in its half-yearly adjusted operating profit.

UK's FTSE 100 was muted at open on Thursday as higher-for-longer interest rates weighed on investor sentiment pulling down homebuilder stocks that outweighed gains in energy stocks.

The FTSE 100 was flat by 0718 GMT. Homebuilder stocks fell more than 1%.

Further weighing on the FTSE 100 was a 4.8% drop in Phoenix Group shares after the life insurer posted a marginal rise in its half-yearly adjusted operating profit. Limiting losses, energy stocks rose 1.3% tracking higher oil prices.

U.S. oil futures jumped to their highest in more than a year on Thursday as a drop in crude stocks in the United States added to worries over tight global supplies from OPEC+ output cuts. Shares of 888 Holdings tumbled 14% after the bookmaker forecast annual core profit below its prior expectations after flagging a 10% decline in third-quarter revenue.

Mid-cap stocks fell 0.1%. HSBC is set to acquire Citigroup's China consumer wealth management business, which manages more than $3 billion in assets, two sources with knowledge of the matter said, sending shares of the bank down 0.3%.

 

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