U.K. stocks fell in cautious trade on Wednesday after Modern Land missed a bond payment, adding to worries about the wider impact of the debt crisis at behemoth China Evergrande Group.
Traders also awaited the budget announcement from Chancellor Rishi Sunak where he is expected to reassures investors and consumers about the ongoing rise in inflation and unemployment.
The benchmark FTSE 100 dropped 24 points, or 0.3 percent, to 7,254 after closing 0.8 percent higher on Tuesday.
Miners Anglo American and Glencore fell more than 2 percent as concerns about Chinese intervention hit metal prices.
FirstGroup jumped 5.4 percent. The transport group said it plans to return up to 500 million pounds to its shareholders through a tender offer at 105 pence per share.
HomeServe climbed 4.8 percent. The home repairs and improvements business said that it has completed the acquisition of CET Structures Ltd., a digitally-enabled home emergency assistance business in the UK, for circa 53 million pounds.
Market Analysis
FTSE 100 Slides Ahead Of UK Budget
2021-10-27 09:34:09
