FTSE 100 Edges Lower After GDP Data

U.K. stocks edged lower on Thursday as energy and mining stocks declined amid concerns over the rapid spread of the Delta variant coronavirus variant. M&A activity and solid GDP data helped limit overall losses to some extent.

The benchmark FTSE 100 dropped 10 points, or 0.1 percent, to 7,209 after climbing 0.8 percent on Wednesday.

Aviva shares jumped 3.6 percent. The insurer said it would return at least 4 billion pounds ($5.5 billion) to shareholders.

Miners Anglo American, Rio Tinto and Glencore were seeing modest losses. BP Plc and Royal Dutch Shell were also moving lower after the International Energy Agency cut forecasts for global oil demand “sharply” for the rest of this year.

Cineworld Group rallied 4.4 percent. The company said it was considering a plan to list its shares on Wall Street or partially float its movie chain Regal.

Stock Spirits Group shares soared 44 percent as the alcohol company agreed on a £767mln takeover offer by CVC Advisers.

Travel agency firm TUI AG gained about 1 percent after it returned to cash flow for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic.

In economic releases, the U.K. economy recovered strongly in the second quarter, following the easing of coronavirus restrictions, the first quarterly estimates from the Office for National Statistics showed.

Gross domestic product grew 4.8 percent sequentially in the second quarter, reversing a 1.6 percent fall in the first quarter.

The rate matched economists’ expectations. Nonetheless, the level of GDP was 4.4 percent below its pre-pandemic level.

Another report from the ONS showed that the visible trade gap widened to GBP 11.98 billion in June from GBP 9.6 billion in May.