FTSE 100 ends lower while Wall Street slips from best levels after mixed US economic data
The UK blue-chip index drifted to a negative finish, while US investors try to assess the latest housing and confidence figures Commodity companies lose ground
US stocks lose nearly all their early gains
UK public finances scarred by pandemic costs
5.02pm: FTSE softly lower at market close
The FTSE 100 closed Tuesday down 22 points, 0.3%, at 7,030, while the FTSE 250 shed 45 points, 0.2%, to 22,439.
The DAX has been the outperformer on a largely slow day, with the German Ifo hitting a two-year high, IG Senior Market Analyst Joshua Mahony wrote. On the UK front, reflation stocks have performed well, while miners continue to lose ground.
25 May 2021 | 16:39pm
StockMarketWire.com - The FTSE 100 saw a modest decline on Tuesday after trading broadly flat for much of the day as strength in sterling weighed on the overseas earnings dominated index.
By the close it was down 0.3% at 7,029.79. In the US the S&P 500 was also a bit lower, slipping 0..2% to 4,188.64 by 4.30pm UK time.
Industrial software group Aveva rallied 1.6% to £33.28 even as it reported a 63% slump in annual profit after the pandemic hits sales in the first half.
Aveva nevertheless upped its dividend by 1% to 23.5p per share, citing a second-half sales recovery that had limited a full-year fall in revenue to just 1.4%.
M&S, Aviva and Ted Baker among the big names in coming week
Also in the diary are landlords Shaftesbury and British Land, retailer Pets At Home and utility group SSE
The week ahead is expected to see results from several well-known retailers, notably Marks & Spencer, Ted Baker and Pets At Home, while insurance giant Aviva will also be in focus when it updates on its current trading.
Meanwhile, landlords British Land and Shaftesbury are also in the diary alongside software firm AVEVA and utility firm SSE.
Things are a little quieter on the macro calendar, with US GDP and jobless claims on Thursday likely to be the key draw.