FTSE 100 Falls as Ex-Dividend Stocks Weigh on London Markets
The FTSE 100 index fell by 105 points on Thursday to close at 10,772.98, bucking the trend set by a strong opening session on Wall Street.
The decline was largely driven by several major constituents trading ex-dividend, including Glencore, LondonMetric Property, and Croda International, each of which fell around 2% and contributed to the index's drop.
The remaining portion of the decline can be attributed to corporate updates and concerns over interest rate outlook in the United States. The Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge, personal consumption expenditures data for July, showed prices increasing by 3.7% on a year earlier, above economists' forecasts of 3.6%. This revival of concerns about American rates staying higher for longer weighed heavily on London's rate-sensitive property and consumer names.
The US 2-year Treasury yield moved towards 4.22%, strengthening expectations of another Federal Reserve rate increase before the end of the year, which contributed to the FTSE 100's decline.