By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) — U.K. stocks on Wednesday erased gains and slipped from a 4½ year high, after disappointing U.S. growth data weighed on investors’ minds, while Imperial Tobacco Group PLC slumped after a profit warning.
The FTSE 100 index UK:UKX -0.34% fell 0.2% to 6,329.88, pausing after a five-day rally.
Shares of Imperial Tobacco Group UK:IMT -4.91% ITYBY -4.78% slumped 4.9%. The tobacco firm issued a profit warning for the first half, citing weakness in the European market, which is one of the company’s key markets. See: Imperial Tobacco warns on profit due to Europe
Petrofac Ltd. UK:PFC -6.05% dropped 5.9%, as peer firm Saipem SpA IT:SPM -34.61% slumped 34%, after forecasting a significant decline in earnings for 2013.
Pointing in the other direction, shares of BP PLC UK:BP +0.36% BP -0.07% gained 0.7% after the oil major said a federal court approved a settlement to resolve all criminal claims related to the Deepwater Horizon spill accident. See: Court approves $4 bln BP spill settlement: report and See: Oil recovers from inventory-report weakness
The broader U.K. stock market had started Wednesday on a strong footing, but was sent lower in afternoon action on the back of weaker-than-expected growth numbers from the U.S. Gross domestic product for the fourth quarter shrank 0.1%, down from 3.1% in the third quarter, and below estimates of a 1% rise. See: U.S. economy shrinks in fourth quarter
Most mining firms were on the decline, with shares of Kazakhmys PLC UK:KAZ -4.96% off 4% and Anglo American PLC UK:AAL -2.75% 2% lower.
Shares of Antofagasta PLC UK:ANTO -8.24% sank 7.1%. The miner said it expects 2013 copper production in line with 2012, while warning that the cost of copper production is set to rise at a faster pace. See: Antofagasta: copper output flat, cash costs rising
Shares of chemicals firm Johnson Matthey PLC UK:JMAT -4.40% lost 4.3%, after reporting a 19% drop in adjusted pretax profit for the third quarter. See: Johnson Matthey adjusted pretax profit falls 19%
Among other notable movers, United Utilities Group PLC UK:UU +0.20% advanced 0.2%, as the firm said current trading is in line with the group’s expectations. See: United Utilities trading in line with expectations
Some banks were also on the rise. Shares of Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC UK:RBS +0.56% RBS +1.01% , rose 0.6% after suffering a 6% loss on Tuesday on news U.S. authorities are pushing the bank to plead guilty to criminal charges to settle allegations of rate rigging. See: U.S. seeking criminal charges for RBS: WSJ
Outside the main U.K. index, shares of Imagination Technologies Group PLC UK:IMG +11.64% surged 11%, after Morgan Stanley lifted the stock to overweight from equal weight.
Sara Sjolin is a MarketWatch reporter based in London. Follow her on Twitter @sarasjolin.
