BLBG:U.K. Stocks Drop as Euro-Area Industrial Output Contracts
U.K. stocks declined from their highest level in almost a month as data showed industrial output in the euro area, Britain’s biggest export market, contracted more than estimated.
The FTSE 100 Index retreated 23.15 points, or 0.4 percent, to 6,565.28 at 10:28 a.m. in London. The equity benchmark has fallen 4 percent from a 13-year high on May 22 after the Federal Reserve said it may start reducing its monthly bond purchases this year. The broader FTSE All-Share Index also slid 0.4 percent today, while Ireland’s ISEQ Index lost 0.7 percent.
A Eurostat report showed that euro-area industrial output fell 1.5 percent in July from a month earlier, when it gained 0.6 percent. The median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg was for a 0.3 percent drop.
To contact the reporter on this story: Namitha Jagadeesh in London at njagadeesh@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Will Hadfield at whadfield@bloomberg.net