FTSE 100 closes lower as global markets continue to wobble

Global markets faced a late-afternoon dip on Thursday as investor sentiment took a turn for the worst, despite good news on the UK’s housebuilding sector helping lift top developer stocks.

The UK’s FTSE 100 had been treading water earlier in the day, with strong gains for housebuilder Vistry offset by losses for Primark owner AB Foods.

But the index fell by 27.89 points, or 0.34%, to end the day at 8,241.71.

If followed a choppy day of trading on Wednesday when the FTSE 100 slid to its lowest level for three weeks, amid concerns over the overall state of the US economy and shares in chip maker Nvidia plunging.

Nonetheless, housebuilders were among the day’s biggest risers after new data showed the UK’s construction industry continued to grow last month, with housebuilding growing at the fastest rate for nearly two years.

Meanwhile, Vistry shares were boosted after revealing it benefited from selling more low-cost homes to its partners, which include local governments and housing associations, and that it was expecting a boost from the Labour Government’s housebuilding targets.

Its share price was up by more than 7% when markets closed.

It was a choppy session for other European markets, with the Dax in Germany edging up just 0.02% while the Cac 40 in France dropped 0.92%.

It was a poor start to trading over in the US with the S&P 500 down about 0.6% and Dow Jones down 0.9% by the time European markets closed.

In other company news, shares in AB Foods dropped sharply after the Primark owner said sales in recent months were hit by poor weather in April and June, which took its toll on seasonal women’s clothing ranges.

The group said Primark’s UK like-for-like sales are set to drop by around 3% in the three months to September 14, while it reported a slightly better performance elsewhere across Europe.

Shares in AB Foods, which also owns sugar brands, closed 8.5% lower.

Electricals retailer Currys gave a slighter more cheery update on its trading, with sales improving in recent months thanks to more shoppers buying artificial intelligence-enabled products.

The company said it now has an almost 50% market share in UK laptop sales.

Nevertheless, its share price closed 1.6% lower.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Vistry, up 112p to 1,430p, WPP, up 39.8p to 746.6p, Entain, up 31.2p to 647.2p, Whitbread, up 109p to 3,008p, and SSE, up 56.5p to 1,970p.

The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were AB Foods, down 212p to 2,289p, Admiral Group, down 117p to 2,814p, AstraZeneca, down 506p to 12,540p, DS Smith, down 14.6p to 449.4p, and Spirax, down 210p to 7,295p.