London’s FTSE 100 stock index fell on Thursday. It ended a three-day run of record high closes. The decline was mainly due to disappointing economic data in the UK. The blue-chip index dropped by 1.1% by the end of the day. The smaller FTSE 250 index also fell by 0.6%.
Britain’s economic growth slowed in the third quarter. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by only 0.1%, missing forecasts. A cyber attack on Jaguar Land Rover in September partly hurt growth. This weak data strongly suggests the Bank of England may cut interest rates in December.
Key sectors faced sharp drops. Financial stocks, especially investment banks, fell by 7.8%. For instance, 3i Group saw its stock plunge over 17%. The company expressed caution about making new investments. Energy stocks also declined by 1.3%.
This followed a report showing rising crude oil supplies in the U.S. Meanwhile, life insurers like Aviva fell sharply after their new financial targets disappointed investors.
