FTSE in the red ahead of Bank rates decision

The FTSE 100 closed down again on Wednesday as it continued a recent retreat from its four-year highs in mid-January.

The index fell by 10.59 points, ending the day at 7,761.11, a drop of a little over 0.1% which was influenced by pharma giant AstraZeneca and some of the biggest mining companies in the world.

The falls came as traders look towards interest rates decisions from the US Federal Reserve, and the Bank of England, which reports at midday on Thursday.

The Bank is widely expected to raise its base rate to 4%, from 3.5% currently, although many think this could be one of the last big hikes that decision makers vote for.

The negative trading was seen on the other side of the pond as well, where the S&P 500 was trading down 0.4% and the Dow Jones had dropped 0.8% a short while after European markets closed.

“The second half of the week’s action-packed schedule has provided a reason for investors to take risk off the table, as they await the Fed decision, and then the other major data that will follow on Thursday and Friday,” said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at online trading platform IG.

“Caution is the watchword today, and could well be the case tomorrow and Friday too.

“A hawkish Fed and poor tech numbers on Friday would be a decent catalyst for a rout in stocks, while the bulls will be hoping for good news on which to pin a fresh rally.”

On the FTSE, Vodafone, Anglo American and Rio Tinto all proved a drag on the index’s performance. It is a little over 100 points away from reaching an all-time high but has just not seemed able to clear the hurdle recently.

In Europe things looked better. The Frankfurt Dax index closed up 0.4% while the Cac 40 in Paris rose 0.7%.

Sterling fell slightly and by the end of the day could buy a little over 1.23 dollars or a little under 1.13 euros.

In company news, Vodafone’s 1.8% share price drop came after the business said that its service revenue had fallen after the business faced a difficult time in some European countries.

Boss Margherita Della Valle said that the company “can do better” and told shareholders that more price hikes were set to come. The business is also pushing ahead with plans to cut costs.

Meanwhile, Ladbrokes owner Entain said that it had benefited from the World Cup over the winter and hiked profit forecasts.

The business attracted a record number of customers in the final three months of last year, it said. Shares rose 1.5%.

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) saw its shares virtually unchanged, down 0.2%, despite saying that sales had risen by nearly a fifth in 2022, thanks to its shingles vaccine.

The vaccine itself made up around £1 in every £10 that the company made in sales, as China and Germany proved strong markets.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Segro, up 19.8p to 850p, Smiths Group, up 38.5p to 1,765.5p, 3i, up 35p to 1,610p, Ocado, up 14.2p to 660.2p, and RS Group, up 17.5p to 957.5p.

The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were AstraZeneca, down 310p to 10,280p, Anglo American, down 79.5p to 3,387p, Abrdn, down 5p to 208.1p, Vodafone, down 2p to 91.18p, and Compass Group, down 37p to 1,894.5p.