Other fallers on the blue-chip index included ITV, which is led by Dame Carolyn McCall. It fell 4.6p to 119p, as investors continued to digest the broadcaster’s warning yesterday that total advertising is expected to be down 6% over the first half. It is grappling with economic and political uncertainty.
The City also avoided turnaround group Melrose, which today said senior director David Roper has decided to step down and retire next May.
Roper is one of the co-founders of the business which last year won an £8 billion hostile bid for GKN. Shares in Melrose decreased 3.37p to 185.63p.
It wasn’t all bad news, though, on the Footsie. Housebuilder Barratt was among the biggest risers as it said the full-year outlook is “modestly” above the £870 million pre-tax profits analysts had pencilled in.
In its update for the first four months of the year, the firm said forward sales were up 2.4% to £3.4 billion and weekly sales reservations levels remained largely static.
Barratt was more upbeat than rivals, which have warned of buyer jitters and slower sales. Shares in the business rose 11.8p to 597.8p.
The FTSE 250 index was down 210.34 points to 19321.57.
