FTSE lags behind rivals in Europe

The FTSE 100 lagged behind its European counterparts as a weak session for AstraZeneca dragged on the index.

It came as the Dax and Cac40 both accelerated to new record highs, pushing on after a positive start to trading on Monday.

In London, a solid set of unemployment figures also failed to improve cautious sentiment across traders.

London’s top flight closed 24.89 points, or 0.34%, lower at 7,326.97 yesterday.

Meanwhile, the German Dax increased by 0.63%, and the French Cac improved by 0.36%.

Oliver Males, financial analyst at Spreadex, said: “Unlike the rest of Europe, as the Dax and Cac both see strong growth, the FTSE has been straining to stay afloat.

“Promising unemployment data being lower than the 4.4% expected at 4.3% does not seem to have had the desired effect, potentially due to job vacancies rising to a record 1.2 million.

“Another major factor will be the FTSE 100’s largest company, AstraZeneca, being the worst performer today, as their shares have dropped over 4%.”

AstraZeneca dropped as rival Pfizer announced that it would let generic drug makers produce cheap versions of its new Covid-19 pill for lower income nations. Shares in AstraZeneca fell by 366p to 8,602p.

Across the Atlantic, Wall Street saw markets open modestly higher as US retail figures for last month surpassed expectations.

Meanwhile, sterling seemed to slightly benefit from the UK’s latest labour market figures while the euro dipped to fresh 16-month lows.

The pound was 0.08% higher versus the US dollar at 1.343, and up 0.21% against the euro at 1.185.