London close: FTSE 100 slips to two-week low as AstraZeneca drops

(Sharecast News) - The FTSE 100 finished marginally in the red on Thursday, bucking the positive trend seen across global stock markets on the back of losses across London's pharma, defence and oil sectors.

The Footsie finished 0.2% lower at 10,472.45, its lowest finish since 24 June, with blue chip constituent AstraZeneca leading the declines after some disappointing drug trial results.

"A positively heroic contribution from the mining sector [...] helped the FTSE 100 to claw back most of its opening fall. But such a big stumble from one of the real index heavyweights is the last thing the index needed, putting its quest to 11,000 back even further," said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG.

European stock traded firmly higher, with the Stoxx 600 benchmark up 0.8% by the close of play, helped by gains of 0.9% or more across Frankfurt, Paris, Milan and Madrid, while Wall Street opened on the front foot as chip stocks rebounded after recent losses.

Oil prices pulled back after jumping on Wednesday following the resumption of strikes between Iran and the US after Donald Trump announced that the ceasefire was officially "over", claiming that he no longer wants to deal with Tehran's leaders. Brent was down 1.6% at $76.74 a barrel, following a 5.2% jump the previous session.

US forces were given the nod to complete another round of strikes against Iran, with Central Command confirming they had hit more sites in an attempt to further degrading Tehran's ability to attack shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. They hit around 90 military targets, including air defence systems, coastal surveillance assets, missile and drone storage sites, according to a statement.

This followed strikes on approximately 80 Iranian military targets on Tuesday, including more than 60 Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps small boats, "to impose heavy costs for Iran violating the ceasefire by attacking three commercial vessels navigating the Strait of Hormuz".

In response, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it had carried out co-ordinated missile and drone strikes against US military bases in Kuwait and Bahrain, and threatened further attacks should the US resume its attacks.

However, Trump also seemed to imply that talks would continue. Despite initially insisting the negotiations were a "waste of time", he later said Iran's leaders had "called a little while ago" and "want to make a deal so badly".

On home shores, a survey showed house prices remained subdued in June as the cost of living and wider geopolitical tensions weighed on sentiment. The latest residential market survey from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors showed house prices largely unchanged month-on-month, with a negative balance of -33. The balance was -34 in April and -35 in May.

AstraZeneca slides

AstraZeneca tumbled as it said a trial for a treatment for a rare type of heart disease had failed to meet its primary objective, sending shares down over 6%. AZN, which is the second-largest constituent on the FTSE 100, accounts for around 9% of the index.

Defence contractors BAE Systems and Babcock were also out of favour as the stocks pulled back after recent gains, along with oil majors BP and Shell, which were lower after tracking oil prices higher the previous session.

On the upside, Computacenter surged to the top of the index as it boosted full-year guidance on the back of strong second-quarter trading, including bumper demand from hyperscalers. The technology and services provider said trading in the three months to 30 June had been ahead of expectations, building on an "excellent" first quarter.

Miners were also on the front foot, with Antofagasta, Anglo American, Glencore, Fresnillo and Rio Tinto all up.

On the FTSE 250, gambling software maker Playtech surged 17% after saying it expected annual earnings to be "significantly" above estimates after a strong performance in the first six months of the year.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 10,472.45 -0.16%

FTSE 250 (MCX) 23,240.56 0.97%

techMARK (TASX) 5,871.65 -0.10%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Computacenter (CCC) 4,434.00p 7.21%

Anglo American (AAL) 3,578.00p 5.83%

Antofagasta (ANTO) 3,716.00p 5.36%

Glencore (GLEN) 511.40p 4.23%

Persimmon (PSN) 1,037.00p 3.85%

Standard Chartered (STAN) 2,105.00p 3.24%

Barratt Redrow (BTRW) 281.20p 3.00%

Smiths Group (SMIN) 2,493.00p 2.93%

Fresnillo (FRES) 2,642.00p 2.92%

Rio Tinto (RIO) 6,675.00p 2.83%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

AstraZeneca (AZN) 13,354.00p -6.22%

BAE Systems (BA.) 1,839.00p -4.00%

British American Tobacco (BATS) 4,497.00p -2.56%

Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (DI) (CCEP) 7,790.00p -2.50%

Babcock International Group (BAB) 1,026.00p -2.47%

BP (BP.) 481.80p -1.93%

Unilever (ULVR) 4,551.00p -1.91%

Croda International (CRDA) 2,852.00p -1.55%

National Grid (NG.) 1,230.00p -1.40%

Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT) 4,997.00p -1.36%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Playtech (PTEC) 365.40p 14.12%

Pagegroup (PAGE) 123.10p 6.86%

Genus (GNS) 2,072.00p 5.39%

Hochschild Mining (HOC) 462.60p 5.23%

Oxford Biomedica (OXB) 610.00p 4.45%

Ninety One (N91) 221.00p 4.36%

Endeavour Mining (EDV) 3,709.00p 4.13%

Pan African Resources (PAF) 95.45p 4.03%

Bytes Technology Group (BYIT) 409.80p 4.01%

Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 1,173.00p 3.99%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Globaldata (DATA) 73.30p -4.43%

Diversified Energy Company (DI) (DEC) 1,008.00p -4.18%

AO World (AO.) 90.90p -3.81%

Harbour Energy (HBR) 218.40p -2.33%

Serco Group (SRP) 226.60p -2.24%

Sirius Real Estate Ltd. (SRE) 94.25p -1.93%

HarbourVest Global Private Equity Limited A Shs (HVPE) 3,315.00p -1.92%

Vietnam Enterprise Investments (DI) (VEIL) 767.00p -1.92%

Partners Group Private Equity Limited. (EUR) (PEY) 7.28p -1.89%

HGCapital Trust (HGT) 363.00p -1.76%