FTSE 100 slips as Croda, Burberry weigh

By Pranav Kashyap, Sruthi Shankar and Khushi Singh

(Reuters) -Britain’s FTSE 100 index ended lower on Wednesday, reversing earlier gains, as a downbeat update from chemicals group Croda and losses in luxury retailer Burberry weighed, though a jump in metals miners kept losses limited.

Earlier in the day, the blue-chip FTSE 100 index rose to an all-time high of 8,092.20 points, topping the previous session’s peak of 8,076.52. However, by 1613 GMT, the index had slipped 0.1%, snapping its five-day winning streak.

The mid-cap FTSE 250 lost 0.4%.

Croda was the top decliner, falling 4.8% as first-quarter group sales fell 10% and the chemicals group reiterated a lower profit outlook for the year.

The broader chemicals index shed 2.9%, leading sectoral declines.

The personal goods index followed with a 2.4% drop, led by a 2.6% sell-off in Burberry shares after French luxury goods company Kering flagged a plunge in first-half operating profit.

Industrial metals miners and precious metals miners added 2.2% and 1.7% respectively, however – the top performing sectors – tracking an uptick in metals prices. [MET/L] [GOL/]

Shares of mining giants such as Rio Tinto, Anglo American and Glencore rose between 1.2% and 4.5%.

Reckitt Benckiser added 2.9% after its quarterly like-for-like sales growth beat estimates and the consumer goods group said it was on track to meet full-year revenue and profit targets.

“Reckitt is hoping that with inflation cooling, strong wage growth and the UK emerging from last year’s recession, price sensitivity among consumers will fall and shoppers can go back to picking Reckitt’s premium brands over cheaper own-brand supermarket substitutes,” said Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor, in a note.

(Reporting by Pranav Kashyap, Khushi Singh and Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips, Sohini Goswami and Alex Richardson)