The FTSE 100 suffered its steepest daily decline in around six weeks on Thursday, falling 0.8% to 10,792.54, as weakness among banks and energy companies outweighed strong gains in technology, data and software stocks.
Banking shares were among the biggest drags as gilt yields declined and investors pushed expectations for the Bank of England’s next quarter-point interest-rate increase into 2027.
Oil majors Shell and BP also weighed on the index, with both falling around 1.5%.
Technology provided the main bright spot following Nvidia‘s bullish outlook. The AI chipmaker forecast revenue growth of around 70% in its next financial year, reinforcing expectations that demand for artificial-intelligence computing infrastructure remains strong.
London-listed data and software companies benefited further from improved forecasts from Salesforce and CrowdStrike. London Stock Exchange Group jumped 4.4%, Relx gained 3.3% and Experian advanced 2.8%.
Computacenter was the strongest FTSE 100 performer, climbing 4.7% to a record high after Peel Hunt upgraded the technology company to ‘buy’ from ‘add’ and increased its price target to 6,000p from 4,400p.
The FTSE 250 finished broadly unchanged, although Halfords surged 12.6% after the retailer forecast annual profit ahead of market expectations.
Elsewhere, Ten Lifestyle Group gained 3.9% after securing a new multi-year contract in the Americas.
Investors now turn their attention to Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh’s Jackson Hole speech on Friday. Expectations surrounding US monetary policy have shifted following hotter-than-expected inflation figures, with markets increasing bets on another interest-rate rise.
