London’s top financial index fell for a third consecutive session on Thursday, as drugs giant GSK acted as a drag.
The pharmaceutical firm slumped in value after US health authorities recommended restricting the age of people who can use respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccines.
Shares in the group sank by 4.6% to 1,526p, with the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) recommendation seen as a blow to GSK’s Arexvy treatment.
Nevertheless, stocks in London recovered some ground during the day following recent sell-offs but the index was unable to climb back into the green.
The FTSE 100 finished 45.65 points, or 0.55%, lower to end the day at 8,179.68.
Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG, said late during the trading session: “While Wall Street has pushed higher and the Dax has made gains this afternoon, the FTSE 100 continues to languish in the red thanks to a slew of names going ex-dividend and bad news for GSK.
“The latter has gone from a multi-decade high to four-month lows.”
Elsewhere in Europe, German stocks were stronger as recent concerns around political uncertainty appeared to calm.
The Cac 40 in France ended 1.03% lower and the Dax index was up 0.28% at the close.
Stateside, the main US markets moved slightly higher despite pharmacy giant Walgreens witnessing another significant fall.
Meanwhile, sterling recovered some ground after falling to a month-low against the dollar in the previous session.
The pound was up 0.2% at 1.264 US dollars and was down 0.04% at 1.181 euros.
In company news, Currys shares slid despite the technology retailer returning profit, as it hailed football fans purchasing 85-inch TVs to watch Euro 2024.
The retail firm reported a pre-tax profit of £28 million, a significant improvement from the £462 million loss reported the year before.
But it saw shares dip by 5.8% to 71.65p as it also revealed a fall in revenues.
DS Smith was the strongest riser on the FTSE 100 after it moved closer to its £5.8 billion takeover deal.
On Thursday, Brazilian firm Suzano said it had ended talks to buy International Paper, which had agreed to buy DS Smith in April.
Suzano had previously indicated that any deal would have been conditional on International Paper abandoning its acquisition of DS Smith. Shares in DS Smith surged by 15.7% to 426.2p, as its takeover deal gathered pace.
Moonpig gifted its shareholders a jump in value after profits lifted by around a third for the past year.
The online cards and gifts retailer reported a profit before tax of £46.4 million in the year to the end of April, up from £34.9 million the previous year, as it benefited from higher pricing. Moonpig shares were up 15.2% to 183p.
The price of oil made small strides after recent weakness amid optimism ahead of Friday’s US Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) inflation data.
A barrel of Brent crude oil was up by 0.3% to 82.99 US dollars as markets were closing in London.
The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were DS Smith, up 57.8p to 426.2p, Mondi, up 53p to 1,531p, Barclays, up 3.9p to 209.75p, Admiral Group, up 46p to 2,643p, and Airtel Africa, up 1.9p to 118.6p.
The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Burberry, down 62p to 899.8p, GSK, down 73.5p to 1,526p, Prudential, down 24.6p to 722p, British American Tobacco, down 78p to 2,433p, and 3i Group, down 90p to 2,999p.