FTSE Moves: Footsie slips after weak construction data

The London market was lower in afternoon trading, weighed by further disappointing economic news in the wake of the Brexit vote.

UK construction fell at the fastest rate for seven years, according to the closely-watched Markit/CIPS UK Construction Purchasing Managers' Index, which registered 45.9 in July, down from 46.0 the month before. The fall in July was the fastest overall decline in construction output since June 2009.

The FTSE 100 Index was 27.9 points lower at 6666.1, with traders cautious ahead of a Bank of England meeting on Thursday, which is widely expected to see the interest rate cut to a historic low of 0.25%.

Trustnet Direct market Analyst Tony Cross said: "We could now find that investors are reluctant to do much more than sit on their hands for the next couple of days – the post-Brexit rally may appear to be running out of steam, but there's going to be little incentive to cash out if fresh stimulus measures – however token they are – prove to be just a matter of hours away."

In afternoon trading the biggest risers on the FTSE 100 Index were Direct Line Insurance (+34.8p to 389.9p), InterContinental Hotels (+105p to 3119p), Admiral Group (+62p to 2211p), Shire (+135p to 5060p) and Randgold Resources (+120p to 9030p).

The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 Index were Barclays (-4.6p to 146.9p), Travis Perkins (-45p to 1499p), Royal Bank of Scotland (-5.4p to 183.7p), Johnson Matthey (-85p to 3188p) and Intertek Group (-74p to 3471p).

In afternoon trading the biggest risers on the FTSE 250 Index were BBA Aviation (+16.3p to 251.3p), IP Group (+6.5p to 156.5p), Spire Healthcare (+9.3p to 330.8p), Beazley (+11p to 399.4p) and Esure Group (+7.2p to 270.1p).

The biggest fallers on the FTSE 250 Index were Rotork (-16.6p to 197p), Ascential (-19.4p to 246p), AG Barr (-24p to 512p), International Personal Finance (-11.4p to 250.3p) and Keller Group (-39.5p to 870.5p).