Archived article
Please note that tax, investment, pension and ISA rules can change and the information and any views contained in this article may now be inaccurate.
FTSE closed lower on Wednesday as investors continued to fret about a potential second wave of Covid-19 infections as lockdowns ease and data showed the British economy slumping in March.
UK gross domestic product shrank 5.8% in March, though that was better than market expectations of a 7.9% contraction.
At 16:30, the benchmark FTSE 100 index was down 1.5%, at 5,904.05 points.
Cosmetics company Warpaint London rose 4.8%% to 44p despite reporting a 63% drop in annual profit and scrapped its final dividend, as a modest rise in sales was tempered by lower margins.
Thermal energy management and pumping specialist Spirax-Sarco Engineering rose 3% to £95.5 after its operating profit fell in the first four months of the year.
The company, however, said operating margins remained above 21% due to cost containment actions.
Software company Sage was up 1.8%% to 666.6p, having booked a 39% rise in first-half profit, driven by a modest rise in revenue and one-off gains from the sale of its payments and Brazilian businesses.
Sage declared an interim dividend of 5.93p, up 2.5% on-year.
House builder Crest Nicholson rallied 1.5% to 232.4p, as it prepared for a phased restart of activity on its sites next week.
Plumbing company Ferguson was 0.9% higher to £60.2, despite third-quarter revenue slipping 2.2% following a 15.3% slump in April.
Wealth manager Brewin Dolphin edged down 0.6% to 267.5p as it held its interim dividend steady at 4.4p per share, despite reporting a 5.1% fall in profit owing to weaker markets.
House builder Taylor Wimpey dropped 2.7% to 141.9p despite announcing that it was reopening its show homes and sales centres from next Friday, amid 'stable' housing market conditions.
Landscape products group Marshalls shed 2.7% to 603p on announcing that up to 400 jobs could be impacted by restructuring plans after its sales slumped 27% in the first fourth months of the year.
Inter-dealer broker TP ICAP fell 6.2% to 349p despite reporting first-quarter revenue up 17%, reflecting higher client volumes due to market volatility caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Luxury carmaker Aston Martin skidded 16% to 34.9p as it booked deeper losses amid a 60% slide in sales.
Aston Martin said it was on track to start deliveries in the summer.