Britain’s FTSE 100 slips as banks, energy stocks slide

Aug 27 (Reuters) – London’s FTSE 100 slipped for a second straight session on Thursday as weakness in bank and energy stocks eclipsed gains in data and software shares.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 index fell 0.8% to 10,792.54 points in its steepest one-day drop in 1-1/2 months. The midcap FTSE 250 ended about flat.

• Bank stocks were among the biggest drags on the index as gilt yields fell after investors pushed back expectations for the Bank of England’s next quarter-point interest rate hike to 2027.

• Oil majors Shell and BP dropped about 1.5% each.

• Technology shares were a bright spot, leading gains sectorally, up 1% as Nvidia forecast a 70% jump in revenue next fiscal year, underscoring unabated demand for AI computing.

• UK’s data and software firms climbed after forecast bumps from Salesforce and CrowdStrike offered a boost to the lagging sector. Relx gained 3.3%, London Stock Exchange Group added 4.4% and Experian climbed 2.8%.

• Among individual stocks, Britain’s Halfords jumped 12.6% to the top of the FTSE Midcap index after forecasting annual profit above market expectations.

• Computacenter rose 4.7% to a record high  and topped the FTSE 100 index after Peel Hunt upgraded the stock to “buy” from “add” and raised its price target to 6,000 pence from 4,400 pence.

• Ten Lifestyle Group climbed 3.9% after it said it had secured a new multi-year contract in the Americas.

• Attention shifts to a speech from Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh at Jackson Hole on Friday after hotter-than-expected inflation data prompted investors to modestly increase bets on a rate hike next month.

(Reporting by Tharuniyaa Lakshmi and Medha Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid and Gareth Jones)