London stocks slide as downbeat GDP, hot U.S. inflation data weigh

Reuters – UK shares dropped on Thursday as risk sentiment took a beating after data showed British economy shrank in March, highlighing the costofliving crisis while persistently hot U.S. inflation data exacerbated investor fears of aggressive rate hikes.

The bluechip FTSE 100 was down 2, as of 0705 GMT, with commodity stocks among the worst performers.

Oil majors BP and Shell fell 4.4 and 2.8, respectively, while miners declined 4.3, tracking the drop in commodity prices on demand concerns and recession fears.

The domestically focussed midcap index fell 1.6.

Britains economy shrank by 0.1 in March, but expanded by 0.8 for the first quarter of 2022 as a whole, in what is likely to have been a high point for 2022 as the costofliving crisis increasingly bites, according to data on Thursday.

RollsRoyce rose 2.5 as the luxury carmaker traded in line with expectations in the first four months of the year, helped by a gradual return to flying and increased government investment in defence.