The FTSE 100 index was down by 85 points on Thursday, marking its second decline of over 1% within three days. The index also hit its one-month low point and closed at 7,702.6.
The FTSE 250 index also followed a similar trend and ended 120 points lower at 19,244.9.
Following the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hike of 0.25%, the ECB (European Central Bank) has raised rates by a similar rate.
Despite the positive sentiment driven by earnings, concerns about interest rates acted as a mitigating factor.
On the regulation front, the UK’s competition watchdog, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), launched a review of the artificial intelligence sector. This move serves as a warning to firms that are racing to exploit AI technology.
Recently, the CMA has put scrutiny on Adobe Inc.’s (NASDAQ:ADBE) (GB:0R2Y) $20 billion acquisition of Figma. The regulator aims to determine whether the acquisition could result in a “significant reduction in competition” within the country.
Last week, the CMA blocked Microsoft’s (NASDAQ:MSFT) (GB:0QYP) proposed £55 billion takeover of Activision Blizzard (NASDAQ:ATVI) on the grounds that the proposed merger would lower the competition in console and cloud gaming services in the UK.
On the company front, retailer Next PLC (GB:NXT) was the top riser on the FTSE 100 with a gain of 3.19%. Despite posting a decline in sales, the shares moved up on higher sales and profit guidance for the full year.
Oil company Shell (GB:SHEL) gained 1.08% on Thursday after the company posted its first-quarter earnings for 2023, surpassing analysts’ expectations. The company reported $9.6 billion in profits despite falling oil and natural gas prices.
Among the losers, investment management company St. James’s Place (GB:STJ) lost 6.46% in a day
Mining giant Glencore (GB:GLEN) was down more than 6% after the company went ex-dividend yesterday.
