© Reuters. A street cleaning operative walks past the London Stock Exchange Group building in the City of London financial district, whilst British stocks tumble as investors fear that the coronavirus outbreak could stall the global economy, in London, Britain, Marc
(Reuters) – The UK’s fell in broad-based declines on Thursday as a strengthening pound weighed on the exporter-heavy index, while elevated government bond yields also dampened risk appetite.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 fell 0.4% by 0813 GMT, while the more domestically-focussed midcap index lost 0.7%.
The personal goods sector led declines early on, falling 2.2%.
Among individual stocks, Asia-focussed lender HSBC was the biggest drag on the FTSE 100, falling 1%.
The pound rose 0.2% against the dollar, while British government bond yields also edged higher, in line with their global counterparts.
DS Smith fell 1.4% after the cardboard maker said its CEO Miles Roberts will retire and recorded a 15% slump in its half-year profit before tax.
Media firm Future lost 15.8% after reporting full-year results.
Smart Metering Systems jumped 41.9% after the energy infrastructure firm said a company owned by funds advised by KKR and its affiliates will acquire it in an all-cash deal of about 1.3 billion pounds ($1.63 billion).
(This story has been refiled to remove extraneous words in paragraph 6)
