LONDON: U.K. stocks declined, snapping two days of gains, as HSBC Holdings Plc and Ashtead Group Plc fell.
HSBC lost 1.4 percent for the biggest drag on the FTSE 100 Index after Exane BNP Paribas said it was among the least preferred European bank shares. Ashtead dropped 2.8 percent after U.S. peer United Rentals Inc. cut its 2015 earnings forecast. Hargreaves Lansdown Plc tumbled 4.3 percent after Jefferies Group LLC downgraded the shares.
The FTSE 100 slid 0.8 percent to 7,007.07 at 10:12 a.m. in London, erasing an advance of as much as 0.4 percent. The gauge closed yesterday within 0.5 percent of an all-time high reached April 15. The FTSE All-Share Index lost 0.7 percent and Ireland’s ISEQ Index fell 0.8 percent today.
A minority of Bank of England policy makers said the decision to keep interest rates at a record low in April was “finely balanced” amid a risk that inflation would pick up faster than expected, minutes from their April meeting showed. The vote for no rate change was unanimous.
