LONDON: U.K. stocks fell Thursday, pulling back from a nearly three-week high, as a reported deal between Greece and its creditors failed to materialize. But gains for some domestic retailers helped cushion the loss on the benchmark FTSE 100.
The FTSE 100 UKX, +0.16% was down 0.4% to 7,008.66, paced by declines among the key commodity and financial sectors. In those groups, miner Anglo American PLC AAL, -1.49% fell 2.1%, BP PLC BP., -0.35% BP, +0.38% was down 1% and HSBC Holdings PLC HSBA, -0.22% moved 1.2% lower.
The blue-chip index on Wednesday jumped 1.2%, rising along with other European stock markets, after Greece’s Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said debt-strapped Athens was getting close to a deal with international creditors.
But other key European officials late Wednesday rebuffed the suggestion, saying talks were still ongoing. International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde said in a TV interview that she “would not say that we already have reached substantial results,” according to a Reuters report.
Among advancers, shares of Sports Direct International PLC SPD, +4.56% climbed 3.6% as the retailer said underlying pretax profit and per-share earnings for the year ended April 26 are ahead of market expectations.
Kingfisher PLC KGF, +3.54% shares tacked on 3.1% after the home-improvement retailer reported a 0.8% rise in first-quarter same-store sales, with retail profit in constant currencies up 1.4% at 150 million pounds ($230 million).
