The UK’s FTSE 100 index started the week on a negative footing on Monday, with shares in equipment rental company Ashtead Group falling nearly 14% on a pessimistic annual profit outlook.
The commodity-heavy FTSE 100 fell 0.4% in early trade, while the mid-cap index fell 0.1%. Last week, both FTSE indexes posted big gains on expectations that interest rates were peaking.
Shares of Ashtead Group tumbled nearly 14% after the company said its annual profit would fall short of market expectations, as reduced emergency response activity hurt its U.S. business and the company expects to take more than $2 billion in depreciation charges for the year.
Limiting losses in the benchmark index, energy stocks rose 0.3%, following oil prices.
FTSE indexes post sharp weekly gains on peak rate optimism
Shares in revamped consumer technology firm musicMagpie rose 28% after the firm said it was in early-stage talks with BT Group and Aurelius Group over a possible bid to buy the British online second-hand smartphone and electronics retailer.
news source (www.brecorder.com)
