Britain’s FTSE 100 slipped for a third straight day as losses in construction materials offset gains in energy stocks, while shares of Persimmon rose to the top of the index on an upbeat forecast.
The blue-chip index (.FTSE) edged down 0.1 percent, while the mid-cap FTSE 250 (.FTMC) shed 0.2 percent as of 0715 GMT.
Persimmon Plc (PSN.L) gained 3.4 percent after the house builder said it expects to build homes at the top end of its annual guidance range.
The construction sector (.FTNMX501010) lost 2.3 percent, dragged down by a 2.8 percent fall in CRH, as the building materials giant expects a U.S. profit boost but says Europe remains challenging.
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Oil and gas stocks (.FTNMX601010), however, rose 0.7 percent as crude prices gained on reports of falling U.S. crude oil and fuel inventories.
GSK (GSK.L) added 0.7 percent after the drugmaker beat expectations for its first-quarter revenue and profit, helped by sales of its blockbuster shingles vaccine, Shingrix.
Standard Chartered PLC (StanChart) (STAN.L) edged up 0.3 percent after the lender’s first-quarter pretax profit jumped 21 percent, beating expectations.
Reckitt Benckiser (RKT.L) lost 1.1 percent after naming company insider Kris Licht as its new CEO.
