- GSK rises after settlement of 80,000 Zantac litigations
- Precious metal miners jump on gold surge
- FTSE 100 down 0.1%, FTSE 250 off 0.6%
Oct 10 (Reuters) - The UK's main stock indexes slipped on Thursday as some of the companies traded without the entitlement of their dividend pay-outs, while GSK shares jumped following the settlement of its lawsuits in the United States.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 index was down 0.1%, while the mid-cap FTSE 250 fell 0.6%.
Tesco, WPP, Taylor Wimpey, Kingfisher dragged the benchmark index lower, falling between 1.4%-5%, as they traded without entitlement to their latest dividend pay-out.
Broadly, the household goods and home construction sector extended its weakness for a fourth straight session, down 2.5%, and led declines.
GSK surged 2.3% after it agreed to pay up to $2.2 billion to settle most lawsuits in U.S. state courts claiming that a discontinued version of the heartburn drug Zantac caused cancer.
Gains in the drugmaker pushed the broader pharma and biotech index higher by 0.8%.
Precious metal miners emerged as the top gainers of the session, rising 2.7%, after gold prices climbed as traders added to bets that the Federal Reserve will deliver another rate cut next month following the latest U.S. data.
The U.S. consumer price index (CPI) rose higher-than-expected at 0.2% in September on a monthly basis, keeping the bets intact for a 25-basis-point rate cut by the U.S. central bank.
Back home, Britain's housing market recovered further last month, with house prices, sales and enquiries rising, but pressure on the rental sector intensified as tenant demand continued to outstrip the number of available homes to rent.
Among other movers, Liontrust Asset Management fell 6.3% after the asset manager reported a drop in its third-quarter assets under management and advice (AuMA), hurt by weak investor sentiment ahead of the new government's maiden budget.
Reporting by Khushi Singh and Shubham Batra in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema and David Evans
Source: Reuters