Sector movers: Centrica, China sink utilities and banks
Defensive areas of the market performed best on Thursday, aside from utilities that is, as shares of Centrica crumbled.
The energy supplier warned on its full-year profits on the back of competitive market conditions in the UK and US, sending the shares crashing to an 18-year low.
Banks also acted as a drag, as bond yields rose, but not those on Gilts, but Chinese sovereign bonds rather.
Overnight, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Chinese government bond made another attempt at moving past the 4% mark to the upside.
In turn, that saw the Shanghai Stock Exchange's composite index register its biggest one-day decline since mid-2016, with a predictable outcome for shares in the likes of Asia-facing lenders such as HSBC and StanChart.
Mobile Telecommunications were also near the bottom of the pile, as stock in Vodafone went ex-dividend.
Top performing sectors so far today
Beverages 20,885.05 +1.09%
Health Care Equipment & Services 7,510.36 +1.05%
Forestry & Paper 19,000.68 +1.03%
Personal Goods 36,925.29 +0.96%
Automobiles & Parts 7,175.52 +0.79%
Bottom performing sectors so far today
Gas, Water & Multiutilities 5,122.01 -3.96%
Mobile Telecommunications 4,970.05 -1.36%
Chemicals 13,924.05 -0.72%
Banks 4,400.31 -0.69%
Fixed Line Telecommunications 2,890.83 -0.54%