LONDON (Reuters) – The FTSE 100 dipped in early trade on Wednesday as a number of heavyweight firms traded ex-dividend, leaving the FTSE tucked just below 5-year highs hit in the previous session.

Ex-dividend factors took around 8 points off the index, enough to take it into negative territory, as Barclays, Carnival, GlaxoSmithKline and Reckitt Benckiser RB.L all traded without entitlement to their latest payout.

LONDON, Feb 20 (Reuters) – Britain’s leading blue-chip index
dipped in early trade on Wednesday as a number of heavyweight
firms traded ex-dividend, leaving the FTSE tucked just below
5-year highs hit in the previous session.

Ex-dividend factors took around 8 points off the index,
enough to take it into negative territory, as Barclays,
Carnival, GlaxoSmithKline and Reckitt Benckiser
RB.L all traded without entitlement to their latest payout.

LONDON, Feb 19 (Reuters) – Britain’s blue chip index posted
its highest close in five years on Tuesday in a broad-based
surge across all major sectors, as a strong German business
sentiment survey supported a favourable technical picture.

The FTSE 100 extended gains in afternoon trade after
a ZEW survey showed that German investor and analyst sentiment
soared to its highest level in nearly three years this month,
although investor sentiment on the current state of the German
economy has yet to pick up.

LONDON (Reuters) – Blue chip shares rose on Tuesday, led by gains in Standard Chartered after it was upgraded by Morgan Stanley, and supported by a strong German business sentiment survey.

Standard Chartered jumped 2.9 percent, with traders citing a note from Morgan Stanley which recommended switching into the bank and out of the UK’s other Asia-focused bank, HSBC.

LONDON, Feb 18 (Reuters) – Britain’s top share index fell on
Monday, with the mining sector hit by low commodity prices and a
resurgence in industrial unrest.

However, the index remained above the key support level of
6,300, keeping it around five-year highs.

LONDON, Feb 18 (Reuters) – Weak commodity prices meant
miners led Britain’s top shares lower on Monday but the
benchmark FTSE 100 index remained set to test five-year highs
despite short-term caution among investors.

The mining sector weas the main drag on the
FTSE 100, losing 0.8 percent after copper fell to a
three-week low, with copper miner Antofagasta losing 3
percent, leading the index’s fallers.

LONDON, Feb 15 (Reuters) – Gains in heavyweight healthcare
stocks were unable to take Britain’s blue chip share index back
to five-year highs on Friday as weak commodity stocks capped the
market’s rise.

The index managed a weekly gain but did not test five-year
highs set earlier in the week, as a late locking in of profits
ahead of the weekend pared gains made on the back of encouraging
data out of the United States.

LONDON (Reuters) – The mining sector provided some of the best and worst performers on a mixed day for shares on Friday, as top index struggled to make headway around five-year highs.

Randgold and Fresnillo led fallers, shedding 3.6 and 3.4 percent respectively after Citigroup recommended selling both on concerns over waning momentum in gold and silver prices, as gold prices slid to a six month low.

LONDON, Feb 15 (Reuters) – The mining sector provided some
of the best and worst performers on a mixed day for UK shares on
Friday, as Britain’s top index struggled to make headway around
five-year highs.

Randgold and Fresnillo led fallers,
shedding 3.6 and 3.4 percent respectively after Citigroup
recommended selling both on concerns over waning momentum in
gold and silver prices, as gold prices slid to a six month low.

LONDON (Reuters) – The FTSE 100 fell in early trade on Thursday, edging off five-year highs hit in the previous session and led lower by AMEC, which declined in heavy volume after giving a subdued outlook for future earnings.

AMEC shed 7 percent despite reporting in-line results, with traders citing profit-taking after a good run and a slightly more disappointing outlook than expected.