FTSE 100 Drifts Lower

(RTTNews) - The UK stock market is down in negative territory on Wednesday, unlike its peers Germany and France, which have moved higher thanks to a good show by stocks from the luxury sector after French major LVMH reported better-than-expected sales in the third quarter.

The benchmark FTSE 100 was down 40.02 points or 0.42% at 9,412.75 about an hour past noon.

Despite the company reaffirming its full-year guidance, Entain shares are down 5.4% due largely to profit taking after previous session's sharp upmove.

Imperial Brands, ICG, AstraZeneca, Babcock International, Unilever, Relx, GSK, DCC, British American Tobacco, Metlen Energy & Metals, Easyjet and BAE Systems are down 1.4 to 2.5%.

Burberry Group is gaining more than 5%, buoyed by LVMH's strong quarterly earnings. Land Securities is gaining about 3%. Next is up 2.8%, Ashtead Group is climbing up 2.5%, and Endeavour Mining is up 2.3%.

WPP, Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, Pershing Square Holdings, IAG, Lloyds Banking Group and Kingfisher are up 1 to 2%.

Shares of recruiter PageGroup are up nearly 7%, lifted by a resilient third-quarter performance.

Property developer British Land is up 5% after the company upgraded its forecasts for full-year earnings per share growth, following a growth in half-year profit and in portfolio and rental values.