BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - U.K. stocks fell on Thursday as investors adopted a cautious stance before the Easter weekend.
The latest economic reports proved to be a mixed bag, with U.K. retail sales volumes unexpectedly rising in March, while sluggish Eurozone PMI prints reignited global growth worries.
The benchmark FTSE 100 was down 24 points or 0.31 percent at 7,448 after finishing marginally higher the previous day.
AstraZeneca dropped 1.1 percent and GlaxoSmithKline shed 0.8 percent, tracking declines in their U.S. peers overnight on regulatory worries.
BAE Systems dropped about 1 percent and Reckitt Benckiser shed 0.6 percent on going ex-dividend.
Moneysupermarket.com soared 8.4 percent after it reported first-quarter revenues of 104.9 million pounds, an increase of 19 percent from 88.3 million pounds in the prior-year quarter.
Industrial equipment rental company Ashtead rallied nearly 2 percent after its U.S. peer United Rentals topped Q1 estimates.
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