BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - U.K. stocks were moving lower on Wednesday after reports suggested that the U.K. government is abandoning hope for a trade deal with the EU.
The government's central working assumption is that Britain will trade with Europe on World Trade Organization terms when the transition period ends on December 31, the Telegraph reported, citing senior sources.
The benchmark FTSE 100 was down 64 points, or 1.03 percent, at 6,205 after closing up 0.1 percent on Tuesday.
Britvic, a producer of soft drinks, fell about 1 percent. After reporting a 16.3 percent fall in third quarter revenues, the company has warned of uncertainty about the pace and level of full recovery.
Close Brothers shed 0.8 percent. The merchant banking group said its banking division was hit by higher impairment charges, but activity has picked up again as lockdown restrictions eased.
Kingfisher shares soared 10 percent after the home improvement retailer forecast first half underlying profit ahead of last year.
Computacenter surged 11 percent. The IT services firm said its adjusted profit before tax in the first half turned out to be 'substantially ahead' of the same period last year.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX