BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - UK stocks traded lower on Tuesday, in line with other European markets, after data showed Britain's unemployment rate rose by more than expected in the three months to August amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Investors are also concerned about increasing coronavirus cases in the region as well as a temporary halt in Johnson & Johnson's Covid-19 vaccine study due to an unexplained illness in a study participant.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Monday announced a new three-tire system of restrictions splitting England into medium risk, high risk and very high risk areas.
The FTSE 100 was trading down 28 points or 0.47 percent at 5973, after a 0.3 percent drop in the previous session.
The German DAX was down 0.43 percent and France's CAC 40 was down 0.42 percent.
On the data front, the UK unemployment rate increased and employment declined in three months to August, data from the Office for National Statistics showed. The jobless rate in the UK increased to 4.5 percent, higher than forecasts of 4.3 percent. Meanwhile, the employment rate fell by 0.3 percentage points to 75.6 percent in three months to August.
On a positive note, data from the British Retail Consortium revealed that UK retail sales grew at the fastest pace since 2009 as consumers resorted to stockpiling amid rising Covid-19 cases. Total retail sales grew 5.6 percent annually in September versus a 0.6 percent drop a year ago.
On the corporate front, bank shares were moving lower with HSBC Holdings down 1.2 percent, Lloyds Banking Group down 2.7 percent, Royal Bank down 1.1 percent, and Barclays down 1.8 percent.
Among other losers, AstraZeneca shares slid 0.7 percent, Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC was down 0.73 percent, Carnival was down 2.3 percent, Rolls-Royce was down 6.7 percent, and IAG shares were down 2 percent.
However, SSE plc shares were gaining around 4 percent after the company announced its agreement to sell its 50 percent share in energy-from-waste joint ventures for 995 million pounds in cash. The sale will support its plans to invest 7.5 billion pounds in low-carbon energy infrastructure over the next five years.
Vodafone shares were trading 0.7 percent higher, Anglo American was up 1.07 percent, and Tesco was up 1.44 percent.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX