BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - U.K. markets were little changed on Thursday as shares of a number of companies traded ex-dividend.
The benchmark FTSE 100 was up 2 points at 6,952 after losing 1.2 percent on Wednesday.
Tesco shares fell 2.7 percent on going ex-dividend, GlaxoSmithKline fell over 1 percent and Unilever dropped half a percent.
Rail operator Trainline slumped as much as 24 percent after the government said it would digitize train-ticketing as part of an overhaul of its rail service.
Telecommunications company BT Group fell 1.4 percent after a brokerage downgrade.
Royal Mail tumbled 3.3 percent. The postal services company held back from providing a forecast for the current year, citing a number of uncertainties.
Budget airline EasyJet dropped 2.6 percent after reporting a wider half-year loss.
National Grid gained about 1 percent. The utility reported that its fiscal 2021 profit before tax climbed 19 percent to 2.08 billion pounds from last year's 1.75 billion pounds.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2021 AFX News
