FTSE Moves: London market holds steady as GDP growth confirmed at 0.5%

Blue chip stocks struggled for direction with traders heading into the weekend prepared to sit on their hands with little economic data to work off.

The FTSE 100 Index slipped 2.7 points to 6826.6, as the market reacted coolly to confirmation that UK economy grew by 0.5% in the third quarter, according to second estimates from the Office for National Statistics. The FTSE 250 Index fell 41.7 points to 17549.

IG chief market analyst Chris Beauchamp said it was "another slow day in London".

He added: "The only real piece of weighty news today was UK GDP, and even this didn't really cause much excitement, given the quarter-on-quarter figure was unchanged from the previous forecast."

The market was in no mood to take cues from Wall Street, which saw the Dow Jones industrial average top 19,000 for the first time in its 120-year history earlier this week, buoyed by President-elect Donald Trump $1trn (£804bn) infrastructure programme. The index closed at a record high of 19,023.87 on Tuesday (22 November).

In afternoon trading the biggest risers in the FTSE 100 Index were Sky (+15.5p to 773p), Unilever (+50p to 3170p), AstraZeneca (+47.5p to 4257.5p), Reckitt Benckiser (+73p to 6829p) and British American Tobacco (+44.5p to 4416.5p).

The biggest fallers in the FTSE 100 Index were Taylor Wimpey (-2.4p to 145.5p), Persimmon (-27p to 1702p), Lloyds Banking Group (-0.84p to 58.84p), Fresnillo (-16p to 1228p) and Anglo American (-16p to 1238p).

In afternoon trading the biggest risers in the FTSE 250 Index were Mitie Group (+9.5p to 217.4p), Paragon Group (+14.8p to 361.3p), Countrywide (+5.2p to 174.7p), RPC Group (+23.5p to 1010p) and Marshalls (+6.6p to 304.6p).

The biggest fallers in the FTSE 250 Index were Evraz (-8.2p to 251.8p), Petra Diamonds (-4.3p to 158p), Atkins (-37p to 1417p), Bellway (-46p to 2416p) and Galliford Try (-23p to 1246p).