By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.K. stocks tipped into the red
Wednesday, backing away from an effort to reach a record high, with
a downgrade of Barclays PLC weighing on the banking heavyweight's
shares.
The FTSE 100 turned a point lower at 7,018.27, feeling the pinch
from a pullback in energy and industrial shares, and a reversal in
gains for consumer-related stocks. In the groups, oil major BP PLC
fell 0.2%, Weir Group PLC lost 1.2%.
Brewer SABMiller PLC fell 1%. They had been down by as much as
1.9%, ahead of a formal announcement that H.J. Heinz Co. and Kraft
Foods Group Inc. (KRFT) have agreed to merge
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/kraft-heinz-agree-to-merge-in-buffett-backed-deal-2015-03-25).
The Wall Street Journal noted that there had been speculation
Brazil's 3G Capital was interested in bidding for SABMiller along
with Anheuser Busch InvBev , in which 3G holds a stake.
Under the planned Kraft-Heinz merger, 3G Capital and Berkshire
Hathaway (BRK/A) will contribute $10 billion toward a special
shareholder dividend as part of the transaction that would create
the world's fifth largest food and beverage company.
Shares of Barclays PLC also weighed on the FTSE 100, falling 2%
following a downgrade to hold from buy at Investec. The "valuation
case is no longer overwhelming in the context of our deteriorating
expectations for the scale and pace of [return on equity]
recovery," wrote analyst Ian Gordon in a note.
But TUI AG shares held the top spot on the FTSE 100, jumped 3.8%
as the tourism company said its winter 2014/15 season wrapped up as
it had expected, with higher average-selling prices in most of its
markets. It said for this summer, bookings and average-selling
prices are each up 1%. The demand for its own holiday packages
account for 74% of summer bookings, higher by three percentage
points from the year-ago period.
The FTSE 100 on Tuesday
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ftse-100-grips-onto-record-high-but-centrica-shares-lag-2015-03-24)
had been on track to surpasses its previous record closing high of
7,037.67, but reversed course toward the end of the session and
lost 0.3%.
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