The FTSE 100 slipped as the week’s final day of trading got underway on news house prices stagnated in March.
At just over £288,000, average prices fell 1% from February and climbed just 0.3% on a year earlier, sending shares in housebuilders lower in early exchanges.
Among companies, Shell pleased the market by increasing first-quarter gas production guidance in an update, despite news the oil firm’s renewable wing could face losses.
AstraZeneca failed to reinvigorate its own shares though, with news phase three trials of small cell lung cancer treatment Imfinzi showed better survival rates among patients.
And finally, elsewhere, McDonald’s unveiled plans to repurchase its Israeli business following a boycott of the fast food chain on the back of the Israel-Hamas conflict.