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* FTSE 100 down 0.4%, FTSE 250 off 0.5%
March 12 (Reuters) - British shares fell on Friday, as data
showed that the economy shrank by 2.9% in January, while
drugmaker AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) fell after scaling back its vaccine supply
forecast to the European Union.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 index .FTSE slid 0.4%, with mining
stocks, including Rio Tinto RIO.L , Anglo American AAL.L and
BHP Group BHPB.L falling between 0.2% and 0.5%, hit by a drop
in metal prices over demand concerns. MET/L
Oil heavyweights BP BP.L and Royal Dutch Shell RDSa.L
were also among the laggards. O/R
Britain's economy shrank by a less severe than expected 2.9%
in January from December as the country went back into a
coronavirus lockdown and is likely to shrink by 4% in the first
quarter of 2021, official data showed. The domestically focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index .FTMC fell
0.5%, dragged by industrials and consumer discretionary stocks.
Shopping centre operator Hammerson Plc HMSO.L jumped 8.1%,
despite posting a 1.7 billion pound ($2.37 billion) loss for
2020, with the value of its portfolio slumping by nearly 2
billion pounds as the COVID-19 pandemic battered the retail
sector. AstraZeneca Plc AZN.L fell 0.6%, after cutting its supply
forecast of COVID-19 vaccines to the European Union in the first
quarter to about 30 million doses, a third of its contractual
obligations and a 25% drop from pledges made last month.