UPDATE 2-Diageo, Unilever drag FTSE 100, AstraZeneca outshines

* FTSE 100 down 0.2%, FTSE 250 up 0.2%
* AstraZeneca hits record high after hiking forecast
* Unilever , Diageo , Relx disappoint
* Cobham soars after buyout offer
* Aston Martin slips for second straight session

(Adds quote, company news items, updates share moves)
By Shashwat Awasthi and Muvija M
July 25 (Reuters) - London's FTSE 100 lost ground on
Thursday with a slew of negative earnings readings from
blue-chips including spirits company Diageo, while AstraZeneca
was a stand-out performer after raising its 2019 product sales
forecast.
The main stock market index .FTSE inched lower by 0.2%,
but still outperformed its U.S. and European counterparts, while
the mid-cap FTSE 250 .FTMC was up 0.2% with gains led by
aerospace firm Cobham that surged after a buyout offer.
Diageo DGE.L slumped 3.4% after its capital return plans
were less than what some analysts had expected, though the
company reported higher annual profit helped by the popularity
of its "Game of Thrones" inspired scotch. Software firm Sage SGE.L and information and analytics
provider Relx REL.L slumped 10.4% and 3.7%, respectively,
after downbeat updates, while consumer goods giant Unilever
ULVR.L fell as rainy weather hit ice cream sales in Europe and
North America.
Helping contain the losses was AstraZeneca AZN.L , which
jumped nearly 8% to an all-time high after raising its annual
product sales forecast, as cancer drugs helped its
second-quarter results beat analysts' estimates.
Market sentiment broadly weakened after the European Central
Bank meeting, in which ECB President Mario Draghi all but
pledged to ease policy further as the growth outlook
deteriorates, and said that there was no discussion of a rate
cut.
"Draghi indicated they didn't really even discuss a cut
today so that's what surprised the market and that's why we're
seeing this reversal, but it doesn't change the bigger picture,"
said Jeremy Gatto, investment manager at Cross Assets Solutions
team in Unigestion.
Among midcaps, Cobham soared 34.5% to 165.8 pence, roughly
matching the 165 pence per share offered by U.S. private equity
group Advent International that valued the London-listed company
at $5 billion. "It's the latest sign that more firms are happy to go
private and take them out of the glare of public markets,"
Wilson said. "It's also a sign that weakness in sterling
continues to make UK companies attractive to foreign buyers."
However, gains on the FTSE 250 were kept in check by Metro
Bank MTRO.L , which plunged more than 19% to an all-time low
after it disclosed that customers had pulled 2 billion pounds
out this year following an accounting error and said its founder
would stand down as chairman. Shares of Aston Martin AML.L , which shed over a quarter of
their value after the luxury carmaker cut its 2019 volumes
forecast in the previous session, fell another 18%, deepening
its losses for the year to 47%.