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The FTSE 100 started the last trading session of the week in the red with London's blue-chip stocks coming under further pressure on the back of downbeat overnight performances on Wall Street and in Asia.
“Drug group AstraZeneca’s first quarter revenues beat market forecasts but the increase was driven by favourable currency movements,” says AJ Bell Investment Director Russ Mould.
“Investors will be encouraged by faster-than-anticipated progress in its drug pipeline and continued double-digit sales growth in China but concerned at the fall in core operating profits which were down by 8% at constant exchange rates.
“British Airways parent IAG went into a tailspin as it scaled back short term capacity plans in the aftermath of the Brussels terror attacks. The group was the biggest blue chip faller in early trading despite a strong first quarter.
“Royal Bank of Scotland rounded out a week of banking results with first quarter losses more than doubling to £968m. The group had prepared the market for some bad news the previous evening by warning there was a significant risk the sale of its Williams & Glyn arm would not be achieved by the end of 2017 and that the overall financial impact was likely to be significantly greater than previously estimated."
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