FTSE 100 Down Slightly In Lackluster Trade

(RTTNews) - The U.K. stock market is down in negative territory a little past noon on Thursday, weighed down by weakness in the mining sector, and a mild bout of selling in energy stocks.

However, the downside is just marginal thanks to rising expectations of a Fed rate cut, and hopes of a potential Russia-Ukraine peace deal.

The benchmark FTSE 100, which drifted down to 9,652.80 earlier in the session, was down 10.41 points or 0.11% at 9,681.17 a little over half an hour past noon.

Anglo American Plc, Rio Tinto and Antofagasta are down 1.7%, 1.6% and 1.3%, respectively.

Imperial Brands is declining by about 3%. LondonMetric Property, British American Tobacco, Intercontinental Hotels Group, Severn Trent, 3i Group, WPP and BP are down 1 to 1.6%.

Among the gainers, Centrica is climbing up nearly 3%. Glencore is rising 2.7%, while Persimmon, Natwest Group, St. James's Place, Llodys Banking Group, Barclays, Melen Energy & Metals and Schroders are up 1.3 to 2.1%.

Entain is up nearly 1%. The company expects a £200 million hit and aims to mitigate roughly a quarter.