London - Britain's top share index dropped to a five-month low on Thursday, with some stocks trading without entitlement to their latest dividend payment.
The FTSE 100 fell 20.05 points, or 0.3 percent to 6,660.50, touching a low of 6,651.00, its lowest level since January 21.
It outperformed the mid-cap FTSE 250, however, which fell 0.5 percent after it was hit by a raft of disappointing corporate updates.
Top faller was Poundland, down as much as 6 percent to near its lowest level in a year, after the discount retailer said first quarter growth had slowed and first half trading would be subdued.
“It's had a small miss, and there is a bit of uncertainty around the outlook... but the move seems exaggerated,” Zeg Choudhry, managing director at LONTRAD, said.
“They're near all-time lows here, so I think it should recover.”
Premier Farnell PLC, a distributor of small electronics and electronic parts, dropped 4.8 percent after it said first-half adjusted operating profit would be marginally below last year as it works to implement a new global structure.
While online gaming company Playtech said trading was strong, it fell 4 percent after saying it would raise 250 million pounds ($396.50 million) through a share placing.
Among blue chips, 3i Group, Severn Trent and Land Securities fell 3.6-1.5 percent as they traded without entitlement to their latest dividend payout.
Concerns over the ongoing Greek debt crisis also crimped appetite for shares, although the FTSE 100 outperformed major euro zone indexes such as Germany's DAX and France's CAC, which both fell 0.9 percent.
The index is up just 1.7 percent year to date, however, as it has not felt the full benefit of monetary easing in the euro zone and has been hindered by a heavy weighting in commodity stocks as prices have come under pressure.
Miners were among the top risers on Thursday, however, with precious metal firms Randgold and Fresnillo up over 2 percent after gold rallied as Gold extended gains on Thursday as after the Federal Reserve hinted it may hike US rates later than market expectations.
Reuters