London - Britain's top share index touched a new record high before turning lower on Thursday, with mixed corporate earnings in the consumer staple sector prompting a pause in an impressive year-to-date rally.
Diageo, the world's largest spirits maker, fell 3.3 percent, a top FTSE 100 faller, after it reported slower quarterly trading, hurt by tough comparisons in Britain and retailers reducing inventory in Southeast Asia.
However, good numbers from both brewer SABMiller and consumer goods firm Unilever sent their shares up 1.8 percent and 4.5 percent respectively.
Unilever rose to the top of the index after it posted better-than-expected sales for the first quarter, showing improvement from the hammering it took last year from weak emerging markets including a slowdown in China.
“Unilever has reported Q1 2015 trading a little better than subdued expectations, expectations that had been set by management at its 2014 results statement,” Darren Shirley, analyst at Shore Capital said in a note, reiterating a “buy” rating on the stock.
“We continue to view the group as a longer term winner with its leading Emerging Market exposure.”
Consumer staple firms, including beverage companies, have high exposure to rapidly growing emerging markets, making them sensitive to volatility in countries like China.
Many companies have suffered from this exposure in recent years, and the updates showed that the picture was still mixed.
Britain's FTSE was down 12.48 points, or 0.2 percent, at 7,084.30 by 08h00 GMT, having touched a new all-time high of 7,119.35 in early deals. Since the start of the year, the index has gained some 8 percent.
Also weighing on the market were Meggit and BAE Systems, which fell 3.2 percent and 3.7 percent respectively after downgrades from UBS.
BAE Systems also went ex-dividend, contributing to its fall. Hikma and Intu Properties were among other firms to trade without entitlement to their latest dividend payout on Thursday, trimming nearly 5 points off the index.
Precious metal miners Fresnillo and Randgold rose 3 and 2 percent respectively as gold extended gains after sluggish US data sent the dollar lower.
Reuters