FTSE 100 watch: Footsie subdued as investors digest more earnings

The UK benchmark index has fallen into the red in today’s session, with investors going through the latest batch of corporate earnings. BT Group (LON:BT.A) is one of today’s most notable FTSE 100 fallers after posting its first-quarter update in the wake of an accounting scandal in Italy.

As of 12:28 BST, the FTSE 100 index had lost 47.11 points to stand 0.63 percent lower at 7,395.90. The Footsie is currently on track to post about a 0.7-percent loss for what has been an earnings-heavy week.

“We have had an awful lot of results and on the whole we have been pleasantly surprised they’ve not been weaker,” Eric Moore, UK Equity Income fund manager at Miton Group, told Reuters. “The VIX (volatility index) tells us volatility is low, but if you look at the way shares have reacted on a daily basis after updates, it feels quite volatile.”

BT Group is one of the session’s biggest blue-chip fallers after revealing that it had been forced to pay £225 million over the accounting scandal at its Italian unit earlier this year. BT’s shares are currently changing hands 2.44 percent lower at 308.45p.

Johnson Matthey (LON:JMAT) has been another prominent Footsie faller after posting a decline in sales in its New Markets division following changes introduced in China last year, affecting demand for the group’s LFP battery materials. Johnson Matthey’s share price is 2.62 percent down at 2,827.00p.

AstraZeneca (LON:AZN), whose shares tumbled more than 15 percent in the previous session on the back of disappointing oncology drug trial results, have recovered some ground today and stand 1.15 percent higher at 4,374.67p.

The FTSE 100 was 0.61 percent up at 7,397.30 points as of 12:37 BST on Friday, 28 July 2017.**