Centrica, Barclays weigh down FTSE 100

Reuters
·1 min read

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* FTSE 100 down 0.8%, FTSE 250 down 0.2%

* Centrica, Barclays drag on main index

* Number of coronavirus cases in China rises

Feb 13 (Reuters) - London's blue-chip index was dragged lower on Thursday by steep falls in heavyweight bank Barclays and utility Centrica, while a rise in new coronavirus cases in China jolted broader risk sentiment.

Centrica skidded 13% to a near three-month low after its 2019 profit slumped by more than a third, leading the FTSE 100 to shed 0.8% after two successive days of gains.

Barclays was a major drag on the bourse as it slipped 3.2%. Britain's financial regulators were probing historical links between its chief executive and U.S. financier Jeffrey Epstein, which overshadowed financial results.

The mid-cap FSTE 250 lost 0.2% by 0809 GMT, tracking a broader risk-off sentiment as the Chinese province at the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak reported a record rise in deaths and thousands more cases. (Reporting by Shashwat Awasthi in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur)